In the summer while other kids splashed in the water, Emma kept her eyes open for the bugs swimming and crawling around in the lake. You might say Emma has never grown up. She continues today as a Research Assistant in Aquatic Research and Stewardship at UINR.

Emma specialty is rivers and streams, but she also helps out with anything related to water. Most of her work is on young Atlantic salmon and aquatic bugs. From spring to fall you can find her outside, in or close to water! She worked on our smolt wheel, salmon monitoring, and stream health assessments. In the winter she gets down to research and report writing in between helping out with MEK workshops.

If you want to know about insects, Emma’s your go-to-person. She’s a certified taxonomist for aquatic insects in Eastern North America and has identified aquatic bugs from all over the Maritimes. She’s been a member of Shubenacadie Watershed Environmental Protection Society since 2009.

If that’s not enough, she is pursuing a Certificate in Aquatic Environmental Techniques where she is learning practical skills in stream restoration, stream assessments, and fish and bug identification.

After graduate school, she worked with a conservation authority in Southern Ontario collecting water samples, doing stream assessments, and of course, identifying aquatic bugs.

Emma’s wealth of experience is a valuable asset to UINR, enriching our knowledge of our local environment and giving us new insight into the natural world.

“At UINR I have the opportunity to make a difference while doing something I enjoy. Being able to hold a wild Atlantic salmon! Where I am from, salmon are basically gone. Knowing that I am helping to conserve them is something I am very proud of.”