
Principal Investigator: Joshua Thienpont
Funding: NSERC Discovery Grant
Term: 2024-2029.
The research assesses the influence of lakes on thaw slump activity and re-activation, contributing to a better understanding the reciprocal relationship between permafrost thaw and surface waters. To address these research priorities, the project uses geomatics, assessment of lake and catchment physical characteristics using bathymetric and LiDAR sensors, and lake sediment cores to infer past physical, chemical, and biological conditions in lake ecosystems over millennial timescales. The project trains graduate and undergraduate student researchers in understanding the ecosystem impacts of landscape disturbance in rapidly changing, northern regions of Canada. The research is expected to contribute to an understanding of the relationship between thermokarst and lakes across the Northwest Territories being carried out by the faculty and student researchers and project collaborators.