The International Lake of the Woods Basin Water Quality Plan of Study Team will meet to develop a preliminary draft Plan of Study and seek expert input at a technical workshop in International Falls, Minnesota, on March 11-12.
Paul Pilon, originally appointed as the Study Team’s Canadian co-chair, is leaving to accept a position with a specialized agency of the United Nations, the World Meteorological Organization. The Commission wishes Paul continued success and thanks him for his efforts in launching the Team.
The IJC has appointed Dr. Glenn Benoy, senior water quality and ecosystem adviser with the IJC’s Canadian Section, as the Study Team’s new Canadian co-chair.
Since joining the IJC in November 2013, Glenn has worked on two major projects.
First, he was a co-author of the IJC’s 2014 Lake Erie Ecosystem Priority (LEEP) report that makes recommendations to Canada and the United States on how best to reduce phosphorus loadings to Lake Erie to address water quality issues of harmful algal blooms (HABs) and hypoxia.
Second, he leads the IJC’s SPARROW water quality modeling project in partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada. A SPARROW model has been developed for the Red-Assiniboine Basin and one is currently under development for the Great Lakes and Winnipeg River basins.
Glenn spent 10 years as a research scientist with Environment Canada and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, working mainly on agricultural issues related to aquatic ecosystems, source-tracing of sediments and contaminants, and the application of water quality models in support of watershed management. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Guelph in integrative biology, a master’s from McGill University in limnology and a bachelor’s from the University of Toronto in environmental science.
In addition to the workshop, the 11th International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Forum also will be held on March 12 and 13 in International Falls. The Forum is a professional symposium intended for researchers and resource managers working on or interested in research and management activities related to the Rainy-Lake of the Woods watershed.
The Community and Industry advisory groups of the IJC’s Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Board are to meet prior to the Forum on March 12.
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