Dr. John Smol is world-renowned paleolimnologist (someone who studies long-term environmental change using lake sediments), and he has received over 60 awards for his research, outreach, and teaching. He was invested as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2013 and is the Canada Research Chair in Environmental Change. He has conducted studies around the world on the impacts of humans on the environment, with a particular focus on the Arctic. In this episode, Dr. Smol describes how the study of paleolimnology allows humans to study the difference between natural and human changes to the environment. The changes in lakes are often “under the radar,” and Dr. Smol explains how these subtle changes are affecting fish populations and altering the ecology of lakes. Dr. Smol sees his duty as providing both scientific knowledge to public policy-makers and tools for science translation to the general public so that everyone can understand the science behind climate change.

To read more about his research, visit Dr. Smol's website.