Igor Lehnherr

VIEW to the U: An eye on UTM academic community

Arctic Anecdotes On this episode of the VIEW to the U podcast, which has come out in honour of Earth Day, April 22, 2019, we will learn more about climate change and its effects on aquatic ecosystems and Indigenous populations with Professor Igor Lehnherr. Igor Lehnherr is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at U of T Mississauga, where he has been on faculty since 2014. Prior to coming to UTM he was the W. Garfield Weston postdoctoral fellow in Northern Research in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Waterloo. His research seeks to understand the impacts of environmental stressors such as contaminants and climate change on aquatic ecosystems, and he focuses primarily on Arctic and Boreal ecoregions. His current projects include studying how the recent accelerated melting of glaciers and lake ice has impacted carbon cycling and mercury bioaccumulation in these northern regions. On this episode of the podcast we get insight on a few other topics that relate to his work, including how he got interested in this area of research in the first place, the importance of experiential education and connecting with the natural environment, and what it’s like being up in the Arctic from someone who has visited there many times over the last 15 years. With this new, third season of the VIEW to the U highlighting UTM’s Global Perspectives, Igor discusses his Northern research, and though he has seen dramatic changes to the stunning Lake Hazen landscape where he conducts a good portion of his work – spoiler alert – the picture isn’t all doom and gloom! A full transcript of the podcast interview is available at https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/vp-research/sites/files/vp-research/shared/IL-transcribed%2CApril2019.pdf. Resources Prof Lehnherr's website: https://igorlehnherr.weebly.com/