Dynamic Environment & Ecosystem Health Research (DEEHR) Group

Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia
What the facility does

Food web transfer and cycling of environmental contaminants

Areas of expertise

Mercury and metal contamination is a global issue, especially in aquatic ecosystems. The Dynamic  Environment & Ecosystem Health Research (DEEHR) Group tackles this by examining how mercury and metals become bioavailable, are transferred through ecosystems and accumulate in living things to high concentrations. Understanding those processes will enable people to reduce the harm those contaminants do by efficiently reducing sources and establishing priority regions for future management.

Research services

Laboratory analyses of environmental samples for mercury, in-situ quantification of water quality parameters, analyzing multi-parameter large environmental contaminant databases

Sectors of application
  • Environmental technologies and related services
  • Fisheries and aquaculture
  • Mining, minerals and metals
  • Professional and technical services (including legal services, architecture, engineering)
Specialized labEquipmentFunction
 Milestone DMA 80.3 tri-cell direct mercury analyzerRapid analyses of environmental samples for total mercury.
 YSI 6600 multi-parameter water sondeIn-situ measurements of multiple water quality parameters in lakes and other water bodies.
Cleanroom Trace Environmental Analysis Laboratory (CTEAL)Cleanroom for trace metal analysesLow-particulate analytical space for ultra-trace and trace-level metal analyses of environmental samples.
 GIS and data analyses workstationsComputational capacity for rapid GIS mapping, spatiotemporal analyses and large database analyses.
  • Environment and Climate Change Canada
  • Natural Resources Canada
  • Geological Survey Canada
  • Fisheries and Oceans Canada
  • Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change
  • Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry
  • Nova Scotia Department of Fisheries& Aquaculture
  • Nova Scotia Environment
  • Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources
TitleURL
Selected media releases and interviews (collated)http://ap.smu.ca/~lcampbel/media.html