Meet 2 PhD students who are trying to make environmental field work more accessible

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This week:

• Meet 2 PhD students who are trying to make environmental field work more accessible
• The ecological fallout of the SpaceX rocket launch
• Dirty spring snow carries more than dirt — including pollutants we can’t see

Meet 2 PhD students who are trying to make environmental field work more accessible

Every summer, Sam Gene and María José Gómez-Quijano move from their student digs at Queen’s University to a remote site north of Kingston, Ont. There, they spend months untangling the effects of invasive species or environmental pollution or climate change — sometimes all of the above — on our planet.

This field work can be gruelling and repetitive, but also quite fun, Gómez-Quijano and Gene said. 

Like many graduate students in biology, they spend every day outside. Rain or shine, they record observations, measuring everything from microplastic concentrations to invasive plant growth. 

Without field work like this, we wouldn’t understand the impacts humans are having on our planet. But there are many hurdles that make it difficult — sometimes even impossible — for budding environmentalists to get involved. 

“Financial barriers, sociocultural barriers, knowledge barriers. Those are the main ones,” said Gómez-Quijano. 

In 2020, she and Gene set out to remove some of these barriers by founding the Queen’s Outdoor Field Experience Initiative (QOFEI, pronounced “coffee”). As co-chairs, they use the organization to get more people involved in field work. 

Both are working toward their PhD — Gómez-Quijano is an ecologist studying purple loosestrife, an invasive plant species found in almost all Canadian provinces, and Gene is an ecotoxicologist researching the risks microplastics pose to amphibians. 

They spend their field seasons (May-August) at the Queen’s University Biological Station in Elgin, Ont., which they fondly describe as “camp for adults.” 

All field work requires a lot of equipment, including hiking boots, rain pants, rain jackets, bug nets, tick safety kits, sun shirts and backpacks. For other seasons and sites, students might have to provide a tent, sleeping bag, wetsuit, snow wear or other specialized gear. 

Gene and Gómez-Quijano say it’s difficult to know what gear to buy. If it’s too cheap, it won’t last through the field season — Gene knows this from experience. Too expensive, and you’re simply paying for the brand.

In total, quality equipment can easily cost a student more than $1,000 — and since most research grants don’t cover anything you can take home at the end of the day, it’s all out of pocket. 

One of QOFEI’s most ambitious programs helps lower the financial burden for those interested in a field position, grad school or another nature-based career. 

“We created [a] gear lending library so students could come borrow, and they can see all of those items available on our website,” Gene said. “Whether that’s for research or even for outdoor recreation … they’re gaining that experience before they apply to these jobs.”

Their lending library consists of hundreds of apparel, footwear and equipment items, plus books, field guides, first aid kits and notebooks. By the end of this year, QOFEI’s equipment will have been out in the field everywhere from desert to tundra, from the Northwest Territories to Europe. 

“There’s been a couple of students who have [said], ‘I wouldn’t have been able to go on this field course if I didn’t have this equipment,'” Gómez-Quijano said. 

Though money troubles are often top of mind, other barriers shouldn’t be overlooked, she said. A lack of access and a lack of knowledge often go hand in hand. 

“[There’s] the idea that the outdoors has been kind of framed as this very white, very one-sort-of-outfit type of space,” said Gene. “There’s also lots of other communities outdoors, but they can be hard to find.”

“Knowing what you need is key,” Gómez-Quijano added. “I grew up in Colombia …  at that time we didn’t have access to hiking trails, we didn’t have access to camping … then I moved to the States and then to Canada … and I started doing field work in shorts and tennis shoes and crop tops.”

She shook her head and smiled. “That was the worst I could have been dressed … it really makes a difference just to know what you need.”

It’s a common problem, Gene said. To help build some of that knowledge, QOFEI encourages engagement from diverse communities and holds regular events ranging from bird-watching to tent-pitching to beginner camping trips. 

“Anyone can go and do field work,” Gómez-Quijano said. “They don’t have to look a certain way, they don’t have to wear certain brands. It’s about having the opportunity to do the work.”

— Darius Mahdavi

If you have outdoor equipment in good condition you’d like to donate to QOFEI’s lending library, or if you’re interested in starting a similar initiative at your institution, reach out at queens.field.initiative@gmail.com, or visit their website at https://www.qofei.com.

Reader feedback

Jack Santa Barbara:

“‘Sustainable aviation fuel’ is a scam. Think for a moment how such fuel is produced, from the growing of the crops to the processing of the crops into fuel, to the transport of the fuel to its use destination.  Fossil fuels are essential all along this supply chain. Secondly, the energy derived from these fuels is similar to the fossil energy inputs — there is no net gain from this process. Thirdly, the amount of land needed to grow the crops competes with land for food. Oh, and let’s not forget the fossil energy that goes into the manufacture and maintenance of the aircraft themselves. There is nothing ecologically sustainable about flying, unless you’re a bird (or insect).”

Carrie Rathwell:

“I enjoyed your piece in last week’s newsletter about heat pumps.  I’ve installed one in place of an old oil furnace (with an electric furnace as a backup for extra cold weather) and not only am I off fossil fuels, but it has cut costs considerably.

“That being said, not all heat pumps are created equal.  According to an article in the National Observer this week, the kind of heat pump available in Canada actually has a high emissions rate of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). European countries have begun placing caps on those emissions and have made a priority for people to buy low-emissions heat pumps….

“I was surprised to find out that I’ve unknowingly contributed to an increase in HFCs and I bet others will be, too. I think it is worth reporting that this problem exists and there are lower-emission alternatives, but only if the Canadian government puts into place laws that allow us access.” 

Editor’s note: Following earlier articles about HFCs in supermarkets, other readers wrote with concerns about HFCs in car air conditioners. The National Observer piece has some good news about that: starting with 2021 models, cars in Canada have been limited to using refrigerants with a global warming potential of 150 or less. (That means that over 100 years, each tonne of the HFC can warm the atmosphere by as much as 150 tonnes of CO2.) For those concerned about whether their heat pumps have a net benefit given refrigerant concerns, researchers at University of California, Davis calculated that emissions from heat pump refrigerant leakage are small compared to the emissions they eliminate when replacing fossil fuel heating.

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***And watch the CBC video series Planet Wonder featuring our colleague Johanna Wagstaffe here. 

The Big Picture: The fallout of the SpaceX rocket launch

There’s an almost religious reverence around rocket launches, as people gather to witness the human ingenuity required to propel a large, standing object into the sky. Last week’s launch of SpaceX’s Starship rocket in Boca Chica, Texas, was a typically momentous affair, given it’s the biggest rocket ever built, and that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk invites drama wherever he goes. Yes, the unmanned rocket burst into flames four minutes after takeoff, but many in the aerospace community hailed the mere fact that it got off the ground and said it’s an important step in the longer-term goal of getting humans to Mars.

Once the dust of the launch settled, however, people started to realize its environmental effects — more specifically, where the dust ended up. Not only did the rocket obliterate the launch pad and create a massive crater, but the explosion also sent a plume of particulate matter over the Gulf of Mexico. The test flight spread sand and ash-like particulates well beyond the expected debris field of 280 hectares.

Researchers are looking into the health and environmental impacts of the test flight. The Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity has expressed concerns over the effects the particulate dust, heavier debris and sheer noise of the launch will have on endangered species in the area, including the piping plover, jaguarundi, ocelots and sea turtles. The Federal Aviation Administration has halted SpaceX’s Starship rockets as it investigates the launch.

Hot and bothered: Provocative ideas from around the web

Dirty spring snow carries more than dirt — including pollutants we can’t see

As the Prairies wait for the latest round of snow from a powerful storm system to melt, other parts of Canada bade farewell to the white stuff a long time ago.

But what is left behind can be more of a pain than the snow itself.

At Regina’s snow storage facility, for instance, nearly 24,000 loads of snow are brought to the open plot of land in the city’s northeast each winter. What once were tall, white mountains have now become shrinking piles that look more like dirt.

According to Shelley Wellman, environmental services manager with the City of Regina, that’s because there’s more than just snow in the piles.

“There’s going to be sand, there’s going to be a little bit of dirt,” said Wellman. “Bits of concrete that might get picked up, garbage that people might have left on the roadways, bits of asphalt.”

Research shows there’s more pollution in the snow than meets the eye.

Ubong Eduok, a senior research associate in the department of chemistry at Western University in London, Ont., said even small amounts of snow are very absorbent because they’re formed by extremely porous ice crystals.

While that can be helpful — in absorbing the sounds of loud vehicles, for example — research has shown that snow also absorbs tiny pollutant particles. That includes everything from vehicle exhaust, metals and plastics to chemicals and compounds that can be dangerous to humans and the environment.

The pollutants can also change while they sit in the snow, spawning more particles with different levels of toxicity. Eduok said when the snow melts, the pollutants are released and become a bigger problem.

“The pollutants follow the run-off into the oceans or Great Lakes, for instance,” he said. “It could evaporate into the atmosphere, or it could percolate and completely pollute the groundwater.”

Parisa Ariya, a professor in the department of chemistry at McGill University in Montreal, has also studied pollutants in snow. She said the snow acts as a sort of vehicle for pollution.

“Snow has provided another matrix to exchange [pollutants].”

Ariya said other studies have found pollutants preserved in snow and ice in the Arctic. One study found the oilsands contaminated meltwater, making it toxic to larval fish.

Ariya’s study concluded that more research is needed to identify which pollutants are most harmful. She also stressed the need for better pollution policies, especially in cities. She said it’s still unknown just how the falling and melting snow impact pollution levels in urban areas.

“It is kind of [a] pity because … cities are the place that more than 50 per cent of all greenhouse gases are produced and emitted,” she said.

Wellman said the City of Regina has a process to test snow for certain pollutants, including metals and chlorides from road salt, to see if they have an impact on the soil.

There isn’t currently a way to prevent pollutants from getting into the snow, but Wellman said there haven’t been soil issues detected. Larger pieces of garbage are usually collected and taken to the landfill once the piles have melted, she said.

While the team at McGill continues to study the impact this is all having on air pollution and our climate, there’s a good chance the snowbanks in backyards across the country are hiding more than just leftover plastic bags and face masks.

— Ethan Williams

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Editor: Andre Mayer | Logo design: Sködt McNalty