The ecotoxicological component of MiraNor’s project examines the impacts of mining on fish habitat, contamination and health, in the context of climate change.
This project aims to understand the effects of metal contamination on fish in northern Quebec in order to better predict the impacts of mining activity on fish populations and how this could change with global warming.
The project’s ambassador, researcher Patrice Couture and his students, Mackenzie Martyniuk and Anthony Fontaine, work in collaboration with the Innu and Naskapi communities. These indigenous nations are sensitive to their fishery resources, on which they depend both for food and to perpetuate their traditional way of life. MiraNor members are therefore attentive to their concerns and work with them to find answers to their questions.
In addition, in order to educate young people in the Innu community of Matimekush-Lac John about scientific research and the fragility of northern aquatic ecosystems, MiraNor’s university students conducted workshops in their school. High school students learned about the stages of a research project and carried out one of them; dissecting a fish.
