Rideau Lakes Environmental Foundation Announces 2026 Research Grants

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Rideau Lakes Environmental Foundation Announces 2026 Research Grants

Four projects to study the impact of docks, long-term lake change, microplastics, and road salt in the Rideau Lake

Portland, ON — March 2026 — The Rideau Lakes Environmental Foundation (RLEF), a registered Canadian charity, today announced the recipients of its 2026 Small Grants Program. Four research teams will complete projects this season exploring environmental questions that directly affect the health of the Rideau Lakes.

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2026 Research Projects

Does dock design matter for lake life?

Docks are the most common human structure placed in the nearshore waters of cottage country, and the Rideau Lakes have all six major types in use: floating, cantilever, removal pipe stand, crib, permanent pile, and cement. Lake associations and regulators have long encouraged lower-impact designs, but the science to back that advice has been thin. A Carleton University team led by Dr. Steven J. Cooke will spend the open water season surveying fish, invertebrates, birds, and turtles in the waters of the Big and Lower Rideau lakes. The resulting large-scale comparison across all six dock types will give lake stewardship organizations and regulators the scientific grounding they need to give clear, evidence-backed guidance to waterfront property owners.

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How and why are our lakes changing?

Lake sediments act as a natural archive, preserving the remains of microscopic organisms that allow scientists to reconstruct how an ecosystem has changed over decades and identify the pressures driving those changes. Dr. John P. Smol of the Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and Research Lab (PEARL) at Queen’s University has been applying this approach to Rideau system lakes for over 25 years, building a record that now reveals how shoreline development, nutrient loading, and climate-driven changes such as longer ice-free seasons are reshaping these ecosystems. Work to date has focused on diatoms, whose remains track past changes in nutrients and climate. With this grant, the lab team will broaden its analysis to include  bottom-dwelling invertebrates in Lower Rideau Lake, as well as zooplankton indicators in Lower Rideau, Big Rideau, Upper Rideau, Indian, and Otter lakes. The goal is to establish baseline conditions, document change, and explore its causes, giving lake managers the long-term data they need to make better decisions.

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How much plastic is in our water?

Microplastics — plastic particles smaller than 5 mm — enter freshwater systems through a range of everyday sources: synthetic fibres from laundry, fragments from recreational equipment, and particles carried by runoff from roads and developed shorelines. They persist in the environment, accumulate in sediments, and can be ingested by aquatic organisms. No published study has yet measured microplastic concentrations in the Rideau Lakes. Dr. Mehriban Jafarova of the School of Environment, Trent University will conduct the first such assessment, collecting water and sediment samples at sites across Upper Rideau, Big Rideau, and Lower Rideau lakes during the spring and summer seasons. The type, size, shape, and colour of microplastics present will be analyzed, providing a first picture of where plastic particles are coming from and where they are accumulating, building a better picture of human impact on the lake environment and showing us where action and behaviour change are needed.

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How does road salt affect lake life through the seasons?

Every winter, de-icing salt applied to roads makes its way into lakes and streams through snowmelt and runoff. Elevated chloride concentrations have been linked to declines in zooplankton — the tiny animals that form a critical link between aquatic plants and fish. Graduate researchers Justin Gross and Meltem Kuyumcu of the Department of Biology at Queen’s University will run controlled experiments testing how road salt affects zooplankton communities under both winter and summer conditions, and during simulated heatwaves. By clarifying how seasonal variation and a warming climate shape the toxicity of road salt to freshwater life, the results will provide a basis for more informed decisions about de-icing practices.

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These four projects were selected through RLEF’s competitive Small Grants process, an annual call for proposals that build our knowledge of the Rideau Lakes environment and advance our ability to conserve its biodiversity. Alongside the research itself, a consistent theme of this year’s awards is support for early-career scientists — graduate and undergraduate students who are doing the hands-on work on each of these projects and who will carry this kind of research forward throughout their careers.

“Our long-term stewardship of the Rideau Lakes depends on building knowledge of how local ecosystems work,” said Jennifer Trant, President of the RLEF. “These projects take on questions that affect every person who lives on or visits our lakes. The young researchers involved in this work give us real reason for optimism, and we look forward to seeing their findings shape better decisions for the Rideau Lakes for years to come.”

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About the Rideau Lakes Environmental Foundation
The RLEF (Charity No. 139789713RR0001) is dedicated to protecting and preserving the Rideau Lakes for future generations. The Foundation supports projects that protect and enhance the lake environment (including shoreline restoration, habitat reconstruction, and water testing), funds scientific research, monitors the regulatory environment and intervenes when the lakes are threatened, and works to keep the lakes safe for those who use them. 

Media contact: Jennifer Trant, President, RLEF
www.rlef.ca