Amphibians and reptiles have long captivated biologist Dr. Adam Algar. These cold-blooded animals—known as ectotherms—can help us understand how animals evolved, how they survive in ecosystems across the globe, and how they're responding to Earth's warming environment.

Dr. Algar joined Lakehead in 2021 after spending 10 years at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom where his research focused on lizards that are native to the Caribbean and Southeast Asia.

"Are ectotherms struggling, or is climate change enabling them to expand their geographic ranges?" Dr. Algar asks. "We need to understand how species are living now to better predict how they'll be affected by climate change. Gathering this information is crucial to developing conservation policies and strategies."

Dr. Algar primarily studies frogs living in northwestern Ontario. "It's a really exciting ecosystem because northwestern Ontario is a boreal forest in the transition zone from hardwood to coniferous trees."

He has a team of graduate and undergraduate researchers who are part of his laboratory dedicated to studying the ecology and evolution of ectotherms. One current project, in partnership with the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority (LRCA), is recording and monitoring frog and bird calls to determine which species are present and track long-term changes. "We're already learning about what affects their breeding season," Dr. Algar says.

It's Not Easy Being Green

A gray tree frog hangs out at a pond. "I became really interested in animal biodiversity after growing up running around the woods of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia," Dr. Algar says. "Globally, we probably don't know about more than half of the species that exist."

One of the reasons Dr. Algar studies frogs is that they're sensitive to environmental changes. "They're the canary in the coalmine—an early warning sign of what's happening in an ecosystem."

Specifically, he investigates how frogs behave throughout the short northwestern Ontario breeding and growing season when they are active. Dropping temperatures prompt frogs to bury themselves under leaf litter and wait for snow to insulate them. "That's why it's a problem when we have cold winters and no snow." During the winter, frogs' hearts almost stop and they go into a state of torpor. Incredibly, several frog species create antifreeze to replace much of the water in their bodies to stop their cells from bursting.

The gray tree frog is one of the species Dr. Algar's lab is studying. "They're a stunning little frog, one to two inches in length, with bumpy skin that changes colour from grey to vibrant green. They also have bright yellow legs and large toe pads to stick to trees." Their range begins in Texas and, in recent decades, has expanded into the Thunder Bay region. "Any species that inhabits such a vast area must be harbouring some fascinating eco-evolutionary secrets," Dr. Algar says.

If people are lucky enough, they might see these frogs stuck to the windows of their camps on summer evenings. "They're attracted to light because the insects they eat are attracted to light," he explains. "And they start calling around 10 o'clock at night. It's a loud short trill often mistaken for a bird."

Ectotherms like this brown anole lizard (Anolis sagrei) get their heat from their environment, often by basking the sun, instead of generating it internally like mammals. "This means they have a low metabolic rate and require less food. But  when the temperature tips too far, either hot or cold, it can have deadly consequences," Dr. Algar says.

Dr. Algar's research is dissolving traditional boundaries between localized field ecology and large-scale macroecology that uses modelling and large datasets. "I use our fieldwork data to test and inform our macroecology models to see if the models are working.

We also measure how temperature affects how far frogs can jump and how fast tadpoles can swim. It's like the animal Olympics."

Dr. Algar engages in this painstaking work to lay the foundation for conservationists. "I don't want to live in a world where springtime is no longer greeted by the choruses of frogs."

Lakehead University is in the top 10 per cent globally of universities making an impact by advancing sustainability and positive societal change and was named the top-ranked university with under 10,000 students in Canada and North America in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings. These prestigious rankings assess universities' success in delivering on the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to solve our planet's most pressing challenges. Dr. Algar's work addresses SDG 13: Climate Action, SDG 14: Life Below Water, and SDG 15: Life on Land.

BY PHEBEANN WOLFRAME-SMITH 

Originally published in The Chronicle Journal on Wednesday, June 3, 2020

Photo: Dr. Lindsay Galway speaking at the March climate change communication workshop.

That climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity is not news. This awareness, however, does not always translate into action. To move people to action, governments and organizations need to understand how best to communicate climate change information.

In March 2020, Dr. Lindsay Galway, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Health and Behavioural Science at Lakehead University and her team completed a project that sought to understand how citizens in Thunder Bay, Ont., and Prince George, BC, can become better engaged with climate change. Northern communities are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Although research has been conducted in the arctic, until now, little was known about public responses to climate change in the provincial norths.

“Provincial norths are unique case studies, because their economic wellbeing, culture, and history is often closely connected to resource extraction. They are also more remote and politically marginalized. But there is also a strong sense of place, of community, and of connection to the land,” said Galway.

The two-year project, funded the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada, involved three components: representative postal surveys in Thunder Bay and Prince George; interviews with “climate champions” in each community who are engaged in climate change education and action; and lastly, the development of climate change communication strategies based on the gathered data.

The postal surveys involved using Canada Post’s address database to randomly select 2000 households for each community and then adjusting based on census data to make sure these households represented the demographics of the community as a whole. Surveys were mailed to these households asking about climate change beliefs and attitudes, impacts of climate change, and climate change action. The team received just under 400 completed surveys for Thunder Bay which is considered a strong response rate.

Key findings from the Thunder Bay postal survey in regard to attitudes and beliefs include that 95% of respondents believe climate change is happening, and 86% feel very or somewhat worried about climate change. 40% of respondents report experiencing climate change impacts in Thunder Bay such as shifts in seasonal patterns, changing frequency and intensity of precipitation, and extremes of weather.

Other key findings, those that relate to action, highlight areas for education and change. 70% feel that addressing climate change will have positive effects on the long-term health of our communities, but paradoxically, 51% are concerned about whether addressing climate change will increase taxes. Similarly, while 80% felt Thunder Bay community members should do more to address climate change, only 60% reported taking action themselves. 70% of respondents felt that climate change is more likely to be a threat in the future than in the present.

“People still think of climate change as a threat of the future – that’s key. Climate science clearly illustrates that it is problem of now. If we are going to act to address climate change, we need to do it in the next five years” emphasized Galway.

The research was supported by an advisory group in each community made up of representatives from organizations who are working to address climate change. Following analysis of the data, 30 people from the advisory group and other organizations took part in a climate change communication workshop in March 2020 to discuss the results of the research, and to build best-practices for communicating about climate change in Thunder Bay, facilitated by Galway and Dr. Paul Berger, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at Lakehead.

“Dr. Galway's research provides a solid foundation from which to take strong action. Scholarly evidence of strong local support for addressing climate change helped to secure a unanimous vote in favour of the City of Thunder Bay’s declaration of a climate emergency” said Aynsley Klassen, Program Coordinator at EcoSuperior, and a member of the research advisory group.

“Eco-superior is also able to use Dr. Galway's research to guide program development, increase the effectiveness of climate-related communications, and engage community residents in climate actions,” she added.

Another outcome of the project has been a video which recently was a finalist in the Social Sciences and Humanities Council Storytellers competition. The video was created by Robert Sanderson, a Master of Health Sciences Student at Lakehead, who was a research assistant on the project.

“Working on the project expanded my own interests and knowledge – it was a great opportunity to learn and make connections and gain research experience. I got to see a whole project from start to finish – to see the steps, the challenges and how to overcome them,” he said.

Sanderson’s video can be viewed at here and the final report from the project can be accessed here.

Photo credit: Paul Berger 

The Democracy of Suffering: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe, Philosophy in the Anthropocene (McGill-Queen's UP, October 2019) by Dr. Todd Dufresne, Department of Philosophy, will be released this year. Noted famous American environmental activist, Bill McKibben writes "This is a very fine book: philosophy perfectly attuned to our precise -- and unique -- moment, a moment when our species became suddenly very big indeed."