A veteran environmental researcher at uOttawa, he has spent over three decades uncovering the quiet stories told by lakebeds and chemical fingerprints of human activity. Now, thanks to two new Alliance grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), his work is set to inform some of Canada’s most pressing environmental concerns: oil spills in sensitive salmon habitats and the long-term legacy of uranium mining in northern lakes.
These two projects — one in collaboration with Environment and Climate Change Canada, the other with Canadian Nuclear Laboratories and the Clearwater River Dënë Nation — are the result of years spent building research partners’ trust. “The NSERC Alliance grants are based on matching funds,” Professor Blais explains. “Before we even got to the research, we had to develop relationships — sometimes, over the years, with partners who believed in our work enough to support it financially.”
The first project focuses on assessing the potential impact of oil spills on Pacific salmon habitats, a concern that’s taken on new urgency with the Trans Mountain Expansion Project completed. This pipeline ferries oil from Alberta’s landlocked reserves to the British Columbia coast. Along the way, it crosses rivers that are critical to Pacific salmon’s life cycle. “If a spill were to happen in one of those spawning rivers, the impact could be devastating, not just locally but across the entire Pacific ecosystem,” says Blais.
To simulate such a scenario, Blais and his team are constructing an “experimental river” facility at the Quesnel River Research Centre. These artificial streams will mimic salmon spawning grounds, complete with gravel beds and flowing water. Eggs will be buried in gravel, and varying concentrations of oil will be introduced. “We’ll be able to observe how oil affects salmon embryo development directly,” he explains. “It’s a powerful way to inform the regulators at Environment and Climate Change Canada so they can better plan countermeasures if a spill does occur.”
The second NSERC Alliance grant tackles a different kind of legacy: the environmental footprint of historical uranium mining in northern Saskatchewan. Canada is one of the world’s largest uranium producers, and many of its oldest mines predate environmental regulations. Working closely with the Clearwater River Dënë Nation and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, Blais’s team is analyzing sediment cores from northern lakes. The cores are natural archives of the environment, preserving both contaminants and biological traces of aquatic life.
“Sediment cores are like history books,” explains Blais. “Every layer is a page. And we can read these pages to understand how contamination evolved and how ecosystems responded over hundreds and even thousands of years.” In the absence of historical monitoring data, these cores provide critical insight into how past industrial activity shaped today’s ecosystems. They also offer clues about how to mitigate future risks.
What makes his approach particularly compelling is the use of what he calls a “multi-proxy” method. This environmental forensics toolkit includes chemical markers, biological remains, stable isotopes and even environmental DNA. “It’s like reconstructing a crime scene,” he says. “No single piece of evidence tells the whole story, but when all the pieces line up, you get something that’s scientifically bulletproof.”
Beyond the technical details, Blais emphasizes the importance of collaboration, especially with Indigenous communities. “Our Indigenous partners from the Clearwater River Dënë Nation are essential from the very start,” he says. “They help us shape the research questions because they are the ones who know the land best. Their insights are invaluable.”
Echoing this spirit of collaboration, Dënë Cheecham-Uhrich, a representative of the Nation, underlines how meaningful this partnership is to her community. “It means everything,” she says. “The opportunity to support, protect and preserve our land through transformative and uplifting science is a lifeline for us. When we protect our land, we are protecting our language, culture and home.” She describes the relationship as one grounded in reciprocity and mutual respect, where Indigenous science systems are elevated and community concerns are heard with intention and humility.
With both projects now underway, Blais hopes the findings will do more than inform policy. They will also help build a more sustainable future, grounded in an honest reckoning with the past, by providing partners with the tools they need to protect ecosystems we care deeply about.
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