October 10, 2017 – Thunder Bay, ON

Officials from Lakehead University and the International Institute for Sustainable Development Experimental Lakes Area (IISD-ELA) have signed a five-year memorandum of understanding to foster collaboration between the two organizations.

Thanks to this new MOU, Lakehead University faculty and students can visit and perform research at the IISD-ELA much more easily, staff from both organizations will be able to participate in seminars and workshops together, and students can benefit from being supervised by staff from both institutions.

Staff from both organizations hope to mutually benefit from their respective knowledge and to further understanding about what impacts fresh water systems, and what can be done to protect the world’s water supplies.

Dr. Andrew P. Dean, Lakehead’s Vice-President, Research and Innovation, emphasized how beneficial this agreement will be for students.

“The experiential learning that comes from performing research outside of the lab is invaluable,” Dr. Dean said. “I look forward to seeing the research that results from this agreement.”

This MOU will result in collaborative research projects that draw on the expertise of both institutions.

“What this means is that our two institutions can collaborate and share much more easily—all in the name of protecting the world’s freshwater supplies,” said Matthew McCandless, executive director, IISD Experimental Lakes Area.

“This is yet another step in IISD-ELA further opening its doors to the world, committing itself to educating the freshwater scientists of tomorrow, and building stronger partnerships with researchers across Canada and the globe,” McCandless said.

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Media: For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact Brandon Walker, Media Relations Officer, at (807) 343-8177, or mediarelations@lakeheadu.ca.

Lakehead University has approximately 9,700 full-time equivalent students and 2,000 faculty and staff in 10 faculties at two campuses in Orillia and Thunder Bay, Ontario. Lakehead is a fully comprehensive university: home to Ontario’s newest Faculty of Law in 44 years, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, and faculties of Engineering, Business Administration, Health & Behavioural Sciences, Social Sciences & Humanities, Science & Environmental Studies, Natural Resources Management, Education, and Graduate Studies. In 2016, for the second consecutive year, Re$earch Infosource ranked Lakehead first among Canada’s undergraduate universities. Visit www.lakeheadu.ca.

IISD Experimental Lakes Area is the world’s living laboratory. Comprised of 58 lakes and their watersheds in a remote part of Northwestern Ontario, it is the only place on earth where researchers can research on whole lakes, in order to discover more comprehensive answers to what is affecting fresh water supplies, and what we can do to protect them.