On Monday, November 24, 2025, the North Slave Research Centre (NSRC), the Yellowknife branch of the Aurora Research Institute (ARI), hosted the Northern Lakes in a Changing Climate Workshop. The workshop highlighted the vital role lakes play in cultural, subsistence, and recreational life, as well as the growing pressures they face from climate change, municipal development, and industrial activities. It provided a platform for sharing new research and fostering dialogue between scientists and the people and organizations whose decisions shape the future of water resources in the Northwest Territories.

             Presentations at the workshop spanned a diverse range of topics, including long-term trends in ice and snow cover, the impacts of permafrost thaw on small lakes, emerging concerns about broad-scale eutrophication, and the legacy effects of historical mining on lake chemical and biological recovery. Sessions were complemented by discussions on how new findings could inform decision-making across the region, providing an important opportunity for collaboration and knowledge exchange. The workshop highlighted both emerging and persistent threats to northern lakes and set the stage for continued research and engagement.

             The event was organized collaboratively by the NSRC (Aurora Research Institute, Aurora College), the Paleoenvironmental Research Group (York University), and the Engineering Sustainable Change Research Group (Queen’s University), with funding support from the ArcticNet Northern Research Leaders Program.

The event was attended by researchers and students from the organizing groups, as well as representatives from:

  • Canada Water Agency
  • City of Yellowknife Public Works and Engineering
  • Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada
  • Environment and Climate Change (GNWT)
  • Dechı̨ta Nàowo (Yellowknives Dene First Nation)
  • Giant Mine Oversight Board
  • Health and Social Services (GNWT)
  • Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board
  • Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board
  • McGill University
  • North Slave Metis Alliance
  • Northwest Territories Geological Survey
  • Rio Tinto
  • University of Alberta
  • University of Saskatchewan