Elizabeth Favot

Research Interests

Liz Favot is an aquatic ecologist, paleolimnologist, and Assistant Professor in the School of Natural Sciences at Laurentian University. Lakes across North America are undergoing unprecedented physical, chemical, and biological change in response to multiple stressors including climate warming, land use transformation, urban and industrial development, invasive species, and pollution by legacy and emerging contaminants. A lack of continuous long-term data has led to an incomplete understanding of the extent of alteration and degradation of freshwater ecosystems since the pre-industrial era, as well as the interaction among these stressors.

To address the deficiency of long-term data and establish baseline conditions for aquatic ecosystems, the Favot lab combines paleoecological studies (pre-monitoring decades to centuries), with monitoring data (recent seasons to decades), and broad spatial surveys (regional to provincial scale), to assess the relationship between multiple environmental stressors and specific water quality issues in Boreal Shield lakes.

The goal of our research is to understand the unique and interactive effects of key environmental stressors (i.e., land-use transformation, metal and critical minerals mining, urban chemical and biological pollutants, and climatic change) on the abundance, composition, and diversity of phytoplankton and invertebrates that form the base of the food web, over the Anthropocene. Specifically, our active research is using information from biological microfossils (primarily diatoms and chironomids) and biochemical indicators in lake sediment records to:

1) assess regional lake response and sensitivity to climate warming’s influence on thermal properties and physicochemical dynamics (oxygen and nutrient cycling); and

2) establish baseline conditions and track biological recovery in lakes impacted by acidification and metal contamination related to industrial development and co-occurring environmental stressors.

Publications

Favot EJ, Rühland KM, Paterson AM, Smol JP (2023) Sediment records from Lake Nipissing (ON, Canada) register a lake-wide multi-trophic response to climate change and reveal its possible role for increased cyanobacterial blooms. Journal of Great Lakes Research 50: 102268. DOI: 10.1016/j.jglr.2023.102268

Favot EJ, Holeton C, DeSellas AM, Paterson AM (2023) Cyanobacterial blooms in Ontario, Canada: Continued increases in reports through the 21st century. Lake and Reservoir Management 39: 1-20. DOI: 10.1080/10402381.2022.2157781

Duda MP, Sivarajah B, Rühland KM, Paterson AM, Barrow JL, Cheng Y, Favot EJ, Hadley KR, Hall RI, Hargan KE, Nelligan C, Reavie ED, Valleau RE, Werner P, Wilkins C, Smol JP (2023) Environmental optima for common diatoms from Ontario lakes along gradients of lakewater pH, total phosphorus concentration, and depth. Journal of Paleolimnology 70: 131-158. DOI: 10.1007/s10933-023-00288-7

Erratt K, Creed IF, Favot EJ, Smol JP, Vinebrooke RD, Lobb DA, Trick CG. Reconstructing historical time-series of cyanobacteria in lake sediments: Integrating technological innovation to enhance cyanobacterial management. Journal of Environmental Management 343: 118162. DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118162

Meyer M, Ladwig R, Dugan H, Anderson A, Bah A, Boehrer B, Borre L, Chapina R, Doyle C, Favot EJ, Flaim G, Forsberg P, Hanson P, Ibelings B, Isles P, Lin F, Lofton D, Moore T, Peel S, Peters J, Pierson D, de Senerpont Domis L, Schloss J, Shikhani M, Smagula A, Stockwell J, Thomas P, Thomas RQ, Tietjen T, Weathers K (2021) Virtual growing pains: Initial lessons learned from organizing virtual workshops, summits, conferences, and networking events during a global pandemic. Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin 30: 1-11. DOI: 10.1002/lob.10431

Sivarajah BS, Simmatis B, Favot EJ, Palmer MJ, Smol JP (2021) Eutrophication and climate warming lead to unprecedented cyanobacterial blooms in a Canadian sub-Arctic landscape. Hamful Algae 105: 102036. DOI: 10.1016/j.hal.2021.102036

Erratt K, Creed IF, Favot EJ, Todoran I, Tai V, Smol JP, Trick CG (2021) Paleolimnological evidence reveals climate-related preeminence of cyanobacteria in a temperate meromictic lake. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. DOI: doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2021-0095

Deweese N, Favot EJ, Branstrator D, Rantala H, Reavie E, Engstrom D, Paterson AM, Smol JP (2021) Early discoveries of spiny water flea on the North American continent: evidence or artifact? Journal of Paleolimnology 66: 389-405. DOI: 10.1007/s10933-021-00213-w

Favot EJ, Hadley KR, Paterson AM, Michelutti N, Watson SB, Zastepa A, Hutchinson NJ, Vinebrooke RD, Smol JP (2020) Using visible near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (VNIRS) of lake sediments to estimate historical changes in cyanobacterial production. Journal of Paleolimnology 64: 335-345. DOI: 10.1007/s10933-020-00140-2

Favot EJ, Rühland KM, DeSellas AM, Ingram R, Paterson AM, Smol JP (2019) Climate variability promotes unprecedented cyanobacterial blooms in a remote, oligotrophic Ontario lake: evidence from paleolimnology. Journal of Paleolimnology 62: 31-52. DOI: 10.1007/s10933-019-00074-4