Diane Orihel

Dr. Diane Orihel investigates human impacts on aquatic ecosystems through large-scale, multidisciplinary and collaborative research programs. She holds a B.Sc. (Honours) in Ecology and Environmental Biology (University of British Columbia), Masters in Natural Resource Management (University of Manitoba), a PhD in Ecology (University of Alberta). She was a Banting and Liber Ero postdoctoral fellow at the University of Ottawa, and now holds the position of Queen's National Scholar in Aquatic Ecotoxicology in the Department of Biology and School of Environmental Studies at Queen's University. Dr. Orihel has 15 years of experience conducting ecosystem-based field research on the fate and effects of contaminants (including mercury, flame retardants, nutrients, and naphthenic acids), which has informed public policy in Canada and abroad. Her scientific work has been published in leading environmental journals and presented in more than fifty academic presentations. She has been awarded almost $400K in scholarships and fellowships, and has contributed to conceptualizing and writing research grants totalling over $2 million in her career to date. Her work to promote freshwater science in Canada has been recognized by awards from the Governor General of Canada and the Canadian Council of Biology Chairs, as well as was featured in the top science journal Nature.