Dr. Monique Dubé

Canada Research Chair in Aquatic Ecosystem Health Diagnosis

Canada’s rivers are a source of pride. They provide water to drink for humans and livestock. Weekends are spent fishing and paddling down them. In return, Canadian rivers are being rewarded with industrial effluents, sewage, farm chemical runoff and general apathy.

Dr. Monique Dubé is trying to change this attitude: “Water is a life force. If we don’t have it, we are in trouble. We need to work to protect it or we will lose it – it will affect all of us, no matter who we are or what we do.”

As the Canada Research Chair in Aquatic Ecosystem Health Diagnosis, Dr. Dubé is looking at ways to measure the health of rivers, track changes over time, and ensure that the information collected gets to the right people to protect the public good.

Her Healthy River Ecosystem Assessment System (THREATS) consists of “hot spot” software that can identify when important changes have occurred in the quality of the water in our rivers and in the health of the rivers’ bugs and fish. Her approach also involves a mobile laboratory for use at “hot spot” sites on the rivers in order to verify whether and where the changes are occurring, the size of the changes, and their direction. In addition, it includes studies designed to determine how much of different pollutants is too much.

After finishing her undergraduate degree, Dr. Dubé went to work for the British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks. It was here that she realized that the theory she learned in school needed to be applied to the real world, through fieldwork and research that made the link between science and humanity.

“I’m personally not interested in science for science’s sake; my goal is to conduct well-rounded research that serves the common good,” says Dubé. She believes in working with communities, regulators and industries to develop solutions to local issues, believing “local people understand the river health intuitively. We as scientists need to tap into that knowledge.”

“We have the science right now to conserve, treat and develop our water supplies in a sustainable way. What we don’t have is an integrated understanding of the problems.”

Dubé is also committed to something near to her heart – helping other scientists maintain their work-life balance. She had two children while completing her PhD and wants to help create a flexible learning environment so others can be equally successful. “It can be difficult to balance science and family, but it can be done and it is important that it is supported. I hope I can help others realize that one doesn’t have to come at the expense of the other.”

Working together in balance for the common good. A healthy solution to a weighty problem.