UNBC Freshwater Fish Ecology Lab

09/22/2026

Who has wide parr marks, a transparent adipose fin, and is as cute as a button? 🤔
 
No, it's not PhD student John Gray! But he is studying the thermal ecology of these cutie Chinook salmon fry. 🥰
 
John's research investigates how elevated water temperatures influence the behaviour and survival of juvenile and adult Nechako Chinook salmon. By identifying their thermal tolerances and the availability of thermal habitat in the Nechako River, John’s work will help inform management decisions in response to the cascading effects of climate change and other human-caused impacts. 🐟📊🌡️
 
A huge shout out to Alvaro, the fabulous research assistant working on this project with John! Alvaro is going into his fourth year at UNBC to complete his BSc in Wildlife and Fisheries and has been an integral part of making this field season a success. Thanks for all your hard work, Alvaro! 🤩
 
NSERC | CRSNG Rio Tinto

08/31/2026

During the middle of August, FFEL members Eduardo and Erica joined the Fraser Riverkeeper 's Fraser River Challenge Expedition to paddle a weekend section of their month-long, 1400 km journey from the Fraser River's source to sea. This year, a four-woman swim relay team, a marathon walker, and teams of paddlers joined together to travel through the Fraser River to raise awareness and funding to protect 30% of the Fraser Watershed by 2030. The expedition crew have been swimming, walking, and paddling since August 6, and will finish their journey on September 4! Check out their page to learn more about their campaign and sign the declaration to support rivershed protection - link in our bio! 🔊🥳

08/24/2026

Winner winner, toefish dinner! 🥳🏆🥇🦶🐟
 
At the beginning of August, FFEL members Allie, Avery, Eduardo, Julian and Melody participated in the Chemstores Amazing Race, an annual campus-wide scavenger hunt extravaganza. With big brains, strong legs, and many toes, FFEL team “Toefish” won first place out of 11 teams! Thank you to Jordan at Chemstores for organizing the incredible event, and thank you to Robbyn, a camper at our recent youth outreach event for the incredible team name and t-shirt design inspiration. 
 

08/11/2026

Youth outreach day! FFEL members Allie, Erica, Jonny and Melody presented at the Exploration Place’s Summer Camp. Campers learned about fish adaptations (physical or behavioral traits that make fish more suited to their environment) – like color🌈, shape🔸, mouth position👄 and senses👁️.

After the presentation, campers created their own unique fish, applying their new knowledge of fish adaptations🎨🖼️. A crowd favorite was a fish name “Toe”, a fish that uses its foot-shaped, toe-forward body to sense its surroundings in Bear Lake 🦶🐟. Between creating “Toe”, “Sunny fish”, “King”, “Lala”, “Rainbow” and many others, campers interacted with FFEL’s scientific equipment, learning hands-on how to identify, measure, tag, and track fish. The thermal drone took the show, feeding an interactive backdrop display for a thermal imagery dance party🕺🏻💃🏻.
 
The Exploration Place NSERC | CRSNG Rio Tinto 

07/29/2026

The Nechako Research Newsletter – June 2026 issue is live! FFEL collaborates with Dr. Stephen Dery’s Northern Hydrometeorology Group (NHG) to publish a quarterly newsletter, sharing the two groups’ research, fieldwork, and outreach activities. Swipe to see FFEL’s updates from the spring! ➡️✨➡️

If you’d like to be added to the mailing list, send us a message or comment below and we’ll reach out to you for your email! 📠📨

Click the link in our bio to read the full newsletter.

07/22/2026

07/17/2026

At the beginning of June, FFEL members Melody and Erica led an interactive outreach booth at the Juvenile Sturgeon Release Day in Vanderhoof, BC. Hosted by the Nechako White Sturgeon Recovery Initiative, this annual event brings nearly 1,000 students to engage with fish conservation. Students learned hands-on how to study fish, including identification, measurement, tagging, and tracking. Exercising their new skills, youth turned from elementary school students to junior fish biologists in minutes. FFEL looks forward to the next outreach event and can’t wait to return to next year’s Sturgeon Release Day! 🐟🎉🥳

RioTinto

07/09/2026

06/22/2026

06/18/2026