Clotilde Djuikem, Postdoc – University of Manitoba

Supervisor – Julien Arino

Collaborators – Sharon Clouthier, Karen Dunmall and Collin Gallagher – Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Freshwater Institute in Winnipeg, Manitoba

The project concerns the introduction of novel pathogens into fish population of the Western Canadian
Arctic, in particular, the Mackenzie River, by vagrant species that are increasingly prevalent in the ecosystem because of climate change-induced range shifts. Culturally important species such as Dolly Varden and Arctic Charr are coming into contact with Chum and Sockeye Salmon, whose life histories take them in distant ecosystems where they can acquire viruses absent from the Mackenzie ecosystem. The project is in collaboration with Sharon Clouthier, Karen Dunmall and Collin Gallagher, from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Freshwater Institute in Winnipeg, Manitoba. DFO collaborators are providing biological expertise as well as data regarding a variety of environmental and biological variables.