Hats off to Environment Canada, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard for putting on a great open house today at the Canadian Centre for Inland Waters (CCIW)!  Most of my lab (see picture below) agreed to a “lab outing” to the CCIW.  I had always wanted to see what research occurs at CCIW, which is a building nestled directly under the Burlington Skyway in southern Ontario:

With the yoke of information control (http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/when-science-goes-silent/) lifted following the election of a new government in 2015 (http://www.macleans.ca/society/unmuzzled-government-scientists-ready-to-discuss-a-decade-of-work/), it was amazing to see the enthusiasm in the faces of the scientists working hard to assess environmental impacts of human influences on wildlife, plants, and the ecosystems around us.  Why these scientists were ever bureaucratically muzzled is beyond me.

Here we are looking pleased with ourselves:

Most of the lab in attendance.  From Left to Right: Justin Bridgeman, Nicholas Skakich, Glenn Tattersall, Curtis Abney, and Philip Bartel.  Susan Wang not in photo as she was still having conversations with researchers inside the building.

We even receive visitors badges that reminded me of a strange 1980s sci-fi show:

On the trip home, we even were stopped by the lift bridge, something I usually avoid when driving the QEW:

All told, I was extremely impressed with the open house put on by CCIW and wish to thank them for opening their doors to the public.  Keep up the good work!