Humans alter and threaten the integrity, diversity, and health of marine species by harvesting resources, altering habitats, and facilitating the invasion of certain ecosystems by non-native species. Climate change influences the geographical distribution of species and can result in the extinction of native species to the benefit of non-native species.

Many wildlife and aquatic species are threatened by hunting and harvesting and by habitat degradation, loss and fragmentation due to deforestation, urbanization, agriculture, aquaculture, mining, and climate change. For this reason, biology researchers are working to closely monitor the dynamics of specific populations, reintroduce species, and remediate damaged environments.

UL scientists are studying the evolutionary ecology of macroalgae, invertebrates, fish, and marine mammals that play a key role in marine communities and food networks in order to understand how human activity and climate change affect resource availability, biodiversity, and marine ecosystem function and health.

Groundwater overuse and contamination threaten the supply of drinking water for ten million Canadians. Groundwater, which is often time-consuming and costly to decontaminate, must be properly managed and protected to safeguard public health. This can be achieved by better predicting the flow of groundwater and contaminants. Researchers are also trying to develop new technologies that help make groundwater remediation cheaper and more effective.

The public has increasingly high expectations with regard to the taste, colour, smell, and safety of drinking water and to recreational water quality. At the same time, the quality of many water bodies used as municipal reservoirs is deteriorating as a result of urban sprawl, intensive agriculture, and sewage overflow.

Natural and human-induced gas emissions, contaminants, and aerosols affect the atmosphere and ultimately the oceans, which have already been significantly impacted by global warming, depletion, and gas exchange. A number of scientists are hard at work in the North to understand the impacts of these changes on water, biodiversity, the movement and spatial distribution of ocean organisms, the productivity of harvestable marine species, and the flow of matter and energy in Arctic ecosystems.