Benjamin Hlina

Benjamin Hlina is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Windsor and Ontario Ministry of Natural Resource in Ontario, Canada. In this interview, we discuss lake trout ecology and habitat use in freshwater environments in Quebec and Ontario. 

What were you hoping to achieve with your research?

The purpose of my PhD research was to learn more about the habitat use of lake trout. Lake trout prefer cold-water environments, which are very sensitive to climate change. I hoped to better understand how climate change, and commercial and recreational fisheries, can affect how the species uses vital habitats.  

How is the surrounding community involved in the project?   

My PhD research took place at a private nature reserve in Quebec known as Kenauk Nature, which provides individuals with fishing and hunting opportunities. Due to the location, I had to juggle input from communities in both the private and public sectors. Everyone had different views on how they wanted to conserve and manage lake trout. Trying to get stakeholders to agree on our methods and future management strategies was challenging, but I was able to help relieve some of the tension by putting together different project updates and presentations on the goals and benefits of my research. This allowed for all parties to be informed and helped address any concerns the communities had. Another facet of community engagement was Kenauk Nature’s partnership with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC). Through this partnership, we provided workshops for NCC members to learn about aquatic ecosystems, the questions we were trying to answer as fish scientists, and information about the health of the fishery.  

What has been the most rewarding part of the project?

The most rewarding part of this project was seeing how much I grew as a scientist and witnessing the impact of my research. Collaboration with stakeholders in the area was critical for success, but I didn’t have previous experience with this type of work. It took me a while to learn how to take the complex data I had collected and frame the results into something everyone could understand. It was really rewarding to see how my research in Papineau Lake was used by scientists, conservation organizations and fisheries managers to better understand lake trout ecology and the effects of warming ecosystems.  

How did you first start collaborating with OTN? 

An old colleague of mine recommended joining OTN’s study halls. During study halls, we discuss project design, statistical analysis, and R code-related issues or tutorials. Study hall has been immensely helpful to my success throughout my PhD and postdoctoral fellowship. I encourage all graduate students and postdocs affiliated with OTN to attend study halls, as I have found them to be a great opportunity to meet other scientists, learn from them, discuss programming issues, and brainstorm ideas for research projects.  

What are you currently working on?

As a postdoctoral fellow my current research projects are focused on:

• Understanding the fundamental drivers of lake whitefish movement and habitat use in Lake Ontario.
• Spatial disparities in broad scale trophic processes for multiple fish species in Lake Ontario.
• Behaviour and habitat use of lake trout, lake whitefish, white sucker, and burbot in relation to an open-pen aquaculture facility in Parry Sound on Lake Huron.

These multiple research projects will hopefully assist in improving management strategies in the Great Lakes by giving scientists, fisheries managers, and decision-makers knowledge on how human–impacts influence distributions of native species.