We are pleased to announce the election of Dr. Jennifer Lento as co-chair of the Freshwater Biodiversity Observation Network (FW BON), joining Eren Turak and Andreas Bruder in leading this thematic BON.
Jennifer is a research scientist with the Canadian Rivers Institute at the University of New Brunswick (Fredericton, Canada) who joined FW BON in 2016. She has been a regional coordinator for the group since its endorsement by GEO BON in 2017.
Since 2010, Jennifer has been the Science Coordinator for the Freshwater Steering Group of the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP-Freshwater), the Arctic BON of GEO BON and part of the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) working group of the Arctic Council. She led the development of the first State of Arctic Freshwater Biodiversity Report by CBMP-Freshwater (completed in 2019) and coordinated the compilation and harmonization of freshwater biodiversity data from the circumpolar region to build the CBMP-Freshwater database.
Her research focuses on patterns in biodiversity and ecological function of freshwater food webs, and she has worked on developing and promoting harmonized sample collection and large-scale coordination of biodiversity assessment. Her research evaluates structural and functional biotic responses to natural drivers and anthropogenic stressors to inform practical applications of biomonitoring, including the development of biomonitoring designs and testing of appropriate biotic response metrics.
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jennifer-Lento
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=6KZTOo4AAAAJ&hl=en