Dr. Jennifer Lento
Dr. Jennifer Lento is the current Director of the Canadian Rivers Institute and a Research Scientist based in the Department of Biology at the University of New Brunswick (Fredericton). She is the Science Coordinator of the Freshwater Steering Group of the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP), part of the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF), which is the biodiversity working group of the Arctic Council. She is also a co-chair of the Freshwater Biodiversity Observation Network (FW BON) of GEO BON.
Dr. Lento's research focus is diversity and ecological function of freshwater food webs, with an emphasis on benthic assemblages. Her research evaluates the structural and functional biotic response to natural drivers and anthropogenic stressors as a way to inform practical applications of biomonitoring. This includes the development of biomonitoring designs and testing of appropriate biotic response metrics. Over the last 10 years, much of Dr. Lento's work has been focused on assessing Arctic freshwater biodiversity in the face of a changing climate, and she recently co-led the CBMP's first circumpolar assessment of the state of Arctic freshwater biodiversity.