Alexa Alexander Trusiak

Academic interests

• Aquatic ecology and entomology
• Multiple stressors
• Experimental design and field studies

Biography

Dr. Alexander-Trusiak is an Environment and Climate Change Canada research scientist and Visiting Research Professor co-located in the Biology Department at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton. Dr. Alexander Trusiak’s primary role is in research, development and analysis, with a focus on the development and application of integrated assessment approaches to separate and diagnose the effects of multiple stressors in aquatic ecosystems.

Her research targets critical areas where current environmental guidelines are inadequate or where thresholds for environmental sustainability are required. Her research to date, investigates the combined effects of interacting natural and anthropogenic gradients on the ecological structure and function of riverine ecosystems at multiple spatial and temporal scales.

Courses taught

• Regular guest lecturer in Biology (e.g., BIOL 4973, BIOL 3943)
• BIOL 6149 Statistical Design and Analysis of Experimental Data (2014-2015)
• BIOL 2105 Research Foundations in Ecology, Evolution and Population Biology (2011-2012).

Selected research

Thomas K, AC Alexander, and PA Chambers. 2022. Contribution of rain events to surface water loading in 3 watersheds in Canada's Alberta Oil Sands region. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies 40: 101028-

Culp JM, IG Droppo, PD di Cenzo, AC Alexander-Trusiak, DJ Baird, S Beltaos, G Bickerton, B Bonsal, RB Brua, PA Chambers, Y Dibike, NE Glozier, J Kirk, L Levesque, M McMaster, D Muir, J Parrott, D Peters, K Pippy, and JW Roy. 2021. Ecological effects and causal synthesis of oil sands activity impacts on river ecosystems: water synthesis review. Environmental Reviews 29: 315-327

Alexander AC, E Bowser, E Luiker, D Hryn, D Halliwell, K Heard and JM Culp. 2020. Outdoor mesocosm experiments to improve understanding of risks to environmental health. Nature Protocol Exchange (Open Access)

Alexander AC, B Levenstein, LA Sanderson, EA Blukacz-Richards, and PA Chambers. 2020. How does climate variability affect water quality dynamics in Canada’s oil sands region? Science of the Total Environment 732: 139062

Wasiuta V, J Kirk, P Chambers, AC Alexander, F Wyatt, R Rooney, and C Cooke. 2019. Accumulating mercury and methylmercury burdens in watersheds impacted by oil sands pollution. Environmental Science & Technology 53: 12856-12864

Howland JR, AC Alexander, D Milani, K Peru, and JM Culp. 2019. Risks of mixtures of oil sands contaminants to a sensitive mayfly sentinel, Hexagenia. Diversity (Open Access Special Issue Aquatic Environmental Monitoring and Assessment) 11(8):118-

Howland JR, AC Alexander, D Milani, K Peru, and JM Culp. 2019. Effects of oil sands process water mixtures on the mayfly Hexagenia and field-collected aquatic macroinvertebrate communities. Ecotoxicology 28(6):658-668. doi: 10.1007/s10646-019-02061-x

Connor SJ, AC Alexander, and DJ Baird. 2018. Vulnerability of diatom communities in the Peace-Athabasca Delta to environmental change. PeerJ 6:e5447 

Alexander AC, PA Chambers, and D Jeffries. 2017. Episodic acidification of 5 rivers in Canada’s oil sands during snowmelt: a 25-year record. Science of the Total Environment 599-600: 739-749

Alexander AC, and PA Chambers. 2016. Assessment of 7 Canadian Rivers in relation to stages in oil sands industrial development, 1972 to 2010. Environmental Reviews 24: 484-494.

Alexander AC, JM Culp, DJ Baird, and AJ Cessna. 2016. Nutrient-contaminant interactions decouple density-dependent responses in aquatic and emergent insects. Freshwater Biology (Special Issue). 61: 2090-2101