David Zilkey Email & Phone Number

Huntsville, ON, CA

• 8-week contract running January-February 2025 as part of the Living Data Project with the Canadian Institute of Ecology and Evolution
• Producing the 2025 Canadian Watershed Reports to assess and understand watershed health with a focus on water quality, flow, fish, and invertebrates.
• Digitizing and archiving historical data following key principles in reproducibility and open science
• Cleaning and analyzing data to produce watershed health scores informed by evidence-based guidelines
• Automating watershed report data analysis and writing using RMarkdown

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

• PhD Thesis title: Sediment geochemistry of Canadian lakes: Spatiotemporal patterns, environmental associations, and measurement techniques
• Analyzed datasets of over 100 environmental variables for 600+ lakes across Canada, including 200+ years of time-series data to identify and explain long-term changes in Canadian lake health
• Lead author of two peer-reviewed articles published in academic journals; co-author on four additional articles; two articles in preparation.
• Teaching assistant for seven undergraduate and graduate courses including freshwater science, research design and dissemination, and statistical analysis
• Awarded a Mitacs Globalink Research Internship to live and work in Chambéry, France for four months to collaborate with international governmental and academic partners

London, Ontario, Canada

• MSc Thesis title: An investigation of epiphytic diatom substrate specificity and its use in paleolimnology
• Identified and enumerated tens of thousands of microalgae to assess algal community composition and used these patterns to develop a method to infer historical aquatic plant community composition
• Awarded a $15,000 Mitacs Accelerate Internship Grant to assess and report on the state of Chandos Lake in partnership with the Chandos Lake Property Owners Association
• Teaching assistant for eight undergraduate courses including climate change and advocacy and natural disasters

Burlington, Ontario

• Organized and conducted field sampling and laboratory analyses in support of monitoring programs for Hamilton Harbour, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario
• Gained experience utilizing various tools such as vacuum filtration systems, spectrophotometers, fluorometers and water quality sondes
• Completed MEDA3 personal safety training for safety at sea

Burlington, Ontario

• Development of target goals and management practices within the Lake Huron and Lake Superior basins
• Engaged partners in provincial, municipal, and Indigenous governments, conservation authorities, and the public in environmental initiatives
• Produced executive summaries of weekly Lake Huron and Superior working group meetings
• Participated in literature review, writing, and editing scientific documents for internal and public consumption, including the 2017-2021 Lake Huron Lakewide Action Management Plan

280 North Service Road, Oakville ON

I was regularly left in charge of the store, with the expectation of handling refunds and exchanges, customer complaints, and other inquiries. I efficiently performed various office based tasks such as data entry and till balancing. The highlight of my job was interacting with customers; I aimed to leave a positive impression on every customer who entered.

1360 Speers Road, Unit B, Oakville ON

I worked part-time at Britnell Ventures in the warehouse; my duties included picking and packing orders for shipment, organization of product, and data entry. Britnell has provided me with a "behind the scenes look" into business by placing me in the warehouse where product is shipped. I learned about the importance of teamwork in the workplace and the.

Oakville, Ontario

My first job as an umpire quickly taught me the importance of time-management and prioritization. I continue to refine these skills as a university student, with the knowledge that I still have plenty of room for growth and development of them. My time umpiring for Oakville Little League gave me the first taste of real responsibility and taught me the.

Doctor Of Philosophy - Phd, Biology

Master Of Science - Msc, Geography

Bachelor’S Degree, Earth And Environmental Sciences Co-Op

Activities and Societies: McMaster Residence Green Team, Geography and Earth Sciences Society Peer Mentor, McMaster Student Union (MSU).