Science Outreach
Participation in the “TD Summer Reading Club”
During summer 2026, we offered scientific outreach activities in15 libraries of the city of Montréal, in the context of the TD Summer Reading Club, under the theme of ‘Dive In!’. On the schedule: aquatic fauna collected in your neighbourhood, our boardgame, Limnonautes, as well as a fish pond. We also gave demonstrations to explain our interactions with our watershed, the stratification of lakes, water transparency, and dissolved gases.
More than 345 kids, aged 2 to 13, and their families participated in the activities. They were very enthousiastic, attentive and eager to learn more about the aquatic life around them and their interactions with it.
Exhibit “Watersheds: Follow the Flow” at Biosphere Museum
Our team conceived and served as scientific advisors for the design of the exhibit, presented at Montréal’s Biosphere in collaboration with Espace pour la vie and the design firm TKNL. Aimed at families and youth aged 8–14, the exhibit provides an immersive, personalized, and interactive experience within a watershed, engaging the senses of hearing, touch, sight, and smell while exploring a variety of aquatic ecosystems. Visitors follow the journey of water from its sources through rivers, lakes, and wetlands, discovering the rich biodiversity of aquatic environments and uncovering what happens beneath the surface.
Boardgame “Limnonautes: A Journey through a Watershed”
We created a board game focused on environmental science and limnology—topics often only briefly covered in classrooms. In a 30–45-minute session, students aged 11–14 journey through a representative watershed, from headwater streams to the ocean, learning about the biological, chemical, and physical characteristics of aquatic ecosystems, as well as human impacts and ways to mitigate them. Students explore key topics such as types of aquatic ecosystems, water quality indices, the biology and ecology of aquatic organisms, and the effects of human activities. The game has been tested at science events including Eureka Festival 2022 and Women and Girls in Science 2023 and 2024 at the Montreal Science Centre, where students engaged with the material, answered trivia questions, solved challenges, and discovered fun facts along a visually rich watershed path.
With this project, we took part in several outreach events, such as the Eurêka Festival and Women and Girls in Science at the Montreal Science Centre (2023 and 2024).
Behind the scenes of a field camaign: from science to camaraderie
As part of its YouTube video call launched last summer under the DIALOGUE Program, GRIL selected a proposal developed by members of the BiCÉAB research group, led by Paul A. del Giorgio at the Université du Québec à Montréal.
Titled “Behind the Scenes of a Field Campaign: From Science to Camaraderie”, the video was filmed during sampling campaigns conducted in August and October 2022, offering a unique look at the team’s fieldwork and scientific activities.