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A DEEP

DIVE INTO

UNDERWATER

SCIENTIFIC

RESEARCH

By Joseph Mathieu
Photos by Joseph Mathieu, Pinegrove Productions and
Nigel Waltho

From the deck of a pontoon boat, Carleton

University Biology Prof. Nigel Waltho taught a
new kind of field course this summer.

The first iteration of his Canadian Scientific Research Diver course,
organized through the Ontario Universities Program in Field Biology
(OUPFB), was a one-of-a-kind offering to Ontario post-secondary
students. It combined the best practices for diving safety, under-
water navigation and accident management with scientific diving
techniques, experimental research design and statistical analysis of
complex ecological data sets.
“This course could enable Carleton to lead academic research dive
training for all Ontario,” said Waltho.
Although offered by a Carleton professor, the OUPFB course was
open to students attending any of its 15 participating universities,
including Carleton. Each of the six students in Waltho’s first cohort
was a certified scuba diver completing a bachelor or graduate pro-
gram in biology, environmental science or a related field.
The course headquarters were the Queen’s University Biological
Station (QUBS) on Opinicon Lake, about an hour and a half drive
southwest from Ottawa. With the Station’s pontoon boat loaded
with a small armory of scuba gear, the class travelled and dove
throughout the shallow lake. Later in the course, they also
travelled through the Rideau Canal locks to the deeper Indian and
Clear Lakes.

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