2019-Sep-28
Karl Schiefer, Scientist (1944-2019)
A great friend to Georgian Bay passed away September 17 at Sunnybrook Hospital. Karl was a scientist, with degrees from the University of Guelph (BSc) and University of Waterloo (MSc, PhD). He was also an assistant professor at the University of Waterloo and a director of numerous corporations in Canada and the US. Karl spearheaded numerous research projects, primarily in the field of aquatic biology. Despite his busy schedule, Karl always offered his expertise to help protect Georgian Bay whenever needed, and his professional expertise was immensely valuable to GBA and your other Georgian Bay organizations over the years. His involvement with GBA started in the late 1990s when he volunteered as an expert advisor on fisheries and water quality issues. In 1999 he helped design GBA’s first water test protocol for bacteria that was subsequently used by both the Township of the Archipelago and the Township of Georgian Bay. Early on he advised GBA’s Fisheries Committee as it engaged the government on revising recreational fishing policies. He was a long-time member of the GBA Aquaculture Committee working on the environmental impacts of open-cage aquaculture on the Bay. During the low water levels era of 2000-2014 in Georgian Bay, Karl spoke out on how this impacted aquatic ecosystems. Karl has been a guest speaker at numerous GBA workshops, including our Annual General Meeting in 2000 and our 100th anniversary symposium in 2016. His valuable counsel, expert knowledge, genuine friendship and unflagging commitment will be deeply missed by the GBA community. More details on his life can be found here.
Karl’s talk at GBA’s 100th anniversary symposium was compiled into a set of articles published as The Amazing, Unique Ecosystems of Georgian Bay Parts 1 & 2. Taken from Karl’s contribution to the book Georgian Bay: A Unique North American Ecosystem, these articles outline what makes Georgian Bay’s ecosystem is so special.
His lecture was compiled into a two part article on the Amazing, Unique Beauty of Georgian Bay Ecosystems