Biology Professor Receives Fulbright to Study Local Water Systems in Canada

By Peter Grennen

You might call him a modern-day “compleat angler.” A fly-fishing enthusiast who often casts his line in the lakes and rivers of Maine, William Hagar of the Biology Department is well acquainted with the splendid opportunities to be found at those latitudes for outdoorsmen. But in February, when he crosses Maine’s eastern border to begin a six-month stay as a visiting scholar at the University of New Brunswick, Hagar will be focused less on what he can take out of those northern freshwater bodies than on the condition of the water itself.

Early last April, Hagar received word that he had been named a Fulbright Award recipient, the latest UMass Boston scholar—and the thirty-sixth in the last twenty years—to be honored this way. For Hagar, the award represents both the realization of a long-standing personal ambition and an acknowledgment of scholarly accomplishment. “I always wanted to try for a Fulbright,” he says. “But when I first looked into it I saw no topics in my specific area, so I submitted a wild card ‘interactive environmental analysis and education.’ Then I needed colleagues—one from UMass Boston and one from another institution—to vouch for it.”

While in Canada, Hagar will be affiliated with the laboratory of Professor R. A. Cunjak, director of the Canadian Rivers Institute and a specialist in the ecology of Atlantic salmon and other riverine fishes. Hagar intends to expand upon one of his principal scholarly pursuits of recent years—the effects on freshwater biota of atmospheric pollution such as acid precipitation. In addition, he hopes to join forces with Cunjak on a project of interest to both of them—analysis of pollutant levels in the food webs of freshwater ecosystems.
Hagar is eager to avail himself of all that the University of New Brunswick offers a researcher in his field. “It’s a waypoint at the northern terminus of a major North American rust belt, which is a huge consideration in explaining transient changes in the acidity of local water systems produced by springtime snowmelt and other natural events,” says Hagar.

Highly regarded for his multimedia-enhanced teaching methods—he’s a former recipient of the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award—and his pioneering work in remote sensing systems that extend the reach of the laboratory, Hagar sees his stint in Canada as a unique chance to share not only ideas but novel approaches to technology. “This is an opportunity,” he says, “to increase awareness of old and new technologies—to demonstrate, for example, how PC-based means of collecting and logging data are being replaced by cell telephone, Palmtop, and other methods.”

According to Hagar, recent advances in monitoring equipment are an important development because time has become a critical factor in this type of research. “Changes in water quality are short-lived, so to predict harmful effects, it is crucial to be able to obtain data that is up-to-the-minute. Palmtop and other devices can be placed on site for weeks, where they can collect and store data, then transmit it back to the laboratory.”

Unfortunately, time saved in fieldwork does not always translate into more leisure time. During his visit to Canada, Hagar will be hard-pressed to find room in his schedule for his favorite hobby. Even so, he will doubtless derive much satisfaction from knowing that his work is helping to keep in good supply the organisms that inhabit nature’s water systems.

Image: Bill Hagar, associate professor of biology, is shown here with his students in the UMass Boston Greenhouse. He will serve as a visiting scholar at the University of New Brunswick for six months beginning in February 2003. (Photo by Richard Howard)

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