New donation in memory of Jorgen hawkey

We've had meaningful donations made in memory of loved ones to support this project, which in turn is helping to train the next generation of environmental scientists. One new donation started this year, with a new multi-year funding commitment from Trent alumnus Mark Nicol. Mark's new donation is in memory of Jorgen Hawkey. With Mark's permission, below I've copied a short write-up about Jorgen that Mark wrote to share with Trent students whose work the donation is supporting.

Trent Aquatic Research Funding

In Memory of Jorgen Hawkey, a Passionate and Kind Spirit

Jorgen Joseph Hawkey. May 2, 1995 - July 18, 2024

This donation is given in memory of Jorgen Hawkey, a man whose life was defined not by grand gestures, but by quiet compassion and a deep connection to the world around him.

Jorgen was a sensitive and thoughtful person—someone who felt things deeply and cared sincerely for others. Through small acts of kindness, a listening ear, or simply being present, he made people feel valued and understood. His empathy guided how he lived, always with patience, humility, and respect.

Jorgen also held a deep love for the natural world. Whether tending to plants, working in a garden, or spending time outdoors, he found joy in nurturing life and watching it grow. Nature was not just something he admired—it was something he felt part of. This connection extended to his love of animals and the environment, reflecting a gentle and attentive spirit.

Fishing, in particular, was one of Jorgen’s greatest passions. It offered him peace, reflection, and a sense of belonging in the natural world he cherished so deeply. Time spent by the water was time well spent—quiet, meaningful, and restorative.

This funding is provided in the hope that Jorgen’s appreciation for nature, his care for living things, and his passion for fishing will continue through your research in fisheries. As you move forward in your studies, you also carry forward Jorgen’s spirit: one of kindness, curiosity, and respect for the natural world.

May Jorgen Hawkey’s memory live on not only through this donation, but through the positive impact you make on the water, ecosystems and the communities connected to it.

2026 Fieldwork Updates

By Emily Swick, MSc Student at Trent University

The last year has been busy for field crews from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and Trent University on Stoney Lake! Since this is the first fieldwork update in a while, and definitely the first since I have been on the project, here’s a brief look at what we’ve been up to lately.

Last fall (2025) we winded down the field season with a few tagging days on Stoney. In September, we were out tagging largemouth bass, walleye and musky. These tags are surgically implanted into fish and give us data on fish movement, depth, acceleration and/or body temperature. The tags transmit this data to acoustic receivers placed throughout the lake that “listen” for these transmissions. These receivers detect (“hear”) a fish’s tags when they swim by, and store the data transmitted by that tag. Each tag has a unique code, so we know which fish each transmission comes from. During these few days of tagging, most of these fish were tagged by my supervisors, Graham Raby and Jake Brownscombe, but I also got to help with a few!

Largemouth bass (left) and walleye (right) being tagged by myself (Emily). These fish receive water over their gills when the surgery takes place. All animal handling procedures and reviewed and approved by an institutional animal ethics committee, following best practices for fish handling and surgery.

Later in the fall when the water temperatures dropped, we were out about a week before the ice started to form to tag lake whitefish. After a few unsuccessful years that yielded only 2 fish tagged, our crew was able to capture and tag 29 whitefish in two nights! These are the only cold-water fish we have tagged in Stoney Lake, different from bass, walleye and musky who like warmer water. We expect to find that the whitefish occupy the deepest parts of the lake, especially in the summer when water temperatures near the surface are too hot for them to survive in. This makes these fish an exciting edition to the project, and we can't wait to study their behaviours.

A lake whitefish tagged by Dr. Jake Brownscombe (DFO) last November.

We started off the 2026 tagging season strong in May with more walleye and smallmouth bass tagging. The tags we use in these fish last about 2 years, and so we are always interested in adding more walleye and bass to the project to give us many years of important data. We also welcomed a new member to the project, Stewart Pim, who is doing him masters at Trent University using the musky tracking data from Stoney Lake.  

Amber Fedus (left, PhD candidate), Stewart Pim (middle, Masters student) and one of the smallmouth bass that we tagged (right).

In July, Kurt Smith (Fisheries and Oceans Canada) led our 4^th annual receiver download on Stoney. The acoustic receivers we use store data and need to be retrieved once a year to download the data and for maintenance (new batteries). Fish biologists use a variety of methods for retrieving their receivers, including boat hooks, automatic release receivers (that float to the surface at the push of a button) and even grappling lines. On Stoney, we have a fancy under-water drone that Kurt uses to hook a rope to the receiver anchor so the whole thing can be pulled up (all 85lbs of concrete anchor).

Stewart (left) and myself (middle) learning to drive the drone, and what the drone sees (right).

The receivers are suspended just off the bottom and are placed throughout the lake at a range of depths. Downloading the data from all 74 receivers provides the graduate students on the project, Amber, Stewart and I, with millions of data points to wrangle for our specific research questions. 41.6M detections across 74 receiver locations from 353 fish we've tagged (7 species), to be precise - that's where we're at as of our July 2026 download.

The receivers we use to “listen” for fish, this one seemed to be a favorite spot for lots of zebra mussels.

This August, we met with members of the Stoney Lake community at Viamede Resort to share some updates on the project. We also provided a glimpse into some of our recent findings about fish behaviour and habitat preferences (more on those will be shared to this blog soon!).

Some pics from our August 2026 public update meeting at Viamede: Jake (left), me (centre), and Graham and I (right).

Join us in-person on August 8 for a project update

Hey folks - this blog hasn't been as active as I'd like it to have been (so far), but our annual meeting is coming up again here soon which is a great chance to connect with me and the project team in person, get some glimpses at what we're finding with our fish tracking data on Stoney, and give input on the future of the project.

We're hosting a public meeting at Viamede on Saturday August 8 at 2PM. The invite that's been sent out is copied below; all are welcome but we're asking for RSVP's this year. Please forward to anyone you think may be interested. Hope to see you there!

If you have any questions in the meantime, including about this event, feel free to email me: grahamraby@trentu.ca

Graham

You are invited to the 5th annual gathering to hear updates about the Stoney Lake Fish Tracking Project. For this meeting, we are inviting residents and cottagers from Clear, Stoney and Upper Stoney who have an interest in the ongoing research activities, learning more about the health of our lakes and Trent University’s work in communities.

There will be presentations by myself, Dr. Graham Raby, about a fish tracking project we’ve been conducting on Stoney Lake since 2022. Dr. Jake Brownscombe (Scientist for Fisheries and Oceans Canada) and Emily Swick (MSc student) also spend time providing a glimpse at our findings about fish behaviour and their habitat preferences. After the presentation there will be a Q&A session and an opportunity to give feedback to shape the direction of the research.

Ben Samann and Viamede Resort have generously offered to provide their space for this event.

Event Details:🗓 Saturday, August 8, 2026🕑 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.📍 Kawartha Room, Viamede Resort 595 Mt Julian Viamede Rd, Woodview, ON K0L 3E0

Parking is available in Viamede’s three parking lots and docking will be available if you arrive by boat.

Please RSVP here.

Thank you and we hope you can attend.

Dr. Graham Raby Assistant Professor, Biology Trent University