What does the site look like, and what is it like to work there?

The IISD Experimental Lakes Area research facility is located down a 30-km beautiful and bumpy gravel road. As you enter the camp, first you will see our workshop where our facilities manager works to keep our motorized equipment in working order. Next, you will see the fish laboratory and the chemistry laboratory. The chemistry laboratory building also provides space for offices and laboratory benches to house visiting researchers and the Hydro-limnology, Toxicology, Zooplankton, and Education and Outreach teams. On the other side of camp, Hungry Hall serves as both a dining hall and group use area for seminars, meetings, and just plain old relaxing. Surrounding Hungry Hall and the laboratories are several residences for staff, students, and visitors, including the Vallentyne and Johnson Residences. The site also has smaller cabin-like residences for scientists with families in the part of camp we fondly call Suburbia. All together, we can comfortably accommodate about 55 people.

Click here to go on a virtual fly-over of IISD-ELA’s research facility!

Or, click here to view camp from Artist in Residence, James Culleton’s point of view.

The IISD Experimental Lakes Area research facility is located on the shores of two of 58 experimental lakes, Lakes 239 and 240. These are two significant lakes, as Lake 239 serves as a Long-Term Ecological Research lake (see FAQ #4), and Lake 240 serves as a reference lake for our ongoing METAALICUS study.

• Watch our very own Ken Sandiland’s video for more information on the Met Site!
• Take a look at scientist Ken Sandiland’s blog post on why our lakes have numbers instead of names.

After working hours, families, staff, and students relax at the beach on the shore of Lake 239, enjoy the beach volleyball court, canoe, and prepare for the annual talent show, Variety Night, at the end of the season.

Even in winter, the science doesn’t stop! Our facility manager lives at camp year-round, and our scientists visit monthly to perform winter sampling tasks, such as collecting temperature data or flow data. And, if we didn’t already collect enough data, each morning, an individual at camp will collect data and perform maintenance tasks at the Canadian Air and Precipitation Monitoring Network meteorological site. This station was established in 1969 by the federal government and has been voluntarily run by IISD-ELA staff ever since.

Additionally, our Education and Outreach Team just completed their very first annual winter field course in early 2020.