Michelle Gray

Science Director, Canadian Research Institute

Academic interests

• Indicators of ecosystem health
• Environmental monitoring study design
• Long-term monitoring data analysis

Brief biography

Dr. Michelle Gray is a professor of environmental management at the Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Management at the University of New Brunswick. She is also a Science Director with the Canadian Rivers Institute (CRI). She holds a BSc in Biology and Environmental Science and an MSc in Watershed Ecosystems (Trent University), with a PhD in Biology (UNB) and specializes in aquatic environmental monitoring and assessment.

Michelle has been involved with the development and refinement of guidelines for the federal Environmental Effects Monitoring (EEM) program and for aquatic monitoring in Northern Canada. She has designed and conducted aquatic monitoring programs related to diamond and gold mines, pulp mills, agriculture, and shale gas development. Michelle teaches on environmental management tools, impact assessment, and practical online and field skills training such as the Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring Network (CABIN), electrofishing, and water quality data analysis. Her current research interests continue to look at novel and integrated tools to assess aquatic environmental health, and the utility of small-bodied fish species in monitoring by investigating their basic life history characteristics.

Courses taught

• Environmental Management Tools
• Environmental Impact Assessment
• Biophysical Foundations of Ecosystem Management
• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences Techniques
• Watershed Resources Management

Selected research

Erdozain M, Kreutzweiser DP, Emilson EJ, Kidd KA, Gray MA, Capell SS & Luu T (2021). Forest management impacts on stream integrity at varying intensities and spatial scales: do effects accumulate spatially? Do biological effects accumulate spatially? Science of the Total Environment. doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144043.

Erdozain M, Kreutzweiser DP, Emilson EJ, Kidd KA, Gray MA & Capell SS (2021). Forest management impacts on stream integrity at varying intensities and spatial scales: Do abiotic effects accumulate spatially? Science of the Total Environment. 753 (221). doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141968.

Ho E, Trant AJ, Gray MA & SC Courtenay (2020). Comparison of freshwater monitoring approaches: strengths, opportunities, and recommendations. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. 192: 614. doi.org/10.1007/s10661-020-08570-1.

Lento J, Gray MA, Ferguson A, & Curry RA (2020). Complementary responses of stream fish and benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages to environmental drivers in a shale-gas development area. FACETS. 5(1): 200-227. doi: 10.1139/facets-2019-0024.

Hards, A.R., M.A. Gray, S.C. Noël, R.A. Cunjak. 2019. Utility of condition indices as predictors of lipid content in slimy sculpin Cottus cognatus. Diversity. doi: 10.3390/d11050071.

Lento, J., M.A. Gray, A. Ferguson, and R.A. Curry. 2019. Establishing baseline biological conditions and monitoring metrics for stream benthic macroinvertebrates and fish in an area of potential shale gas development. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. doi: 10.1139/cjfas-2017-0574.

Gray, M.A., E.M. Walker, C. Brooks, and L. deMarsh. 2019. Analysis of environmental contaminants in muskrat root, Acorus americanus Raf.; a traditional indigenous medicinal plant. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. 102(2): 275-279. doi: 10.1007/s00128-018-2510-6.