EDMONTON -- The University of Alberta has announced that world-renowned environmental researcher and professor David Schindler has died.
Born in Fargo, N.D., Schindler earned a PhD in ecology from the University of Oxford before starting his career as the founding director of the Experimental Lakes Area in northwestern Ontario, where he spent 20 years running ecosystem-scale experiments.
During that time, his work proved that pollutants such as phosphate-based detergents and fertilizers were leading to destruction of freshwater bodies in Canada. His advocacy led to the North America-wide banning of phosphates in detergents. He also studied the effects of acid rain and climate change on the health and biodiversity of the environment.
Schindler joined the U of A’s Faculty of Science in 1989, where he continued to research the implications of industry on the environment until his retirement in 2013.
“His respect from his peers is pretty clear. His science was outstandingly recognized and his advocacy was a reflection of who he was,” said friend and U of A colleague Michael Caldwell.
“His research on the effects of phosphorus on lakes in the experimental lakes program was profound, and the ramifications of his research to the broader public and the environment are still relevant,” said U of A colleague and long time friend Mark Boyce.
He earned numerous awards, and was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 2004, and named to the Alberta Order of Excellence in 2008. In 2020 he was named one of the greatest Canadian explorers of all time by Canadian Geographic.
Outside of work, Schindler was passionate about dog sledding.
“I think he had 90 dogs at one point and he would lament the effects of climate change interfering with his dogs,” Boyce said.
Schindler was 80.
