Andrea E. Kirkwood

Andrea Elizabeth Kirkwood is a Canadian environmental microbiologist and aquatic ecologist, and a professor in the Faculty of Science at Ontario Tech University in Oshawa, Ontario.^[1] Her research focuses on freshwater ecosystems, particularly algae, invasive aquatic species, and urban water quality.

Kirkwood was raised in Scarborough, Ontario, and spent summers at her family's cottage in Haliburton, where she developed an interest in nature.^[2] She earned a Bachelor of Environmental Studies from the University of Waterloo in 1994, an M.Sc. in aquatic ecology from McMaster University in 1996 studying mercury bioaccumulation, and a Ph.D. in environmental microbiology from the University of Toronto in 2003, researching cyanobacteria in pulp and paper wastewater.^[2]

After completing her Ph.D., Kirkwood undertook postdoctoral research at Oklahoma State University (2002–2004) and the University of Calgary (2005–2008).^[2] She joined Ontario Tech University in 2008 as an assistant professor. She was promoted to associate professor in 2014, and became a full professor in 2022 and the first woman to reach that rank in the Faculty of Science at the institution.^[2]

In 2023, she was appointed the Research Excellence Chair in Urban Water for the 2023–2025 term.^[3] She teaches undergraduate courses in ecology, conservation biology, environmental research methods, and aquatic ecology,^[1] and supervises graduate students.

Kirkwood directs the Collaborative Laboratory in Environmental Aquatic Research (CLEAR) at Ontario Tech, which investigates microbial and algal communities in freshwater systems affected by urbanization.^[1]

Her notable research contributions include:

• A 2009 study on hotspots for blooms of Didymosphenia geminata downstream of dams.^[4]
• A 2012 study on microbial diversity and contaminant biodegradation in urban stormwater wetlands.^[5]
• A 2016 PeerJ study screening wastewater microalgae for biofuel potential.^[6]
• A 2020 paper linking invasive starry stonewort with zebra mussels and cyanobacterial blooms in Lake Scugog.^[7]

From 2016 to 2019, she served on the International Joint Commission’s Great Lakes Science Advisory Board.^[8]

Kirkwood has provided commentary in Canadian media on algal blooms and urban water systems, and was featured in Canadian Science Publishing’s “Women in Science” series in 2014.^[9]

• Kirkwood AE, Jackson LJ, McCauley E (2009). “Are dams hotspots for Didymosphenia geminata blooms?” Freshwater Biology 54 (9): 1856–1863. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2427.2009.02231.x.
• Massimi R, Kirkwood AE (2016). “Screening microalgae isolated from urban storm- and wastewater systems as feedstock for biofuel.” PeerJ 4: e2396. doi:10.7717/peerj.2396.
• Gilbert N, Fulthorpe R, Kirkwood AE (2012). “Microbial diversity, tolerance and biodegradation potential of urban wetlands with different input regimes.” Canadian Journal of Microbiology 58 (8): 887–897. doi:10.1139/w2012-066.
• Harrow-Lyle TJ, Kirkwood AE (2020). “The invasive macrophyte Nitellopsis obtusa may facilitate invasive mussels and Microcystis blooms in a large, shallow lake.” Aquatic Invasions 15 (3): 388–410. doi:10.3391/ai.2020.15.3.05.