SACKVILLE - A trio of university professors have been given a grant to purchase a hovercraft for research in the Cumberland Basin between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
Mount Allison biology professors Dr. Matt Litvak and Dr. Diana Hamilton, together with UNB professor Dr. Myriam Barbeau, were awarded nearly $60,000 to purchase a hovercraft through a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Research Tools and Instruments Grant. The hovercraft will be utilized for three separate research programs in different seasons. It has made several runs since its arrival on July 16, with data already being collected.
Currently Hamilton and Barbeau are using the hovercraft for their research in the area of mud flat ecology, specifically in the area of mud shrimp - how they move, populate and repopulate. Mount Allison post-doctoral fellow, Dr. David Drolet, is currently in charge of the study and has been actively involved in setting up nets on the mudflats with the help of the hovercraft - a task which proved much more difficult, even impossible, with previous equipment.
"I've been thinking about a hovercraft for field work for years, but never thought it was possible. This is a new, innovative way for us to complete our research, that is much more efficient than our previous methods by boat or on foot," said Hamilton.
The hovercraft allows the team to extend their reach in terms of how far and fast they can go. The researchers can now quickly cover all areas of the mudflats and can glide from land to water with no difficulty and without disturbing the mud flats or its inhabitants.
Litvak's fieldwork is completed in the colder, winter months. He and his team drill holes in the ice of the Saint John River and lower cameras into the water to study sturgeon, a species of fish. He says having access to this hovercraft has huge advantages for all involved.
"The biggest advantages of this hovercraft are safety and efficiency. We are really able to extend our research season with the ability to travel safely over land, water, and ice. Normally our boats are out of the water around November and after that, if the ice is too thin, we can't walk on it. In the past couple of years our ice-work has been limited to two weeks," says Litvak.
He and his team are now able to track sturgeon and other species 12 months of the year, which opens up tremendous avenues for more complete research coverage.
