Swan Lake Citizen Science Lab (SLCS Lab)

About the SLCS Lab

Nestled within the urban landscape of Markham, Swan Lake Park is a cherished community green space facing some environmental challenges, particularly concerning water quality and the health of its ecosystem. The Swan Lake Citizen Science Lab (SLCS Lab) was established to confront these challenges head-on, transforming concern into action through collaborative research, innovative technologies, and the invaluable contributions of citizen scientists.

Born from a partnership between York University's CIFAL York, the One Water Institute, ADERSIM, and the dedicated Friends of Swan Lake, our lab is a unique initiative. We combine advanced scientific methods – including drone-based mapping, AI-driven data analysis, and traditional fieldwork – with the power of community engagement. Our mission is to develop a locally rooted, effective, and collaborative citizen science program that not only gathers critical data on Swan Lake's water quality, biodiversity, and overall health but also empowers more residents to become active stewards of their local environment. By working together, scientists, students, and community members are building a deeper understanding of Swan Lake's complex dynamics and working towards sustainable solutions for its long-term well-being. This experience and knowledge will be shared globally.

Why Swan Lake Matters?

History

Despite facing notable environmental challenges, Swan Lake and its surrounding park in Markham, Ontario, possess a compelling history and serve as a valuable community asset. Originally a gravel extraction pit dating back to the 1850s, the site was transformed into a lake in the 1980s after the cessation of gravel operations. Today, Swan Lake Park spans 11 hectares, featuring a 5.4-hectare man-made lake, woodlands, and a network of trails, including a main path that encircles the lake.

Opportunities

This urban green space is a significant attribute, offering residents opportunities for recreation like walking, jogging, and bird watching.The park is recognized for its biodiversity, hosting numerous bird species (over 182 recorded), as well as various mammals, turtles (including native painted and snapping turtles, alongside invasive red-eared sliders), and a diversity of benthic invertebrates that serve as indicators of water quality.

Challenges

Swan Lake grapples with persistent environmental issues, primarily poor water quality due to high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen, attributed mainly to internal sediment loading and Canada geese, leading to recurrent and sometimes toxic algal blooms.Elevated chloride levels from de-icing materials also pose a concern.

Solutions

Efforts to mitigate these issues have included chemical treatments Phoslock and Poly aluminum chloride, and shoreline naturalization projects. Despite these challenges, Swan Lake Park remains a cherished local amenity, providing ecological habitat, recreational opportunities, and a focal point for community engagement and conservation efforts aimed at its long-term health and sustainability.

The SLCS Lab Focus Areas

Scientific Research

Engage professional researchers to design authentic, peer-reviewed research projects.
Utilize citizen-generated data to develop hypotheses and address ecological and social questions.
Foster collaboration between scientists, engineers, community members, and stakeholders.
Contribute to scientific and technical investigations and analyses.

Public Engagement

Increase awareness among local communities regarding ecological and environmental issues.
Encourage active participation in citizen science projects to foster stewardship behaviors.
Empower citizens to actively participate in the scientific process, from data collection and analysis to sharing findings and developing solutions to local or global challenges.

Environmental Communication and Education

Promote education, awareness, and action through innovative approaches.
Educate participants on biodiversity, ecological interactions, and human impacts on ecosystems.
Develop a sense of belonging and responsibility toward the environment.
Create a platform for environmental communication through storytelling and emotional engagement.

Actionable Solutions

Enhance community-based environmental monitoring, protection, stewardship, and action.
Propose concrete, scientifically-supported solutions for ecological restoration and sustainability.
Build networks among stakeholders to collaboratively address local environmental challenges.
Inspire actionable change by connecting people to Swan Lake's story.

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The SLCS Lab Structure

Water Quality and Biodiversity Assessment Task Force

Utilizes multiple drones to collect water samples, as well as perform thermal, orthographic, and multispectral imaging of the lake and park.

Water Quality Assessment

Nutrient Levels: measuring nitrogen and phosphorus forms to assess eutrophication and pollution sources.
Chlorophyll-a: provides ground-truth data to calibrate multispectral estimates of algal growth.
Turbidity & TSS: precisely quantify suspended particles to support remote sensing model calibration.
Dissolved Oxygen (DO): indicating ecosystem health and identifying pollution or oxygen depletion.
pH & Alkalinity: assessing water’s acidity and buffering capacity.
Conductivity & TDS: reveal mineralization levels and pollutant sources.
Fecal Indicator Bacteria (e.g., E. coli): detect sewage or animal waste contamination.
Chemical Pollutants: identify hazardous substances like heavy metals or pesticides.
CDOM: quantifying dissolved organic matter affecting water color and clarity.

Biodiversity Monitoring

Phytoplankton & Zooplankton: assessing food web health and response to water quality.
eDNA Analysis: detecting the presence of aquatic species without capturing them.

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Virtual Reality and Agent-Based Simulation Task Force

Virtual Reality

Uses Virtual Reality to simulate current and future interventions in the lake and developing VR-based learning and educational tools for environmental awareness and protection.

Some of the VR applications that SLCS Lab aims to develop are:

Education Applications
Training Applications
Visualization Applications
Planning and Intervention Tools

Education Applications

Virtual Field Trips
Ecosystem Exploration
Water Quality Visualization
Watershed & Runoff Education
Historical Changes

Training Applications

Water Sampling Practice
Multispectral Interpretation
Field Survey Simulations
Emergency Response Scenarios

Visualization Applications

Immersive Data Exploration
Layer Integration
Stakeholder Presentations

Planning and Intervention Tools

Rehabilitation Scenario Modeling
Infrastructure Impact Evaluation
Sampling Optimization
Public Engagement

Our Base Swan Lake VR Application Demo

Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation

The SLCS Lab Agent-based modeling team will use agent-based modeling to model the complex dynamics of environmental variables and interventions. Using Agent-Based Modeling, we can:

Test the impact of environmental regulations and protection policies over time.
Simulate habitats behavior, population changes, and how aquatic life interacts in the food web.
Model how pollutants and chemicals enter, spread, and affect the lake ecosystem.
Track the spread of invasive species and test control strategies.
Explore how people’s activities (like boating or fishing) impact the lake.
Simulate nutrient cycles, algae growth, and overall water quality.
Evaluate how habitat restoration and land use changes influence lake health.
Model the effects of weather and climate change on the lake and its species.
Represent decision-making by lake managers and test different management strategies.
Study how water flows, mixes, and moves sediment across the lake.

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Artificial Intelligence and Data Science Task Force

Uses Artificial Intelligence for data analysis, prediction, and classification of water quality and biodiversity data and builds AI-enhanced educational and planning applications.

Some of the key AI application areas of SLCS Lab are:

Data Classification & Analysis
Prediction and Modeling
Insight & Discovery
Reasoning and Explainable AI

Data Processing & Analysis

Using deep learning (CNNs) to map vegetation, algal blooms, and invasive species from drone imagery.
Training models to predict water quality (e.g., chlorophyll-a, turbidity) using spectral and sample data.
Applying anomaly detection to spot pollution events or sudden ecosystem changes.

Predictive Modeling

Forecasting future water quality trends like algal blooms or DO changes using historical and environmental data.
Predicting biodiversity patterns based on habitat conditions and eDNA analysis.

Insight & Discovery

Identify key environmental drivers of water quality changes.
Reveal ecological relationships (e.g., nutrients vs. algal growth or species distribution).

Reasoning and Explaining

Enabling natural language queries like “Where is turbidity highest this week?”
Auto-generating monitoring reports and summaries from collected data.
Explaining complex water quality concepts in simple language for education or VR tools.
Simulating “what-if” scenarios (e.g., pollution or restoration outcomes).
Producing educational content for tours, species guides, and ecosystem overviews.

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Drone Mapping and GIS Task Force

Uses GIS and mapping technologies to map data collected by other task forces and turn them into webmap applications, dashboards, and story maps for monitoring, decision making, and educational purposes.

SLCS Lab will focus on the following drone mapping and GIS activities:

Thermal Mapping
Multispectral Mapping
Drone Water Sampling
WebGIS Applications, Dashboards, and Story Maps

Thermal Mapping

GIS and Mapping Task Force utilizes DJI Matrice 30T for thermal mapping to support the assessment of Swan Lake's water quality. Thermal mapping provides the following opportunities.

Detecting Thermal Anomalies & Discharge Points.
Mapping Surface Temperature Distribution.
Supporting Algal Bloom Monitoring.
Guiding Water Sampling & Monitoring.
Assessing Aquatic Habitat Conditions.

Multispectral Mapping

Water Quality Monitoring (Detecting chlorophyll-a & algal blooms; turbidity & suspended solids: CDOM detection, water Clarity)
Aquatic Vegetation & Biodiversity Mapping.
Lake Morphology & Surroundings.

Drone Water Sampling

We use DJI Matrice 350 RTK and Speedip Smart Water Sampling System to collect water samples from the lake. Drone water sampling provide specific capabilities for water quality and biodiversity assessments including:

Enhanced Water Quality Monitoring: Access Hard-to-Reach Areas; Target Pollution Hotspots; Depth-Specific Sampling; Rapid Response
Low Disturbance; High Frequency
Advanced Biodiversity Analyses: eDNA Surveys; Plankton Studies; Microbiome Monitoring; Sediment-Linked Assessments
Supporting Citizen Science & Education: Improved Safety; Educational Value; Integrated Ecosystem Insights

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Documentary Film Making and Environmental Communication Task Force

The SLCS Lab develops documentary films from its activities for environmental communication and community outreach purposes in Markham, Ontario, Canada, and globally.

Raise Awareness: showcasing Swan Lake’s beauty, biodiversity, and conservation challenges to build emotional connection and support.
Highlight Citizen Science: filming community members collecting samples, flying drones, and doing fieldwork to inspire participation.
Showcase Technology: featuring the DJI Mavic 3M, Matrice 350 RTK, and Speedip system to engage tech and science enthusiasts.
Explain Key Concepts: Using visuals, expert interviews, and VR segments to simplify water quality and biodiversity science.
Share Findings: presenting project results visually to demonstrate how the data informs lake health and restoration actions.
Recruit Volunteers: inspiring new citizen scientists by showing the rewarding impact of participation.
Educate Locally: using the film in schools and communities to foster environmental awareness and stewardship.
Document the Journey: Archive methods, milestones, and key individuals involved for future reflection and sharing.
Support Funding: using the film to showcase project success and attract new partners or grants.

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Data

One of the key aspects of Swan Lake Citizen Science Lab is data collection. Different types of data are collected using various instruments and equipment by researchers, citizens, and lab members. In particular, our Drone Team collects a significant amount of data using multispectral and thermal cameras and sensors.

SLCS Lab data is stored at the ADERSIM Lab at York University. Data can become available to all lab members, researchers, and organizations upon request. To request access to data, please fill out our Access to Data Request Form, and we will get back to you as soon as we get your request.

Thermal drone images, November 27 2024 and May 9 2025 (sample image)

RGB drone images, November 27 2024 and May 9, 2025 (sample image)

Thermal Analysis Results

Thermal analysis images, November 27 2024 ((sample image)) and May 9, 2025

List of currently available data:

Thermal drone images, November 27 2024
RGB drone images, November 27 2024
Thermal drone images, May 9, 2025
RGB drone images, May 9, 2025
Multispectral, May 12, 2025
Thermal drone images, May 19, 2025
Multispectral, May 20, 2025.

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Membership

Membership of the Swan Lake Citizen Science is in a voluntary basis, however to get the most benefit from this membership and to effectively contribute to the mission and vision of the SLCS Lab we expect members to join at least one of the Task Forces and participate in their activities as much as they can and also attend training sessions if required and join general SLCS Lab events as much as they can.

SLCS Lab Members' Involvements

Workshops

Knowledge Dissemination and Translation Workshops (for all members)
Data Collection & Analysis Training Workshops (for each taskforce)
Water Quality and Biodiversity Solution Workshops (all members)
Co-Design Workshops (specific task forces)

Activities

Outreach (on an ongoing)
Drone data collection (regularly)
Water sampling (regularly)
Field verifications (regularly)
Report Writing and Editing
Coordination and communication (on an ongoing basis)

Professional and Public Engagement

Promoting public engagement events
Participation in professional and public events
Presentation in professional and public events
Organizing public engagement events
Documenting and filming public engagement events

SLCS Lab Leadership and Coordination

Developing grant proposals and fund raising
SLCS Lab leadership team
Coordination of SLCS lab activities
Meeting with Stakeholders and Government

Become a Swan Lake Citizen Science Lab member

We welcome membership from everyone interested in the missions and activities of SLCS Lab. Please complete and submit the membership form to become a member. As a member, you will receive information about our training workshop and activities and can join one of our task forces and contribute to data collection, analysis, modeling, simulation, reporting, planning, policy development, actions and much more.

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Become Swan Lake Citizen Science Lab Sponsor

The Swan Lake Citizen Science Lab is a vital center for environmental research, education, and community engagement. Dedicated to protecting the ecological health of Swan Lake and knowledge transfer to other similar environments, the lab harnesses the power of citizen science to collect crucial data, conduct meaningful research, and foster a strong connection between people and nature. Our work thrives through the support of partners who share our commitment to environmental stewardship and scientific advancement. All sponsors will be acknowledged in this space and SLCS Lab events.

We welcome support in various forms, with key areas where your contribution can make a tangible impact:

Tailored sponsorship opportunities that align with your interests and philanthropic goals, ensuring your support fosters both scientific progress and community participation.

Financial sponsorship to: support the overall lab operations; fund specific research projects (e.g. water quality monitoring, biodiversity studies); provide stipends for student researchers and interns; support participants' fees in our training courses

Equipment donations, such as: Field gear, data loggers, and laboratory supplies; Computing resources for data analysis

In-kind support, including: Expertise in data management, research equipment training, community outreach, or equipment maintenance

The sponsorship application form can be found here.

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News

May 7, 2025: Swan Lake Citizen Science executive team members, Fred Peters and Ali Asgary presented SLCS Lab activities and plans at Our Living Waters Monthly Member Meetup session.

May 5, 2025: The Swan Lake Citizen Science Lab team introduced the lab and its progress since its initiation to more than 100 residents of the Swan Lake area. It also included a technology demo of our Drones, AI, and VR technologies for the Swan Lake activities.