History of the Conservancy

McGill's Limnology Group, later the Limnology Research Centre, was founded in 1972 and set up a field station on Lake Memphrémagog in 1975. Under the leadership of Bill Leggett, Frank Rigler, Jacob Kalff, Robert Peters and Joseph Rasmussen it established an internationally renowned research program based on studies of the Eastern Townships lakes. In the early 1990s the Centre quit its original site to build a new station at Sargent's Bay on land donated by the Penfield family - the current Wilder and Helen Penfield Nature Conservancy. The station was completed in 1994 and was directed by Prof. Kalff until his retirement in 2003. The current director is Prof. Gregor Fussmann from the Department of Biology. He succeeds Prof. Graham Bell, also from Biology, in this role.

Back to top