The Namao

Key takeaways

The Namao belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect The Namao to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of The Namao from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Namao is a ship ported in Gimli, Manitoba, Canada, whose purpose is to conduct research on Lake Winnipeg. It was originally built for the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) but was eventually sold to the Lake Winnipeg Research Consortium (LWRC) who converted it to a Lake Winnipeg research vessel. Scientists using the Namao to research the environmental issues concerning the lake, for example the increasing eutrophication of the lake and the impact of invasive species. Using the Namao, the LWRC integrates education and community outreach into their work to promote sustainable living and development focussed on the youth in local communities surrounding Lake Winnipeg who are affected most by the changing dynamics of the lake.

Design The ship was originally designed for the CCG. It is a small research vessel with a length of 33.62 meters (110.3 ft), a breadth of 8.53 meters (28.0 ft) and a weight of nearly 328 tonnes (723,000 lb). It requires nine people to crew the ship and can accommodate 15 people comfortably. It is the largest ship in the Gimli harbour, its current home port.

History In 1975 the CCGS (Canadian Coast Guard Ship) Namao was made to serve as a Class 900 buoy tender for the Canadian Coast Guard. Built in Riverton, Manitoba, it has strong ties to Lake Winnipeg. The Namao was stationed in Selkirk and was used to deploy and recover buoys and occasionally to assist vessels in distress. Between 1994 and 1996, the Namao was used for research on the geological history of Lake Winnipeg by the Geological Survey of Canada. This was the first time the Namao was used for research. In 1997, the Namao was owned by the Aids to Navigation Program; this was privatized and the Namao was sent for disposal through Crown Assets. Around the same time the Lake Winnipeg Research Consortium (LWRC) was formed to coordinate scientific research on Lake Winnipeg. They requested the use of the Namao for research purposes and were successful in attaining it in 1999. The base for the Namao was moved to Gimli and the ship changed from a CCGS to a Lake Winnipeg research vessel.

Funding The Namao is funded by the Lake Winnipeg Research Consortium with help from the Government of Manitoba. Since the province began funding the Namao in 2003 they have invested $1.25 million toward the operation of the Namao. In the Sustainable Development Annual Report, the Government of Manitoba recognizes the role of scientific research in restoring the health of Lake Winnipeg and how this contributes to sustainable development of communities who rely on the lake as part of their economy and well-being.

Environmental research In the past few decades the health of Lake Winnipeg has deteriorated at an alarming rate. In 2013 it was named “the world’s most threatened lake” by the Global Nature Fund. The Namao, as the official research vessel of Lake Winnipeg, helps scientists examine the physical, biological, ecological, and chemical structure of the lake, and the processes that are critical to its well-being.

Eutrophication Since eutrophication is one of the biggest environmental concerns facing Lake Winnipeg, it is researched on the Namao. Scientists aboard the Namao were able to deduce that the significant cause of the eutrophication of the lake is the runoff of phosphorus. They also learned that contrary to previous assumptions, most of the nutrient loading into the lake was coming from the Red River Basin. Phosphorus abatement efforts and other sustainable development projects aimed at mitigating runoff of phosphorus can be better applied. The Namao also allows scientists to provide progress reports on the health of the lake and assess how various restoration and management strategies are working once implemented. The Namao scientists were able to test the huge algal blooms caused by eutrophication and assess how dangerous they may be to human and other organism health.

Zebra mussels The scientists aboard the Namao monitored the presence of zebra mussels as they became established, studied the environmental impacts of zebra mussels in the lake including the decline of native mussel populations, researched how they became introduced, and helped create and conduct control operations.

Education and outreach The Namao also provides education and outreach programs to youth in communities surrounding Lake Winnipeg. The Namao offers a lake ecology field program twice a year to students between grades 6 and 12. Students on excursions in the south basin of the lake sample and analyze aspects of the lake ecosystem including the water, algae, micro-organisms and the contents of the lake floor.

Sources

Ansari, A. & Gill, S. (2014). Eutrophication: Causes, consequences and control. SpringeLink Publishing. Casey, A. (2006). Forgotten Lake, 64–78. Winnipeg, MB: Canada Geographic. Environment and Climate Change Canada (2016). Nutrients in lake Winnipeg. Gatineau, QC: Environment and Climate Change Canada Gingera, T., Bajno, R., Docker, M., & Reist, J. (2017). Environmental dna as a detection tool for zebra mussels dreissena polymorpha at the forefront of an invasion event in lake Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Management of Biological Invasions, 8(3), 287–300. doi:10.3391/mbi.2017.8.3.03 Government of Manitoba (2017). Manitoba Sustainable Development Annual Report. Winnipeg, MB: Government of Manitoba Government of Manitoba (2011). State of lake Winnipeg. Winnipeg, MB: Government of Manitoba Kristofferson, A. & Scott, K. (2018). About the namao. Lake Winnipeg Research Consortium. http://www.lakewinnipegresearch.org/contact.html Archived 2018-10-21 at the Wayback Machine Lake Winnipeg Stewardship Board (2005). Our collective responsibility: Reducing nutrient loading to lake Winnipeg: An interim report to the minister of water stewardship for Manitoba. Gimli, MB: Lake Winnipeg Stewardship Board. Macissac, H. (1996). Potential abiotic and biotic impacts of zebra mussels on the inland waters of North America. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 36(3), 287–299 Schindler, D., Hecky, R., McCullough, G. (2013). The rapid eutrophication of lake Winnipeg: Greening under global change. Journal of Great Lakes Research. 3(38), 6-13 Voora, V., Venema, H., & Canada. Environment Canada. Policy Development Division (2008). An ecosystem services assessment of the lake Winnipeg watershed. Winnipeg, MB: International Institute for Sustainable Development

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Namao

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Namao claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to The Namao before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about The Namao ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of The Namao

In research: The Namao appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses The Namao in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: The Namao is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Lake Winnipeg, Research vessels of Canada, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Namao outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study The Namao in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what The Namao means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain The Namao out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is The Namao in simple terms?

The Namao is a ship ported in Gimli, Manitoba, Canada, whose purpose is to conduct research on Lake Winnipeg. It was originally built for the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) but was eventually sold to the Lake Winnipeg Research Consortium (LWRC) who converted it to a Lake Winnipeg research vessel.

Why does The Namao matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study The Namao?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on The Namao.