A study was initiated in the spring of 2001 to determine if hormonally active chemicals are bioavailable to white sucker (Catostomus commersoni) residing in the Wabigoon River, downstream of the bleached kraft pulp mill and municipal sewage outfall located in Dryden, Ontario. Females collected during spawning migrations in May 2001 at a near-field exposure site exhibited increased condition factor, liver size and fecundity relative to those collected from a reference site. Liver samples within each site were pooled, soxhlet extracted and fractionated by gel permeation chromatography and HPLC according to octanol/water partition coefficient (Kow). Fractions were then tested to determine if fish accumulated ligands which bind to the goldfish testicular androgen receptor (AR) and sex steroid binding protein (SSBP). The levels of hormonally active substances were low in males whereas females had accumulated significant amounts of several chemicals capable of binding to the hormone receptors. The levels of ligands detected in pulp mill effluent samples were substantially reduced after secondary treatment. Fractionation of final effluent extracts showed only ligands for the AR in the hydrophobic region (log Kow >5), which corresponded to the activities detected in fish tissues from both sexes. It can be concluded that ligands for fish sex steroid receptors are present in final effluent after treatment at the pulp mill and chemicals with the same Kow are bioavailable to fish under spring freshet conditions. Further work at this site is necessary to determine the contribution of pulp mill and municipal sewage effluents to the physiological performance of fish in the Wabigoon River and to their burden of accumulated compounds.

An industry-funded, long-term, receiving water study was initiated in 1998/1999 to adress questions about the potential effects of pulp and paper mill effluent discharges on US receiving waters. Although the study continues, the knowledge gained to date provides an opportunity to reflect on the study development process, its progress, and its outcomes. As a backdrop to a series of articles in this special issue describing study results, this article describes the process by which study information objectives were identified as well as the process by which the experimental design was developed. A review of past literature and research identified gaps in long-term population/community data about effluent effects and that, consequently, emerged as a primary information objective. The selected streams for study included 1) Codorus Creek (Pennsylvania, USA), 2) Leaf River (Mississippi, USA), 3) McKenzie River (Oregon, USA), and 4) Willamette River (Oregon) represent a blend of mill process types, coldwater and warmwater stream types, and a range of effluent concentrations. Measurements included numbers of periphyton, macroinvertebrate, and fish communities; the assessment of water and effluent quality; laboratory bioassays; and fish full-life-cycle assays. Information objectives included addressing natural variability and, consequently, the study included long-term temporal (>10 y) and watershed-scale spatial frameworks. Regional-scale ecological risk assessments were performed for each site that aided in placing each site in an ecological and regulatory context. An adaptive-management process is described that allowed for modifications over time as a result of lessons learned as the study progressed. Results from the initial 7 to 8 y of monitoring, as described in the series of articles in this special issue, provide a unique data set with respect to addressing point-source pulp and paper mill effluent discharge concerns and may serve as a template for others to use in developing monitoring or management programs to assess or address water quality conditions or concerns.

Lessons learned from the development, implementation, and initial 8 y of study findings from a long-term study to assess the effects of pulp and paper mill effluents on receiving waters are summarized as a conclusion to a series of articles (this issue) on study findings. The study, based on industry-defined information needs, was developed via a science-based experimental design into a long-term (>10 y) watershed-scale monitoring program that integrated in-stream population/ community assessment, laboratory chronic bioassays, and fathead minnow full life-cycle assays as well as water quality and effluent quality monitoring and habitat assessment in addressing the presence of effluent effects. The 4 study streams (Codorus Creek, PA; Leaf River, MS; and the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, OR) represented both bleached and unbleached kraft mill processes and effluent concentrations that ranged from near typical for the United States (0.4%) to very high (Codorus Creek= 32%). Following 8 y of monitoring, the weight of evidence suggests an absence of biological differences at stations downstream of the mill discharges for periphyton or macroinvertebrates and, with the exception of 1 of 9 large-bodied fish and 1 of 7 small-bodied fish community structure metrics for 1 river (McKenzie), an absence of differences for fish communities. Laboratory bioassay and fathead minnow full-life cycle tests supported a substantial "margin of safety" in that, depending on the effluent, adverse responses did not occur until effluent concentrations were from 2 times to more than 150 times in-stream concentrations. The incorporation of a watershed spatial scale illustrated that each sample site tended to be unique over the 28 to 50 km monitored segments with respect to habitat and that knowledge of these variables permitted accurate evaluations of effluent effects. Similarly, the multiyear study framework provided information regarding the natural seasonal and year-to-year variability in fish communities and consequently a better understanding of how potential effluent effects signals could be expressed within this variability. The study incorporated an adaptive management strategy that provided for study design and monitoring modifications over time as a way of benefiting from practical experience and knowledge gained through time and to optimize the use of study resources. Results from this initial 8 y of monitoring, to our knowledge, represent the longest-known population/community-level assessment of the in-stream effects of pulp and paper mill effluents. Beyond the lessons learned with respect to effluent effects are those related to the esign and conduct of long-term watershed-scale studies that may be of use to others in developing watershed assessment or management programs.

It seems obvious that while others around us are concerned with trying to understand the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ways in which it has disrupted so much of our lives and professional work, history educators should be concerned rather to look back, to study previous epidemics for the light that they can shed on today. The 1918 'Spanish' flu is a logical starting place. But it presents two obstacles: first, that there is so little that is truly comparable to the 2020 experience and, secondly, that the material of 1918 in South Africa is potentially so difficult to use in the classroom. How does one, for instance, teach about the number of cases where people narrowly avoided being buried alive, escaping in the nick of time. (And what about those who were not as fortunate?) This is an exploration of uncharted territory that presents an initial map to anyone who might be tempted to follow suit and put it to the test. As there is no ready model at hand to use to teach about dying and death in the history classroom, a sequence of five themes is proposed as a way in which one can approach the issue of mortality without coming at it head-on. The themes are explained and justified and an exemplar of a possible class activity is provided for each. The question posed is whether one should teach about dying and death in this way. The conclusion suggests what the possible benefits accruing might be.

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