Research Statement
My interests in ecology are broad and range from the ecology of invasion and food web dynamics to cross ecosystem linkages and paired physical, chemical and biological interactions. However, the majority of the questions I ask center around primary production in aquatic ecosystems. More specifically, I am interested in how primary production changes (and what this means for ecosystems) between the benthic and pelagic habitats and across gradients of space, time, trophic status, lake morphometery, geography, land use and with events such as biological invasion and global climate change. Additionally, I am fascinated by large scale and global patterns of primary production and how the spatial distribution of primary production might effect processes such as the global Carbon cycle.
Currently, I work along the trophic gradient in Green Bay, Lake Michigan and I aim to address three broad questions...
1) How does the relative importance of benthic and pelagic primary production vary with changes in ambient light and nutrient levels and across multiple scales of space and time?
2) How do invasive Dreissenid mussels alter the role of benthic and pelagic primary producers in invaded ecosystems?
3) How do food web dynamics and structure change when the relative importance of benthic or pelagic primary production is altered by shifts in ecosystem trophic status or through events such as biological invasion?
Currently, I work along the trophic gradient in Green Bay, Lake Michigan and I aim to address three broad questions...
1) How does the relative importance of benthic and pelagic primary production vary with changes in ambient light and nutrient levels and across multiple scales of space and time?
2) How do invasive Dreissenid mussels alter the role of benthic and pelagic primary producers in invaded ecosystems?
3) How do food web dynamics and structure change when the relative importance of benthic or pelagic primary production is altered by shifts in ecosystem trophic status or through events such as biological invasion?