My research program focuses on environmental stressors in aquatic ecosystems. By combining laboratory and mesocosm experiments with broad-scale field surveys, I seek to identify the mechanisms through which different environmental stressors affect individuals, species interactions, and community structure and function. The current focus of my research includes: 1) the long-term importance of predator stress for prey and their communities, 2) the dynamics of disease transmission within communities composed of multiple hosts and multiple pathogens, and 3) the application of an ecological framework to understand the interactive effects of natural and chemical stressors on ecological communities. To address my research interests, I utilize freshwater aquatic systems (e.g., ponds, wetlands, and lakes) and their associated taxa (e.g., tadpoles, snails, insects, fish, parasites).
There are numerous sources including industry, military bases, airports, waste water, and many products used around our homes. Their high environmental persistence combined with decades of usage have lead to widespread contamination.