LEECH

. To us, the land is like a giant tea bag, releasing nutrients and organic matter into nearby lakes, rivers, and estuaries. We seek to understand how the quantity (concentration) and quality (chemical structure) of these inputs affect water quality, biodiversity, and food web stability. We often approach our research questions through the lens of water color and human-induced disturbance. Eutrophication, or the "greening" of waters due to excess nutrients and algal growth, has been a systemic problem since the 1950s. More recently, inland and coastal waters have shown signs of "browning" with increased runoff of organic matter from land to water with climate change. Using field and laboratory experiments, combined with the analysis of large datasets, the goal of our research is to contribute to a basic understanding of aquatic food web dynamics while assisting with applied issues in water quality and species conservation... Our lab also assists the VA Department of Environmental..

Primary location: Farmville United States