The 2018-19 Faculty Spotlight Series will kick-off on September 28 with a presentation by Dr. Kirsten Work, Professor of Biology, who will speak on How Do Spring Flows and Fish Assemblages Differ Between the Southwest, the Northwest, and the Northeastern US?
Date: Friday, September 28, 2018
Time: 1:30 pm- 2:30 pm
Location: Lynn Business Center – 124
Snacks will be available. All are welcome!
Click here for a complete schedule of Faculty Spotlight Series.
How Do Spring Flows and Fish Assemblages Differ Between the Southwest, the Northwest, and the Northeastern US?
Conservation of natural resources is continuously under fire. The economic and social forces that oppose conservation, while not always overt, often possess much stronger momentum than those of conservation. In particular, freshwater spring conservation has received relatively little attention, despite their role as a “three-way ecotone” between land, surface water, and groundwater. Therefore, the purpose of this project is to evaluate spring water discharges nationwide, with an eye to spring health and persistence, and whether these discharges vary across the country. A secondary goal is to examine the variation in freshwater fish assemblages between springs in different areas of the country, particularly looking for differences in endemism and cosmopolitanism regionally.
Dr. Kirsten Work’s focus for aquatic ecology and conservation began in the University of Wisconsin’s Limnology Laboratory working as a lab tech on fish predation studies. This training led to master’s research on sockeye salmon fry predation on zooplankton in SW Alaska and dissertation research on exotic zooplankton in southern Oklahoma. Before arriving at Stetson, she did postdoctoral work on the carbon dynamics of the Lake Okeechobee food web, including bacteria, protozoa, rotifers and zooplankton. This wide array of experiences has given her a broad perspective geographically and taxonomically. At Stetson, she has worked on spring ecology, primarily at Volusia Blue Spring, with projects on algae, snails, fish ecology and the effects of invasive snails and fish on ecosystem function. She also has worked on the ecology of local lakes, as central Florida is one of the areas of the country with the highest densities of lakes due to its karst (limestone) geography.
Faculty Spotlight Series
The Faculty Spotlight Series at Stetson University is a showcase of faculty research, creative inquiry, and other scholarly engagement to the campus community. Presenters are primarily recipients of grant awards through the Stetson Summer Grant Program.
Click here for a complete schedule of Faculty Spotlight Series.