Research in Alaska

"Sources of organochlorine contamination in inland subsistence fisheries of northern Alaska: atmospheric vs. amphidromous inputs"

More details are here.

My area of focus is environmental toxicology and habitat degradation in freshwater systems. 
More specifically, I am investigating:

• contaminant bioaccumulation and exposure in subsistence communities in the Arctic 
• endocrine disruption and reproductive success of freshwater fish 
• degradation of aquatic ecosystems.

My research program has two distinct areas of focus, one of which takes place primarily during the academic year, and the other of which is performed mostly during the summer.  The first area of focus is the combined effect of physical and chemical stressors on the reproductive success of freshwater fish.  The second area of focus is the source, accumulation, and effects of pollutants in freshwater systems in the arctic, with particular emphasis on the potential consequences of pollutant exposure for subsistence indigenous Inupiat communities.

Research during the academic year

The research conducted in my laboratory during the academic year focuses on the cumulative impacts of habitat- and contaminant-related stress on the reproductive success of freshwater fish.  We are investigating the reproductive success in terms of fertile egg productivity, growth and survival of offspring, and reproductive hormone profiles (using ELISA techniques) of adults in breeding pairs of fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas).  We currently have 5 replicate breeding pairs of adult fathead minnows at each of 4 different quantitative levels of habitat availability to investigate whether habitat availability either directly or indirectly affects reproductive success.  The direct effects could be through available spawning substrate, whereas the indirect mechanism is postulated to be through a physiological stress response mechanism.  Once we have optimized this experimental regime, we intend to repeat the experiment at different levels of exposure to an environmental endocrine disrupting compound to determine whether these two very different types of stressors are antagonistic, additive, or synergistic.  For more information on this project, visit the Fathead Minnow Research website.

Summer Research

The research that I will conduct in the summer focuses on pathways that deliver pollutants to arctic freshwater ecosystems, how the pollutants bioaccumulate in these food webs, and the consequences for northern communities that rely on these fish for subsistence.  Funded by the National Science Foundation's Office of Polar Programs, we will be working collaboratively with a team of researchers from Oregon State University.  Our research will specifically investigate to what extent anadromous spawning fish species act to transport pollutants to these systems relative to the introduction from atmospheric sources.  We intend to evaluate this by examining pairs of lakes on the coastal plain of Alaska, in which one pair is connected to the ocean and is used as a spawning are for anadromous fish and the other of which is landlocked.  We will be working directly with Inupiat communities to identify important subsistence fisheries and to investigate the parallels and dissimilarities between the western approach to science and traditional ecological knowledge and wisdom of the Inupiat people.  For more information on this project, visit the Summer Arctic Research website.