Research in the Stream and River Ecology (STRIVE) Lab addresses the ecology and conservation of stream, river, and wetland ecosystems, from headwaters to estuaries. Unified by the themes of ecosystem-scale dynamics, connectivity, and ecological networks, we are broadly interested in two questions:
1. How do both natural environmental variability and human activities shape biodiversity, community and food-web organization, and ecosystem condition and function in linked aquatic-riparian ecosystems?
2. How can we apply findings from Q1 to management, conservation, and restoration of water quality and aquatic ecosystems?
To address these questions, we employ a highly interdisciplinary approach, drawing from stream and wetland ecology, fluvial geomorphology, trophic ecology, and landscape and coastal ecology to holistically address basic ecological questions as well as applications to conservation, management, and policy. Ongoing themes include ecological and biogeochemical connections between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, linkages between stream geomorphology and ecology, and ecosystem contamination and water water quality. Please see “Projects” for information on current and recent research efforts.