Texas A&M University
B.S. Fisheries Sciences
2021
The Arctic is experiencing rapid warming that is contributing to permafrost thaw. This increases hydrologic connectivity to previously sequestered metals in the Earth’s active layer, mobilizing these metals into streams located in remote, undeveloped ecosystems. The resulting chemical processes produce a visually striking rusting phenomenon in the Arctic’s waterways. Despite increasing reports of rusting rivers across the Brooks Range, the ecological consequences of these metal-rich waters for stream biota remain poorly quantified. This study evaluates spatial and temporal patterns in stream biota across a gradient of rusting influence in the Wulik River drainage of northwest Alaska. Using long-term biomonitoring data, streams were categorized by rusting influence based on field water quality metrics and visual indicators. We are examining the responses of periphyton biomass, benthic macroinvertebrate abundance and richness, and macroinvertebrate community composition across rusted and control sites. In addition, we are interested in fish health within rusting watersheds and are using histopathological analyses of juvenile Dolly Varden tissue to serve as an indicator of fish health.
Lauren earned her B.S. in Wildlife & Fisheries Sciences with an emphasis on Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences from Texas A&M University. She worked on a variety of fish ecology projects as a field and lab student technician while working in the Riverscape Ecology Lab at TAMU and conducted an undergraduate research project on integrating stream ecosystem theories into spatial modeling of fish richness and assemblage structure. Lauren worked for the Alaska Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit at ÃÛÌÒTV in 2021 as a field technician which was the turning point for her move to Fairbanks.
Habitat Biologist, Alaska Department of Fish & Game, Fairbanks