• Aquatic eco-toxicology

My thesis topic is to try and determine if there is a correlation in mercury levels of bats, bass and bugs (specifically aquatic insects) in Arkansas lakes that have fish consumption advisories due to mercury. It was generally hypothesized that mercury, both natural and anthropogenic, is biomagnifying up the food chain into top predators in those aquatic systems, bass for example. But the same juvenile aquatic insects that serve as a base in food chains in aquatic systems emerge as adults and can be consumed by bats. If bats are able to bioaccumulate mercury as well, then they can act as vectors that transport mercury to other systems.
 

As an undergraduate, I worked on a project that compared leaf degradation and water quality in the upper and lower reaches of four tributaries of the L'Anguille River.

I have also had the opportunity to work for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission under the Black Bass Program planting habitat for bass in Lakes Greeson and Bull Shoals over the past summer.