Science to policy
Ways to support
Ways to support
Each student will be assigned to one or two NGRREC mentors and their laboratories. This placement will be determined by preferences each student lists on their application but will ultimately be set by the program leaders.
Mentors and their research interests are listed below.
Amy Monroe, Intern Program Coordinator
NGRREC/L&C
One Confluence Way
East Alton, IL 62024
ngrrecintern@lc.edu
Phone: (618) 468-2910
Website: https://crawfordlab.weebly.com
Keywords: amphibians, habitat alteration, habitat degradation, global climate change
Research Interests: A primary goal of research in the Crawford lab is to explore important contemporary questions about the conservation and management of amphibians. Interactions with state, federal, and private land managers as well as with policymakers play an important role in determining what information is most needed and has helped formulate questions. Current research interests center on the effects of habitat alteration, habitat degradation and global climate change on amphibian populations. Our lab is also currently involved in several long-term projects aimed at understanding and mitigating amphibian declines.
Website: www.dellecologylab.org
Keywords: macroinvertebrates, community ecology, food webs, species interactions, temperature, body size, metabolic ecology, movement ecology, automated tracking
Research Interests: Research in the Dell Lab fuses metabolic ecology, movement ecology, and community ecology to address basic and applied questions in biology. The lab works towards a fuller understanding of ecological systems across scales, including time, space, and levels of biological organization. We work across the "tree of life" and across diverse habitats and have a growing interest in how the movement and behavior of organisms influence species interactions and the role of the physical environment. Our work also explores how humans interact with and are affected by, the natural world, with the goal of producing science that can inform management and policy.
Website: www.ngrrec.org/Terrestrial/
Keywords: forest ecology, large river floodplains, invasive species
Research Interests: The primary focus of Dr. Guyon's lab relates to furthering our understanding of large river floodplain ecosystems and associated habitats to facilitate their restoration and sustainable management. Specific research interests include: floodplain vegetation community dynamics; invasive species control and management; canopy gap dynamics; forest succession; river bluff hill prairie restoration; and reforestation methods in floodplain habitats. Additional activities include teaching summer field ecology courses at NGRREC and coordinating NGRREC's management of the 430-acre Palisades Nature Preserve and other environmental research and demonstration areas.
Website: https://dhaake.weebly.com
Keywords: stream ecology, macroinvertebrates, anthropogenic impacts, urban watersheds, stressor identification, citizen science
Research Interests: The stream ecology lab is focused on understanding the impacts of human activities on stream invertebrate communities and evaluating the ability of land management alternatives to reduce harm to stream ecosystems. Current and upcoming work includes evaluations of the impacts of winter road salt use, studies of microplastic distributions, and an exploration of population dynamics of freshwater mussels in an urbanizing watershed. Much of our research incorporates the efforts of citizen scientists and other community collaborators in data collection, evaluation, and community education.
Website: http://knouftlab.weebly.com
Keywords: aquatic ecology, GIS, global change, fish
Research Interests: The primary research this lab focuses on integrating genomic to whole organism biodiversity data, outputs from hydrologic models, and field-based environmental data within a GIS framework to examine contemporary and future impacts of human activities on freshwater systems. Research in the lab is also focused on developing management approaches that result in sustainable physical and ecological freshwater systems.
Keywords: Boltonia decurrents, floodplain ecology, plant biology, plant demography, plant population ecology, Schoenoplectiella hallii, threatened and endangered species
Research Interests: Research has focused on the plant population ecology of the threatened floodplain species, Boltonia decurrens and the threatened bulrush, Schoenoplectiella hallii. Floodplain plants like B. decurrens and their communities have evolved in synchrony with the historic flood regime of the Illinois River; anthropogenic disruptions to the hydrologic cycle have negatively impacted these populations and the communities they live in. Wetland species like S. hallii have been negatively impacted by the drawdown of groundwater, a component of an accelerating freshwater crisis marked by low river levels and declining aquifers. Our research continues to explore the life history of wetland plant species, their role in the community and to inform management of natural areas.
Keywords: bees, wetlands, urban ecology, plants, species interactions, pollution
Research Interests: Research will focus on the interactions between pollinators and their environment, specifically urban and wetland environments. I recently studied diet specialist bees across an urbanization gradient, and combined GIS and behavior studies to understand how specialist bees survive in cities. I am also interested in exploring wetland bee diversity, the management and conservation of wetland-dependent taxa, and management of wetland mitigation areas.
Hibiscus bee diet along an urbanization gradient
Website: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Justin-Shew
Keywords: wildlife ecology, conservation biology, wildlife management, conservation ecology, behavioral ecology, applied ecology, avian ecology, community ecology
Research Interests: Our research is broadly interested in applied ecological questions. However, more specifically, our work involves investigations of wildlife and vegetation response to management practices within a multi-scale context. The goal of our research is to inform management decisions of landowners, habitat practitioners, and the multiple agency partners. Through my research and the conservation programs that I manage at NGRREC, I have gained extensive experience working with federal/state agencies, such as The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR). A future direction of our lab hopes to explore associations between species functional and conservation-related traits to habitat management and landscape context.
Website: https://watershedstudies.weebly.com/
Keywords: soil/sediments, water quality, nitrogen/nitrate, phosphorus, carbon sequestration
Research Interests: The watershed science research program focuses on the connections between landscape processes and water resources. We investigate how nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon) flow through the watershed to their ultimate delivery to the Gulf of Mexico. We examine multiple components of the watershed including river channels, backwaters, reservoirs and wetlands to determine whether they serve as sources or sinks for nutrients and sediments. The goal of our research is to identify best management practices (BMPs) that minimize human-induced impacts on water quality. We use a variety of sampling methods to collect water chemistry and sediment data from streams, rivers, reservoirs and wetlands in the Mississippi River Basin. Our Environmental Chemistry Lab has the capability to analyze organic and inorganic forms of nutrients in water, sediments, plants, and soils.
Keywords: agricultural ecosystems, wildlife ecology and management, human dimensions
Research Interests: Systems approaches to research in agricultural ecosystems; impacts of farm programs and technologies on environmental quality; population ecology and management of wildlife; interactions of human companion pets with wildlife populations; risk assessment.
