• Analyze source water contaminated with the X-ray imaging contrast pharmaceutical iopamidol before and after disinfection with chlorine

• Quantify pharmaceutical abundance in near-shore Lake Michigan habitats by addressing the question: How do pharmaceutical concentrations vary spatially along the Indiana-Illinois shoreline of Lake Michigan?

• Develop a method to define in stream hydraulic habitat (fluvial habitat unit – FHU)
• Map low-flow and high stage floodplain units to determine spatial
  distribution and connectivity
• Use dynamic mapping to 1) relate low flow stage FHUs with Best Management Practices (BMPs) and channel geomorphology to develop structure specific ecological performance measures based on aquatic community needs; 2) determine the availability of high-stage refuge habitat at a watershed scale; and 3) complete a watershed specific ecosystem potential analysis that considers organism sources, system connectivity, and both low and high stage habitat to assess system capacity for the development of sustainable aquatic ecosystems
• Evaluate research findings to provide guidance for BMP design and placement to achieve watershed management goals established by local agencies and stakeholders along Southern Lake Michigan.

For this project, crayfish samples, water samples, and sediment samples will be collected in several creeks in the Little Calumet-Galien Watershed representing a variety of environmental exposures. The environmental interactions of crayfish as omnivores and biotic engineers place them in a unique environmental niche. We hypothesize that these characteristics make them a reliable sentinel species. By testing and comparing the bioaccumulation of metals in crayfish tissue, water, and sediments, to dominant species, average crayfish size, and population density, we can reliably predict creek health for metals.

Through this graduate student scholars project, I will expand the impact of my research using habitat suitability modeling (HSM) to map the distribution of Illinois wetland rare plant species and assess their vulnerability to climate change. Using HSM, I will determine the required niche conditions for two species, Epilobium strictum and Rhynchospora alba and identify locations of suitable habitat in Illinois. To evaluate the accuracy of my models, I will conduct field monitoring of all known populations, as well as sites designated as suitable by the models to potentially discover new populations. The monitoring data collected will be added to the HSM, which I will use to test the possible response of these species to predicted climate scenarios. Rare plant conservation efforts require informed climate strategies to implement urgently-needed species protections and prevent unnecessary climate extinctions. 

• Use microarrays for the evaluation of gene expression signatures after exposure to different sediment pollutants
• Examine this gene expression after the amphipod Hyalella azteca was exposed to different pollutants commonly found in sediments across the Great Lakes basin