CURRENT RESEARCH: KATHY COTTINGHAM
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Broadly
speaking, I am interested in ecology and its applications to environmental
health. I choose problems that are
intellectually challenging yet seem tractable. Increasingly, I also look for problems that
matter to society and which are best solved by the combined efforts of an
interdisciplinary team of researchers.
Throughout my professional career, I have been attracted to complex,
multivariate problems, especially those that require the use of mathematical
modeling and statistics to dissect patterns and processes. Nothing makes me happier than a large
dataset of potentially interacting variables.
Most
of my work has been conducted in freshwater lakes, but I am also interested
in other ecosystems, including streams, estuaries and grasslands. I enjoy
being outside, working with real organisms and dealing with the unexpected
events inherent in field research. As
a result, my research projects typically combine empirical investigations
with quantitative tools, including both statistical analysis and computer
programming of theoretical models. My
current projects include investigating the causes and consequences of cyanobacterial blooms in low-nutrient lakes (the “Gloeo” project) and quantifying dietary exposure to
arsenic in humans, especially infants (the “P20”
project), as part of the Center for Children's
Environmental Health and Disease Prevention at Dartmouth. I am also involved with a NH-INBRE project
exploring how land-use/land-cover may affect mercury bioaccumulation by fish
and invertebrates in New Hampshire streams. Members
of my lab are also investigating the direct and indirect effects of climate
change on plankton communities; the biology and ecology of cyanobacterial toxins; the ecology of Vibrio cholera (the bacterium which
causes cholera), and how "bubblers" that prevent icing around lake
docks affect lake physics, chemistry, and biology. We have also conducted recent studies
exploring how environmental conditions affect the ability of phytoplankton
and zooplankton to respond to predator signals. Please
contact me if you are interested in learning more about our work. |
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Author:
Kathy Cottingham (Kathryn.Cottingham AT
dartmouth.edu)
Last Updated: 02 April 2012