I am the Director of the Institute for Watershed Studies and faculty in the Department of Environmental Sciences at Western Washington. Prior to arriving at WWU, I was faculty in the Department of Environmental Science and Management at Portland State University and Director of the Center for Lakes and Reservoirs. I completed my Bachelor of Science degree with Honours in Biology at the University of Regina and a Ph.D. at Queen’s University in Biology, and was awarded two National Science and Engineering Research Council scholarships during my graduate degree. I completed two Post-Doctoral Fellowships, one at the University of Toronto in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and a second at the University of Washington in the School of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. I have published 30+ peer-reviewed research articles, two book chapters, numerous reports, and >60 conference presentations. I have received grants from the National Science Foundation, Bonneville Power Administration, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, US Army Corps of Engineers, Oregon Sea Grant, the National Landscape Conservation Cooperative, and the North Coast and Cascades Science and Learning Network. I am also an Associate Editor at the Journal of Applied Ecology.

Research Interests

My research interests fall into several interconnected categories that revolve around the basic question of what influences biodiversity and ecosystem function at different spatial scales. To do this, my lab studies anthropogenic stressors in freshwater ecosystems, such as invasive species, climate change, habitat connectivity, and contaminants. Our unit of study ranges from genes to populations to communities to entire food webs. Ultimately, this work leads to the question of how ecosystem functions and services may be affected by human activities. In general, we use the combined approach of field surveys, small-scale and large-scale experiments, and statistical modeling to test our hypotheses. We also collaborate with social scientists to better understand complex socio-ecological systems.