People
Dr. Lindsey Bruckerhoff
Assistant Professor
Co-director Aquatic Ecology Lab
Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology
The Ohio State University
Links
Current Lab Members
Elizabeth Duskey (Post-doctoral Researcher)
Andrew Miller (Post-doctoral Researcher)
Andy received his Ph.D in Natural Resource Ecology and Management from Oklahoma State University in 2019 after receiving a MS from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and a BS from Ursinus College. Andy's research focuses on movement and population ecology of freshwater fishes. He is currently synthesizing demographic information about Smallmouth Bass to populations across their native and non-native ranges to prediction population and invasion dynamics at broad spatial scales.
Madeline Schumacher (MS)
Madeline received a BS in Wildlife and fisheries Biology from the University of Vermont and has professional experiences working with the Missouri Department of Conservation. Madeline's MS research is focused on identifying drivers of rare darter occurrences at multiple spatial scales. This work is being conducted in the Ouachita Highlands of Arkansas, which is home to several endemic darters of conservation concern, including the Beaded Darter. Identified drivers of occupancy will be combined with drivers of population genetic structure to inform the conservation of rare fishes in this unique ecoregion.
Abigail Shake (MS)
Abigail received a BA in Biology from the University of Mississippi and worked as a field technician for the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science. There, Abigail become interested in freshwater mussel diversity and conservation. Abigail's MS project strives to identify drivers of non-insect invertebrate occupancy and community structure, including lentic mussels and lotic snails. We are specifically interested in linking inundation regimes of off-channel habitats, including oxbow lakes and wetlands, to the occurrence of mussels of conservation concern in Kansas. In addition to informing the conservation of species of conservation concern, this project will be one of few assessing drivers of community composition of lentic mussels at a landscape scale.
Ben Kelly (MS)
Ben received a BS in Fishery Resources from the University of Idaho in 2017 and has extensive field experience sampling fishes from a variety of systems. His current research is focused on quantifying patterns of fish community change as streams dry and re-wet in intermittent streams. His main research questions are, 1) Are patterns of stream drying consistent across intermittent streams within the same drainage basin? 2) What drives fish community structure across a gradient of intermittency and do these communities differ? and 3) Are intra-annual shifts in stream fish community structure consistent across intermittent streams? Ben's research on intermittent streams is focused on tributaries to the Glover River in southeast Oklahoma. Ben's research will inform the role of intermittent streams in persistence of stream fish populations and maintenece of community structure.
Vanessa Rendon (BS)
Vanessa had an early passion for STEM disciplines through her interest in engineering and curiosity of the natural world. Vanessa joined the lab as a Freshman Research Scholar and her independent undergraduate research project is focused on understanding how crayfish communities respond to stream drying across an annual water cycle. Her research links crayfish traits, like burrowing behavior, to occurrence and density of crayfishes across a gradient of intermittency. Vanessa is excited to continue her work as a Wentz Scholar at Oklahoma State University.
Jamie Eastep (BS)
Jamie is working on BS degrees in Insect Biology and Ecology and Natural Resource Ecology and Management. He is conducting independent research through the Ferguson College of Agriculture Undergraduate Research Scholars program. His research focuses on quantifying the relationship between diet variability, body size, and stream size, using Green Sunfish as a model species. Jamie's research applies basic ecological theories regarding the niche breadth hypothesis and optimal foraging theory.
Join the lab!
Learn more on the Opportunities page and send me an email at bruckerhoff.2@osu.edu