My position involves teaching and research.Research Description:Invasive species are one of the top threats to biodiversity in freshwater, marine and terrestrial ecosystems around the world. They impede navigation, destroy recreational use, cost billions of dollars in control and can even result in death. The problems invasive species create are exacerbated by climate change, globalization and habitat fragmentation. Understanding both the basic biology and its management implications are essential in mitigating the impacts invasive species have on ecological and human communities. My research involves both aspects. My lab is currently working on understanding how a native insect can be used to control the invasive Eurasian watermilfoil and how carbohydrate allocation in flowering rush can be used to help deteriming the timing of herbicide applications. Eurasian watermilfoil plagues lakes throughout North America, including over 300 lakes in Minnesota. Flowering rush threatens fewer lakes, but has taken hold in the Detroit Lakes chain of lakes.

Research involving the biological control of Eurasian watermilfoil