Lab Members

Dr. Jill Leonard 



Principle Investigator and lab head

Dr. Leonard's principle scientific interests surround life history variation in aquatic species, primarily fish. Exploring why individuals display different life strategies is both fascinating and crucial to understanding how environmental forces will impact individuals and populations. She uses a variety of approaches to investigate these questions ranging from laboratory studies using common garden systems and behavioral arenas to field projects using telemetry and classical ecological techniques. As much as possible, her group tries to explain observed ecology by understanding the physiology of the animal. Additional interests include winter and coldwater ecology as well as environmental change. She has a sweet spot for native species, non-game fishes, and the understudied. Species of special interest include brook trout and burbot.

Alexis Pupo

Alexis made her way from south Florida to the UP in Fall 2022. Her work is centered on behavior and sensory characteristics of larval burbot in order to help understand dispersal-related behavior. She came to us from the University of Miami where she studied Marine Science and Biology. 

Michael Diefenback

Mike

Alex "Fish" Kruithof


Brendan Zak


 Lab Alums 

Graduate Students:

Lab Technicians: