My interests and expertise include evaluating effects of natural and human-impacted 1) biogeochemical cycling, 2) trophic interactions and 3) physical attributes of the landscape on communities. Although I am interested in biodiversity in general, benthic algae & macroinvertebrate communities are often the focus of my research. Due to the multi-variable nature of these questions, developing multivariate study designs and analytical techniques has also become a significant part of my research.
I am expanded my research program to include what I have termed Forensecology (i.e., ecological forensics). Ecologists have become adept at assessing the degree to which ecosystems have been altered by anthropogenic activities but are not as proficient at diagnosing the precise causes or long-term consequences of any changes. We use empirical models to develop novel forensic indicators. This research contributes to the emerging field of multiple-stressor diagnosis.
My research program also focuses on developing ecologically meaningful statistical analyses. For example, our Test Site Analysis application of multivariate, non-central hypothesis tests identifies important ecological thresholds. These empirical models also improve our ability to evaluate the type, degree and cause of any spatial or temporal changes. This research illustrates how ecological knowledge can be incorporated into traditional univariate and multivariate statistical methods to produce more meaningful results.