People

Principal Investigator

Karen Alofs

Jan 2018-  Assistant Professor, School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan

2016-2017- Research Associate, Dept of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto 

2010-2016 Postdoctoral Research, Dept of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto 

2010 PhD, Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Texas at Austin 

2002 BA, Biology with Honors, specializing in Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago 

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Current Students and Lab Members

Xiaofeng Liu (Postdoctoral Researcher, USDA-Forest Service McIntire-Stennis Project, Co-supervised with Runzi Wang), began June 2023

Katelyn King (Postdoctoral Researcher, CHANGES Project through April 2023 and now Coregonine Restoration Framework Modeling) began April 2021

Katelyn's Bio: I am a landscape fisheries ecologist and data-intensive scientist. I enjoy exploring how freshwater ecosystems interact with each other and the landscape across multiple spatial scales to understand patterns of fish biodiversity and how those patterns might respond to global change. During my PhD at Michigan State University, I studied nutrients and fish communities in hundreds of waterbodies, including lakes, wetlands, and streams across the contiguous United States. My work will continue as a part of the Alofs Lab and the CHANGES project, as I investigate fish species distributions in lakes using contemporary and historical datasets across Michigan, which are integral to understanding and predicting freshwater biotic responses to global change. 

Peter Flood (Postdoctoral Researcher, NSF-EAGER Project), began Feb 2023

Peter's Bio: I am an aquatic population and community ecologist who primarily studies fishes. My research focuses on how fish populations and communities are responding to anthropogenic stressors (e.g., climate change, hydrologic alteration, and invasive species). During my PhD at Florida International University, I investigated drivers of trophic dynamics in space and time with an emphasis on effects of invasive species. My work in the Alofs lab will use museum specimens and a trait-based approach to disentangle the impacts of climate change from other environmental stressors on body-size across species in freshwater fish communities. Personal Website 

Scott Jackson (PhD Candidate), began Fall 2019, Michigan Sea Grant Graduate Student Research Fellow.

Scott’s Bio: I am interested in learning about how aquatic ecosystems function in the context of changing climate. My research aim is to utilize innovative laboratory techniques to find practical applications by which can conserve natural populations. My current research study is focused on the resilience of Walleye populations to climate change in Michigan, with emphasis on the intraspecific variation of physiologic traits. In preparation to become a diversified and interdisciplinary research scientist, I received a B.S. in Zoology from Lyman Briggs residential college at Michigan State University and a Masters in Marine Affairs from the University of Washington. I previously worked as a herpetologist for and environmental consulting firm, and as a fisheries technician for the United States Geological Survey’s Great Lakes Science Center. 

Andrew Runyon (Lab Manager), began Jan 2023

Andrew's Bio: As of 2023, I am the aquatic ecology lab manager for the Alofs lab. My main research interests focus on invasive species and conservation of ecosystems that have been disturbed, but I enjoy most aspects of aquatic ecology research. My master's work at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign involved studying the predation limitations and diet election of juvenile black carp, experimenting with several species of native and non-native mollusks. Working with the Illinois Natural History Survey at the University provided an education on a variety of field techniques, helped me specialize into fisheries, and how to manage a small wetlab. My undergraduate degree is from Hiram College in Ohio, a liberal arts school that provided an interdisciplinary education with lots of hands on experience to help kickstart my career in aquatic science. 

Olivia Williams (MSc  Thesis Student), began Fall 2021, Thesis Topic: Evaluating responses to restoration by fish communities in the Rouge River.

Evan Hill (MSc Thesis Student), began Fall 2022. Thesis Topic: Using museum specimens to validate length-at-age estimates of non-game freshwater fishes.

Lian Anderson (MSc  Thesis Student), began Fall 2023. Thesis Topic: TBD.

Kaitlin Schiller (UROP Scholar, LSA), began Fall 2022 

Jaime Jacob (UROP Scholar, LSA), began Fall 2022 

Past Lab Members

Lab Managers/Staff

Kathleen Quebedeaux (Lab Manager), May 2021-Dec 2022

Postdocs

Andrew Miller (Postdoctoral Researcher, NOAA-CIGLR, Co-supervised with Bradley Cardinale), Oct 2020 - Sept 2023

Viviana Astudillo-Clavijo (Postdoctoral Researcher, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Co-supervised with Hernán López-Fernández and Aline Cotel), 2021-2022

Kelsey Lucas (NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Biology), June 2019-Aug 2021; now Assistant Professor, University of Calgary

MSc Thesis Students

David Rose (MSc Thesis  Student), began Fall 2021. Thesis Topic: Intraspecific variation in Walleye (Sander vitreus) thermal preference.

Elise Grabda (MSc Thesis  Student), Fall 2020 - Winter 2022. Thesis Topic: Temporal variation in environment and growth of Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus).

Cameron Leitz (MSc Thesis Student), Fall 2020 - Winter 2022. Thesis Topic: Do traits predict invasion success in stream and lake environments in the Great Lakes?

Jennifer Fuller (MSc Thesis  Student, Michigan Sea Grant Graduate Student Research Fellow, Co-supervised with Johannes Foufopoulos), Fall 2018 - Winter 2021 Thesis Topic: (online portfolio: innej94.wixsite.com/sciartporfolio). 

Ellary Marano (MSc Thesis  Student, Co-supervised with David 'Bo' Bunnell, USGS-GLSC), Fall 2019 - Winter 2021. Thesis Topic: Evidence for the importance of invasive Dreissena veligers as a novel prey item for larval fishes

Natalie Madden (MSc Thesis  Student, Co-supervised with Neil Carter), Fall 2018 - Aug 2020. Thesis Topic: meta-analysis of the impact of noise pollution on avian species.

Sara Prendergast (MSc Thesis , Co-Supervised with Mark Rowe, CIGLR), Fall 2017 - Aug 2019. Thesis Topic: larval Alewife growth and dispersal in Lake Michigan.

MSc Advisees

Ashley Jones (MSc Student), Fall 2021 - Winter 2023

Sagen Fuller (MSc Student), Fall 2021 - Winter 2023

Alyssa Rausch (MSc  Student), Fall 2020 - Winter 2022

Hannah DeHetre (MSc  Student), Fall 2020 - Winter 2022

Justin Huber (MSc  Student), Fall 2020- Winter 2022

Nicholas Hansen (MSc  Student), Fall 2020 - Winter 2022

Megan Livingston (MSc  Student), Fall 2020 - Winter 2022

Hadijah ‘Dede’ Lawal (MSc  Student), Fall 2020 - Winter 2022

Emily Rau (MSc  Student), Fall 2019 - Winter 2021

Sarah Brannon (MSc Student), Fall 2018 - Winter 2020

Seamus Harrison (MSc  Student), Fall 2018 - Winter 2020

Matthew Sens (MSc  Student), Fall 2018 - Winter 2020

Undergraduate Students

Kevin Xhelilaj (Wayne State University, NSF REU Student), Summer 2023

Keira Daignault (UROP Scholar, Program in the Environment), Fall 2022 - Winter 2023

Marissa Reyes (UROP Scholar, LSA), Fall 2022 - Winter 2023

Lauren Reese (UROP Scholar, Earth and Environmental Science), Fall 2022 - Winter 2023

Megan Roe (Undergraduate lab assistant,  Earth and Environmental Science), Summer 2021 -Summer 2022

Syed Hussain  (Undergraduate, Doris Duke Conservation Scholar), Summer 2019

Ryan Dapkus (Undergraduate, Doris Duke Conservation Scholar), Summer 2019

Cameron Leitz (Undergraduate Honors Thesis, Program in the Environment), Fall 2019 - Winter 2020; (MSc Thesis Student), began Fall 2020

Calla Beers (Lab assistant, Program in the Environment BA 2020), 2019-2022

Maxwell LaCosse (Undergraduate lab assistant, Civil and Environmental Engineering), Winter 2018 - Winter 2019

Hannah Miller (Undergraduate lab assistant, EEB and Program in the Environment), Fall 2018 - Winter 2019

Erika Perez (Undergraduate, Doris Duke Conservation Scholar), Summer 2018

Olivia Horwedel (Undergraduate lab assistant, Program in the Environment), Winter 2018

Michael Hostetler (Undergraduate lab assistant, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology), Winter 2018 - Summer 2019

Interested in joining the Alofs Lab in the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan?

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