October 6, 2023
Lakes in a changing world: Understanding, predicting, and managing for change
Dr. Gretchen Hansen
Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
Abstract
Freshwaters are among the most altered ecosystems on the planet. Climate change, land use change, and species invasions can alter lake thermal habitat, water quality, the abundance of organisms, species interactions, and the provision of sustainable fisheries. My research focuses on quantifying changes in aquatic systems and identifying factors associated with resilience to global change. In this talk, I will provide an overview of my research program, ranging from landscape-level analyses encompassing tens of thousands of lakes to in-depth investigations of the chemical composition of organisms. Examples include mathematical models for quantifying historic changes in and predicting future responses of lake temperatures to climate change; predicting species responses to climate change at the landscape scale; documenting invasive species impacts in lakes; and identifying factors that increase the resilience of lakes to environmental change to conserve freshwater fisheries.Â
Biosketch
Dr. Gretchen Hansen is an assistant professor in the Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology Department at the University of Minnesota. Her research focuses on largescale drivers of change in freshwater ecosystems, including climate, land use, and invasive species. She is especially interested in how local management and lake characteristics influence the resilience of fish populations and communities to regional and global change. Gretchen previously worked as a research scientist for state fisheries management agencies, and is committing to conducting actionable science via collaboration with stakeholders and managers. To answer complex questions she employs multiple approaches including statistical analyses of historical data, observational field studies, simulation modeling, and large-scale experimentation.