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Dr. Kashian's research focuses on the role the role of contaminants and how multiple disturbances at the community and ecosystem levels impact toxicity. Her work involves multidisciplinary collaborations incorporating science, policy, engineering, sociology, business faculty and professionals in addressing complex environmental issues. She strives to develop an understanding of interactions among organisms, the environment, and humans at local and even global scales.
Dr. Kashian is also a Visiting Scientist of the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory/NOAA. You may click here to get more information about her research.
Current projects include:
Investigating the role of multiple stressors in Michigan’s Saginaw Bay (http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/projects/multi_stressors/index.html);
Examining the causes, consequences and correctives of fish contamination in the Detroit River for use in fish consumption advisories (http://ciler.snre.umich.edu/fca/index.php);
and evaluating the impacts of climate change on metal toxicity in streams in northern Michigan.
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Dr. Kashian's Education Experience
Postdoctoral Associate, Colorado State University, 2003-2006.
Ph.D. Zoology. 2002. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin.
M.S. Fisheries and Wildlife. 1998. Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan.
B.S. Biology and Earth Science (double major). 1993. Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Michigan.
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The influence of landscape attributes and migratory fish on the chemistry and productivity of Northern Michigan streams
Watersheds of the Great Lakes vary widely in land use, and human modification of the terrestrial landscape can impact stream ecosystems and biota by altering habitat structure and water quality.
In-stream obstructions such as dams and culverts also can affect stream ecosystems by increasing sedimentation rates and blocking immigration by animals from the Great Lakes . For instance, the massive spring migrations of suckers may play a seasonally-important role in stream productivity and nutrient dynamics, as is well known in the case of Pacific salmon. We are evaluating the effects of landscape attributes and sucker migrations as drivers of carbon and nutrient dynamics Michigan streams. We are assessing landscape influences by comparing concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) among sites as a function of landscape attributes such as land use, canopy cover, dominant vegetation, watershed area, and slope.
Longnose Sucker, Catostomus catostomus
Photo by Dr. Donna Kashian
These attributes will be quantified using a combination of field surveys and Geographic Information System databases. Fish influences will be tested by comparing DOC, nutrient concentrations, and stream metabolism (primary productivity and microbial respiration) at sites above and below the lower dam on the Salmon Trout at times before, during, and after the sucker run. Potential nutrient inputs from suckers will be quantified by censusing migrating fish using trap nets.
In addition, we are analyzing metal concentrations in stream invertebrates because DOC influences metal bioavailability, changes in land-use may enhance metal inputs to streams, and sucker runs may deliver such contaminants from the lake. Our project will provide important baseline data on these stream ecosystems, offer a novel comparison of landscape attributes versus migratory fish as drivers of stream chemistry, and provide insight into conserving stream productivity and biodiversity through watershed management practices.
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Publications
Clements, W.H., M.L. Brooks, D. R. Kashian and R. E. Zuellig. 2008. Climate-induced changes in dissolved organic material determine exposure of stream benthic communities to heavy metals and UV-B radiation. Global Change Biology 14(9): 2201-2214.
Zuellig, R.E., D.R. Kashian, Kiffney, P.M and W. H. Clements. 2008. Metal exposure history and the influence of ultraviolet-B radiation on benthic communities in Colorado Rocky Mountain streams. The Journal of the North American Benthological Society. 27(1): 120-134.
Kashian, D.R., R.E. Zuellig, K.A. Mitchell and W.H. Clements. 2007. The cost of tolerance: Sensitivity of stream benthic communities to UV-B and metals. Ecological Applications. 17(2): 365-375.
Kashian, D.R., B.A. Prusha, and W.H. Clements. 2004. The influence of total organic carbon and UV-B radiation on Zn toxicity and bioaccumulation in aquatic communities. Environmental Science and Technology 38(23): 6371-6376.
Kashian, D.R. and S.I. Dodson. 2004. Effects of vertebrate hormones on development and sex determination in Daphnia magna. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 23(5): 1282-1288.
Kashian, D.R. 2004. An investigation of xenobiotic detoxification through P-450 induction in Daphnia magna. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology-C 137(1): 53-63.
Kashian, D.R. and S.I. Dodson. 2002. Effects of common-use pesticides on developmental and reproductive processes in Daphnia. Toxicology and Industrial Health 18: 225-235.
Kashian, D.R. and T.M. Burton. 2000. A comparison of macroinvertebrates of two Great Lakes coastal wetlands: Testing potential metrics for an index of ecological integrity Journal of Great Lakes Research 26 (4): 460-481.
Peterson, J.K., D.R. Kashian, and S.I. Dodson. 2001. Methoprene and 20-OH-Ecdysone affect male production in Daphnia pulex. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 20(3): 582-588.
Kashian, D.R. 2004. Aquatic ecosystems: Interactivity of dissolved organic matter. Journal of the North American Benthological Society (Book Review) 23:662-663.
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Lab Members
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Dr. Vijay Kannappan
Research Scientist
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Dr. Vijay Kannappan’s research interests are in the aquatic environmental health, where his focus is to study and understand the ecotoxicological effects of emerging and existing contaminants and their relationship with environmental stressors by assessing biomarker signals in sentinel organisms.
His idea is to develop research that directly establishes a bridge between the physiological disruption caused by chemical and environmental stressors and the chronic impacts observed thereafter. The overall aim is an integrative understanding of biochemical and molecular disruptions in relation to stressors at the cellular level, how this is expressed in terms of organism’s physiology and finally, how whole organism’s performance is affected during chronic exposure in actual field conditions.
Dr. Vijay Kannappan is also interested in developing rapid methods to monitor the quality of recreational waters, develop and apply alternative markers as microbial source tracking tools related to oceans and human health perspectives, deriving water quality criteria using toxicity tests, application of contaminant source tracking tools for assessing the ecosystem health etc.
Find more about Dr. Vijay Kannappan
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Sander Robinson
Lab Manager
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Sander Robinson has been interested in ecological toxicology for many years. He started analyzing PCBs and other persistent organic pollutants residing in resuspendable and depositional Great Lakes sediments. This work expanded into monitoring these toxicants in a sediment dwelling invertebrate, and how toxicant levels changed in these sediments and biota on a seasonal basis.
More recently, Sander has been interested in Zebra and Quagga mussel filter feeding of algae and this possible association with the formation of seasonal harmful algal blooms that produce toxins considered dangerous to human and lake ecosystem health. Now, as a Lab Manager in Donna Kashian’s ecotoxicology lab, Sander hopes to experiment with the artificial streams and research the fate and effects of metals and other compounds (especially pharmaceuticals) in invertebrates.
Find more about Sander Robinson
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R. Hunter Oates Jr.
Research Assistant
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My research interests have focused on the biogeochemical cycling of macronutrients in near-shore/shallow water environments in both marine and freshwater settings. Primarily, this work has examined the sediment-water interface and processes that affect the rate of cycling and exchange between the benthic sediments, their interstial porewaters, and the overlying waters above. The majority of this work examined phosphate release from coastal bay sediments and various interactions between PO4 and minerals phases that alter these release rates. The goal of this line of inquiry is to better understand natural controls of nutrient inputs into these important areas, leading to better predictibe ability for hameful algae blooms and red tide events.
My other interests include tracers (implimentation and development), denitrification processes and subterranian groundwater discharge studies.
Find more about R. Hunter Oates Jr.
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