Tag: Great Lakes

In the News: Vick-Majors on Winter, Ecosystems, and Agriculture

Trista Vick-Majors (BioSci/GLRC) was interviewed in a WLUC TV6 segment about how a continuing lack of winter ice cover could change ecosystems, the Great Lakes, and the future of agriculture. It also touches on how these changes could impact small businesses and outdoor winter activities–such as ice fishing and snowmobiling. The WLUC TV6 story mentioned the project launched by Trista Vick-Majors to gather winter-specific lake samples for comparison to summer data, with researchers around the Great Lakes participating in sampling this month. The story was picked up by more than 300 news outlets nationwide, including the Washington PostHouston Chronicle and Seattle Times.

Trista Vick-Majors
Trista Vick-Majors

Dr. Trista Vick-Majors is a microbial ecologist who studies biogeochemical processes in aquatic ecosystems and microbial communities. She is interested in how microbial communities and their diversity are impacted by physical and chemical characteristics. In addition, her work focuses on how seasonal change or ecosystem change, such as the formation of ice-cover, has an effect on these microbial communities. The interface of microbial ecology and biogeochemistry is where her research takes place.

About the Biological Sciences Department

Biological scientists at Michigan Technological University help students apply academic concepts to real-world issues: improving healthcare, conserving biodiversity, advancing agriculture, and unlocking the secrets of evolution and genetics. The Biological Sciences Department offers seven undergraduate degrees and three graduate degrees. Supercharge your biology skills to meet the demands of a technology-driven society at a flagship public research university powered by science, technology, engineering, and math. Graduate with the theoretical knowledge and practical experience needed to solve real-world problems and succeed in academia, research, and tomorrow’s high-tech business landscape.

Questions? Contact us at biology@mtu.edu. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for the latest happenings.

In the News: Trista Vick-Majors and the Associated Press

Trista Vick-Majors (BioSci/GLRC) was quoted by the Associated Press, Canada’s National ObserverABC News, MLive, Daily Mining Gazette, and Yahoo! News U.K. in a story exploring how an ongoing lack of winter ice cover could change the Great Lakes. The story mentioned a project launched by Vick-Majors to gather winter-specific lake samples for comparison to summer data, with researchers around the Great Lakes participating in sampling this month. The story was picked up by more than 300 news outlets nationwide, including the Washington PostHouston Chronicle and Seattle Times. Vick-Majors was also interviewed in a WLUC TV6 segment about the impact low snow totals and ice cover have on ecosystems and agriculture.

Trista Vick-Majors
Trista Vick-Majors

Dr. Trista Vick-Majors is a microbial ecologist who studies microbial communities and biogeochemical processes in aquatic ecosystems. She is interested in how physical and chemical characteristics interact with microbial communities and their diversity. In addition, her work focuses on how seasonal change or ecosystem change, such as the formation of ice-cover, impacts these microbial communities. The interface of microbial ecology and biogeochemistry is where her research takes place.

About the Biological Sciences Department

Biological scientists at Michigan Technological University help students apply academic concepts to real-world issues: improving healthcare, conserving biodiversity, advancing agriculture, and unlocking the secrets of evolution and genetics. The Biological Sciences Department offers seven undergraduate degrees and three graduate degrees. Supercharge your biology skills to meet the demands of a technology-driven society at a flagship public research university powered by science, technology, engineering, and math. Graduate with the theoretical knowledge and practical experience needed to solve real-world problems and succeed in academia, research, and tomorrow’s high-tech business landscape.

Questions? Contact us at biology@mtu.edu. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for the latest happenings.

New Funding: Amy Marcarelli and Michelle Kelly

Amy Marcarelli is the principal investigator (PI) on a project that has received a $300,000 research and development grant from the National Science Foundation.

The project is titled “MSA: Quantifying whole-stream denitrification and nitrogen fixation with integrated modeling of N2 and O2 fluxes.”

Michelle Kelly is a co-PI on this potential two-year project.

Amy is an ecosystem ecologist with interests in energy and biogeochemical cycles in freshwaters. Her research program blends basic and applied research and integrates across aquatic habitats, including streams, rivers, wetlands, lake littoral zones, and the nearshore regions of the Great Lakes. Dr. Marcarelli’s past and future research trajectory is governed by an interest in understanding the role of small, poorly quantified fluxes or perturbations on ecosystem processes and in linking those ecosystem processes to the underlying structure of microbial, algal, macrophyte, and animal communities.

Congratulations Dr. Marcarelli and Michelle Kelly!

Amy Marcarelli
Amy Marcarelli
Michelle Kelly
Michelle Kelly