People in the Pace Lab
David Seekell, Ph.D. Student
David joined the lab after completing his undergraduate work at the University of Vermont. He applies a variety of statistical approaches to the study of ecological problems. His dissertation research is focused on using statistical indicators largely developed in economics to discern early warning indicators of regime shifts. He also studies questions related to lake-size abundance distributions, virtual water, aquatic food web interactions, and the centrality of “luck” in determining fishing success. [Click here for David’s profile, email: das9xx@virginia.edu]
Robert Johnson, Research Technician
Robert is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin where he majored in Zoology and Biological Aspects of Conservation. He manages the Pace laboratory on campus and supervises the limnology field research of the “Cascade” project at the University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center. He maintains all things from our website to our databases. [email: rj4m@virginia.edu]
Grace Wilkinson, Ph.D. Student
Grace came to Virginia after graduating from St. Olaf College. She is studying the importance of terrestrial organic matter to freshwater aquatic consumers. She is using natural abundances of stable isotopes of carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen to test hypotheses about the variation in terrestrial subsidies of aquatic consumers among lakes. [Click here for Grace’s profile, email: gmw6yy@virginia.edu]
Jessica Gephart, Ph.D. Student
Jessica is a graduate of Miami University. She is interested in mathematical and statistical approaches to ecological problems. She is considering the interactions of climate change and alien species. She is taking advantage of a long-term data set on ecosystem-effects of zebra mussels in the Hudson River to study how impacts of the invader are changing, especially in the context of a well-documented increase in river temperature. [Click here for Jessica’s profile, email: jag5sa@virginia.edu]
Kyle Emery, M.S. Student
Kyle completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Virginia. He is interested in coastal marine ecosystems and is pursuing research at the Virginia Coastal Researve LTER. His work focuses on the ecology of bivalves in Virginia coastal lagoons. He is exploring the utility of the stable isotopes of carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen for distinguishing the ecological capabilities of hard clams, oysters, and scallops. He is also assessing approaches to measuring the areal coverage of clam aquaculture production and the possible significance of carbon storage by these organisms. [Click here for Kyle's profile, email: kae2n@virginia.edu]