My research team uses empirical approaches to understand the factors that regulate the distribution and abundance of freshwater invertebrates. Using a combination of experimental studies and the analysis of spatial and temporal data, we investigate how local environmental conditions (biotic and abiotic) and dispersal influence biodiversity. We are also interested in determining what role biodiversity plays in maintaining ecosystem function and how biodiversity and function are influenced by the addition and removal of disturbances.

In our current research program, we are investigating these ecological processes in the context of several environmental stressors that have important implications for lakes on the Canadian Shield: 

1)  factors influencing the recovery of lakes from acidification,

2)  the impact of climate change on lakes, and

3)  the effect of the exotic invertebrate predator, Bythotrephes, on aquatic food webs.