Dr. Mary Lofton
POSTDOCTORAL NETWORK | Global Change Center
Postdoctoral Associate
Faculty Mentors: Drs. Cayelan Carey & Quinn Thomas
Department of Biological Sciences
melofton@vt.edu
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Mary Lofton is a postdoctoral research associate in the Dept. of Biological Sciences at Virginia Tech, co- supervised by Drs. Cayelan Carey and R. Quinn Thomas. Her current work focuses on near-term forecasting of phytoplankton community structure in drinking water reservoirs and ecological education, with an emphasis on developing educational materials related to ecological forecasting. Dr. Lofton received her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Virginia Tech in 2021, and her dissertation research focused on phytoplankton ecology in lakes and reservoirs. She is an active member of the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON) and the Ecological Forecasting Initiative (EFI). She received a B.S. in Biology from the College of William and Mary in Virginia in 2010 and taught high school Biology and Environmental Science for five years prior to attending graduate school.
The GCC postdoctoral network connects our outstanding postdoctoral researchers to our broader GCC community, and provides them with a variety of professional development opportunities such as training in mentorship, grant writing, and science communication.
