Dr. Mary Lofton

PHD FELLOW ALUMNI  |   Global Change Center

VT Alumni June 2021, Biological Sciences

Advisor: Dr. Cayelan Carey

Google Scholar   •   Website   •   melofton@vt.edu 

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 development of educational modules for undergraduates around key concepts in 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. 

Last updated June 2022.