E. Hotchkiss

Dr. Erin Hotchkiss, an Assistant Professor of Freshwater Ecology in the Department of Biological Sciences, recently received funding for two grants from the Swedish Research Council Formas.

  • Hotchkiss is a co-PI on the first grant: “Taking the pulse of Swedish rivers: Using metabolism to monitor ecosystem responses to environmental change”.
    • Project Goals: (1) determine how rates of ecosystem metabolism in Swedish rivers are shaped by regional climatic and anthropogenic gradients, (2) quantify the extent to which streams in the Swedish landscape degrade terrestrial organic carbon and contribute to greenhouse gas evasion, and (3) advance the use of metabolism as a tool for environmental monitoring programs.
  • Hotchkiss is also a collaborator on a second grant: “Changing ice-cover regimes in a warmer climate: Effects on emissions and metabolism of carbon in northern aquatic ecosystems”.
    • Project Goals: (1) examine seasonal shifts in aquatic carbon metabolism, (2) assess how a shorter ice-covered period will affect whole-system productivity and aquatic CO2 and CH4 emissions on an annual scale, and (3) increase public awareness about climate change effects in northern aquatic ecosystems.

These grants will fund some of Erin’s future research and provide exchange opportunities for students between Umeå and Blacksburg. For more information, including proposal summaries, visit the Hotchkiss Lab website: https://sites.google.com/site/ehotchkiss/news.