Welcome to the Freshwater Ecosystem Science Lab at UCSB!
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Our lab group uses a suite of tools and emerging resources, from sensors to satellites, to focus on two major research questions:
1. What controls the timing and magnitude of inland water ecosystem energetics and biogeochemical cycling (light, temperature, nutrients, primary productivity, etc.)? 2. How is climate change altering ecosystem energetics in inland waters? Climate change is fundamentally altering the quantity and quality of freshwaters on the planet. Understanding how freshwater ecosystems are responding to this change, especially at the base of the food web, is not only fundamental to ecology but also to humans that rely heavily on freshwater for consumption, agriculture, and recreation. In our lab group, we evaluate the energetic and biogeochemical consequences of a changing climate in inland waters. In practice, we find ourselves in the field, on the computer, both in the field and on the computer (see photo), all to understand how changes in light/nutrients/temperature affect freshwater ecosystems. Our current focus is on freshwater primary producers - algae and sometimes bryophytes and freshwater ice! |
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We are hiring!
We have two open spaces for graduate students (M.S. and Ph.D.) to start in Fall 2026.
If you are interested in joining the lab as a graduate student, please email me at [email protected]! This is a brand new lab - which means there are exciting opportunities to study rivers in different environments - from rivers that freeze over to rivers to small intermittent coastal streams.
If you are interested in joining the lab as a graduate student, please email me at [email protected]! This is a brand new lab - which means there are exciting opportunities to study rivers in different environments - from rivers that freeze over to rivers to small intermittent coastal streams.
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Want to get in touch?
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@AudreyThellman or @audreythellman.bksky.socal
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