Schindler Research Lab

Prospective Graduate Students

Prospective students should contact Dr. Schindler at deschind@u.washington.edu .

Current Graduate Students

Jen Griffiths

I work in the Chignik watershed on the Alaska Peninsula as a part of the Alaska Salmon Program (formerly FRI). My thesis work focuses on the consequences of changing climate and a rapidly evolving landscape for lake thermal characteristics. I am further interested in the implications for juvenile sockeye salmon growth potential. Jen's Website

KathiJo Jankowski Giefer

My research will focus on the effects of urban development and eutrophication on nitrogen-phosphorus dynamics in lakes. The primary goals of my research are 1) to use stable isotope tracers to establish how the importance of N-fixation to lakes changes as P inputs increase with urbanization, and 2) to use molecular techniques to determine how the nitrogen fixing bacterial community composition and functioning respond to changes in N and P limitation.

Jonny Armstrong

I research how landscape heterogeneity affects food webs. I work in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska, where salmon spawn in high densities, releasing marine-derived nutrients into freshwater ecosystems and creating ephemeral periods of resource superabundance for consumers. I study how heterogeneity in water temperature mediates the extent to which stream-dwelling fishes can exploit this resource pulse. My research integrates in situ experiments, observational data, thermal mapping, and simulation models. Jonny's website

Kale Bentley

I am interested in how the biocomplexity of Bristol Bay sockeye salmon, which has been shown to have stabilizing effects on their population dynamics, influences resident (non anadromous) salmonids. Eggs from spawning sockeye salmon are an important component of resident fish diets and in some years can constitute the vast majority of energy supporting their growth. However, due to asynchronous population dynamics and variation in spawn timing in neighboring populations of sockeye salmon, this pulse of high quality food is not evenly distributed through space and time within river systems. This could be beneficial to resident fish as it extends the availability of this important marine derived subsidy from roughly 3 weeks to over 2.5 months, but requires that individual consumers move between spawning locations. Therefore, we are using a combination of stream snorkel surveys and PIT-tag tracking studies to determine whether resident fishes are able to exploit and benefit from the inherent spatial and temporal variability in sockeye salmon resources which are produced as a result of biocomplexity in sockeye salmon stocks.

Peter Lisi

My research seeks to further understand the importance of geomorphic variation and hydrologic processes in controlling the thermal dynamics of streams, and the associated impacts on salmon and the species they support. First, I am exploring how variation in topography produces intraspecific diversity in the timing of salmon residence throughout a river system. Second I will explore how stream temperature, an important attribute of spawn timing, is influenced by water source variation from inputs of rain and snow to stream discharge. Last, I will determine if variation in salmon spawn timing among streams is important to the phenology in a riparian plant. Specifically, my first published paper (Lisi and Schindler 2011, Ecosphere) tested the hypothesis that a pollinator mutualism directly ties riparian plant flower timing to the seasonal influx of salmon resources to streams. My research will highlight how geomorphic variation translates into thermal variation and the consequences for salmon and species that rely on salmon resources. My email pjlisi (at) uw (dot) edu Pete's Website

Emily Davis

I am interested in the consequences of natural disturbance, such as wildfire, on stream ecosystems. In particular, I am interested in how catastrophic disturbance influences energy flow through stream food webs, over the long term, at a landscape scale. My research will attempt to quantify this at the most basic level by measuring ecosystem metabolism in burned watersheds in central Idaho. Here, summer wildfire is a frequent and important agent of disturbance, and a mosaic of burn severity provides an ideal natural laboratory to study the effect on streams. I am further interested in the long-term effects of disturbance on populations of mobile consumers, such as salmonid fishes. How does the disturbance mosaic impact fish growth, survival, and movement at the landscape level?

Tim Walsworth

My research focuses on the effects of species interactions and harvest strategies on the productivity of the sockeye salmon fishery in the Chignik River in Alaska. The river is home to two distinct runs of sockeye salmon and a smaller run of coho salmon, which prey heavily upon emerging sockeye fry as juveniles. While the sockeye runs support a valuable commercial fishery, due to various socio-economic factors there is no dedicated coho fishery. Thus, the commercial fishery exerts an asymmetric effect on the ecosystem, and this in combination with predation by the unexploited coho may be limiting the productivity of the sockeye populations. My research will combine stable isotope and diet analysis of trophic structure, bioenergetics modeling, and an ecosystem simulation model to assess the potential outcomes of alternative harvest strategies. This research has direct implications for the management of this fishery, and can inform stakeholders about alternative management strategies that could potentially improve the overall profitability of the fishery.

New Students Fall 2012

Adrianne Smits

My research will investigate differences in basal productivity among streams within the Bristol Bay region of Alaska, which supports the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery. Sockeye spawning releases marine-derived nutrients into streams and lakes, which can be incorporated into food webs via multiple pathways. I am interested in how this energy pulse contributes to stream productivity across a landscape gradient. I will use fatty acid analysis of resident fish and insects to determine the different energetic contributions of various sources, including the marine subsidy, to stream productivity.

Tim Cline

My research interests focus on aquatic ecosystems and their ecosystem services. I am interested in how anthropogenic disturbances such as climate change or resource exploitation affect aquatic ecosystems. Additionally, I am curious about processes and patterns that create and maintain resilience and stability in ecosystems, such as resource subsidies, diversity, and food-web structure. I enjoy using a blend of field-based empirical research and modeling approaches to address these subjects.

Tala Woodward

I'm a graduate student in UW's School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, and I'm a research assistant with the lab. I head the sampling for the Lake Washington project, and for my master's thesis I am working on a comparison of how interannual variation in the timing of spring stratification impacts phytoplankton dynamics in Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish. Examining the biological response to interannual variability in these lakes may shed light on future climate scenarios, which can then be applied towards best management practices for maintaining the water quality and environmental health of these urban lakes.