Freshwater Ecologist, Dr. Emily Arsenault, has recently launched her namesake research lab and is the newest member of PME’s New Researcher Program. Arsenault began researching freshwater systems while studying for her Bachelor of Arts in Biology and Environmental Studies at Colby College. Arsenault earned a Master of Arts at the University of Kansas while working with Dr. Jim Thorp studying ecology and river system projects. Arsenault pivoted during her doctoral studies and turned her attention to lake ecology. She received a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Kanas with her dissertation Tracing carbon through lotic food webs using amino acid stable isotope and analysis.
Freshwater Ecology
Arsenault is currently an Assistant Professor at State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF). During her time at SUNY ESF, Arsenault launched the Arsenault Freshwater Ecology Lab. Arsenault, along with her graduate students are researching how different properties of food webs respond to environmental variability over space and time by mapping this variability using field observations and in situ sensor measurements. The research team uses diet analysis and stable isotope techniques to link changes in the environment to organism diet and nutrition.
As the director of the SUNY ESF Cranberry Lake Biological Station in the New York Adirondacks, Arsenault leads a collaborative team that utilizes robotic technology to monitor lake water ecology. Her team works with fish and aquatic invertebrates in streams, lakes and ponds. This research utilizes PME miniDOT® Loggers as a network of sensors to begin a data stream.
“My graduate students and I are using PME sensors for work, not only for research in the lab but also at the field station. Using a monitoring network of sensors to start a data stream that has access to so much freshwater has been helping us research understudied areas. I have three miniDOT® loggers and I am getting six more.”
New Researcher Program Participation
“PME’s New Researcher Program is such a cool opportunity for me, highlighting my early career research. I am enjoying working in a lab with my graduate students, building a research program, and creating my profile while launching new research,” stated Arsenault.
Arsenault has been involved in professional affiliations throughout her career, including the Society for Freshwater Science (SFS), Organization of Biological Field Stations (OBFS), American Fisheries Society (AFS), Ecological Society of America (ESA), Global Lakes Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON) and Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO).
This is just the beginning of Arsenault’s career and PME could not be more eager to support this new researcher. Follow along as we post, updates on our blog about Dr. Arsenault and her research.