Kimberly L. Schulz

I am a biological limnologist by training and an Associate Professor at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. This site includes information about me, my research interests and course offerings.
This page is very much a work in progress . If you encounter any broken links or other difficulties, I'd appreciate a heads-up (see email address below). Any stylistic or content advice is also welcome.

If you want information on the AquaLunch seminar series, click here

JUST FOR FUN - The continuing adventures of Debbie Daphnia and her sidekick Betty Bosmina

What is limnology?

Limnology is the study of inland aquatic ecosystems -- lakes, streams, wetlands and reservoirs. Inland waters are incredibly diverse. They include lakes you might swim or fish in, lakes much saltier than the ocean, puddles that fill up only periodically in a rainy season, rivers, swamps, and huge bodies of water such as Lake Baikal in Russia and the Laurentian Great Lakes in North America (Lakes Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario and Superior). Although almost everyone knows what oceanography is, the term limnology is much less recognized. The word limnology originated from the Greek, 'limne', that translates loosely to 'pond, pool, or marshy lake'. Etymologically, then, limnology is the 'study of ponds', but in the science world, limnology encompasses a much larger realm. By nature limnology is an integrative science that combines biology, chemistry, physics and geology in an attempt to develop a predictive understanding of aquatic systems. Some areas of limnological research have direct implications for water resource management. It is obvious from satellite images or a look at a child's globe that we live on a watery planet. Most of the water making ours a blue planet, however, is salty. In fact, less than 0.01% of the water on earth is found in freshwater lakes and rivers (Wetzel 1983). As our freshwater resources, so essential for drinking supply, food, recreation and aesthetics, are increasingly stressed by human use, studying inland waters becomes increasingly vital. If you are interested in learning more about limnology and limnological research, visit some of the links in the 'Useful Web Sites' below.

Research Interests

My research combines laboratory experiments, field studies and modeling techniques to investigate ecological issues in aquatic systems. While my primary focus has been on aquatic invertebrates and phytoplankton, my research has included studies of population, community, and ecosystem level questions from both energetic and nutrient cycling perspectives. My current research focuses on the following four areas:

(1) Aquatic 'food quality' -- how differences in elemental and biochemical content of primary producers affects: growth of herbivores, growth of carnivores, community composition, and flow of essential compounds and energy through aquatic food webs

   (a) 'Stoichiometry'
                Effects of nutrients and light on phytoplankton nutrient content
                Implications for zooplankton community composition
                Effects of stoichiometry on trophic transfer efficiency
                Effects of exotic species and nutrient remediation on stoichiometry in lakes

   (b) Essential Compounds
                Effects of essential fatty acids on trophic transfer efficiency
                Use of essential fatty acids as tracers of diet in natural and constructed food webs

(2) Exotic species
                Predatory invertebrates
                Dreissenid molluscs (zebra and quagga mussels)
                Exotic aquatic plants

(3) Laurentian Great Lakes

(4) Zooplankton dispersal

Teaching

For more information on the courses I teach, click on the individual courses below. You will find syllabi, lecture outlines, and other miscellaneous course-related materials on these pages.

Limnology - Fall 2006
Limnology Laboratory - Fall 2006
Marine Ecology - Spring 2006

Past Graduate Seminars

Fall 2006 - Topics in Aquatic Ecology
Spring 2004 - Topics in Aquatic Ecology
Spring 2002 - Food Webs and Biogeochemistry
Spring 2001 - Topics in Aquatic Ecology
Spring 2000 - Topics in Aquatic Ecology

Graduate Courses

Spring 2005 - Community Ecology

Useful Web Sites

Here are a few useful and/or fun scientific websites that you might want to visit. If you have any additional link information that you think might be good to add, please let me know.

Scientific Societies

American Society of Limnology and Oceanography
Societas Internationalis Limnologiae
North American Lake Management Society
Ecological Society of America
International Association of Great Lakes Research
Phycological Society of America
North American Benthological Society

Other Interesting Aquatic Stuff

Tumors in zooplankton
Daphnia parasites
Great Lakes Ecology Pages
Cladocera website and taxonomic key
Crustacean website and taxonomic key

University, Non-Profit or Government Aquatic Pages

EPA water resources site
USGS groundwater site
USGS water resources site
University of Guelph (Canada) Great Lakes site
University of Minnesota Itasca field station
University of Ohio phytoplankton site
University of Iowa lakeside laboratory
Experimental Lake Area
University of Michigan Biological Station
NRRI water on the web site
Copepod site
More copepods
Jim Cotner's homepage at University of Minnesota

Physical Sciences Information Gateway

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Cool Stuff

So far this section contains only one item, but I've found this program so excellent, that I think it warrants its own section. Click on the link below, and you will download an Excel-based tallywhacker created by John Schampel. This tallywhacker can turn any computer capable of running Excel into a counter. You can assign names to individual keys and then every hit of the each key will be tallied. With the click of a mouse, you can stop counting and update your counts directly into an Excel spreadsheet. This terrific little Macro program is much cheaper than one of the manual counting devices you might purchase at a scientific supply house, and automatically enters your data into a spreadsheet. John is letting you download this program for free as a public service, but you should send him $10-20 (or whatever you think is fair) if you actually use the program. His contact information and more complete instructions are included in the file.

Click here to download the tallywhacker

To contact me by snail mail, phone or FAX:

Department of Environmental and Forest Biology
Illick Hall, 1 Forestry Drive
SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
Syracuse, NY 13210-2788
PHONE: (315) 470-6808 (office); 470-4753 (laboratory)
FAX: (315) 470-6934

If you have comments or suggestions, email me at kschulz@syr.edu

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