UToledo Lake Erie Center

Recent Graduates

 2019 Degrees

Ryan

Ryan Jackwood (Advisor Daryl Dwyer)
Dissertation "Coupling Ecosystem Rehabilitation to Water Quality Improvements in the Wolf Creek Watershed"
2019

 Megan

 Megan Niner (Advisor Carol Stepien)

Dissertation "Evolutionary Patterns and Occurrences of the fish Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia Virus in the Laurentian Great Lakes"
2019

 

Matthew Snyder (Advisor Carol Stepien)
Dissertation "Environmental DNA Detection and Population Genetic Patterns of Native and Invasive Great Lakes Fishes"
2019

Nate

Nate Marshall (Advisor Carol Stepien)
Dissertation "Invasion genetics from eDNA and thousands of larvae: A targeted metabarcoding assay that distinguishes species and population variation of zebra and quagga mussels"
2019

 2018 Degrees

Eva


Eva Kramer
(advisor: Dr. Thomas Bridgeman),
Thesis " Diel Vertical Distribution of Microcystis and Associated Environmental Factors in the Western Basin of Lake Erie"
December 2018

 2017 degrees 

Marty Simonson Marty Simonson (advisor: Dr. Christine Mayer), Thesis "Modeling Nearshore Fish Community Responses to Shoreline Types in Lake Erie"
May 2017
 holly Holly Embke (advisor: Dr. Christine Mayer), defended her M.S. Thesis "Assessing Grass Carp spawning probability in the Sandusky River under varying conditions", on April 10, 2017. 
   

2016 degrees

 caseyyanos Casey Yanos (advisor: Dr. Christine Mayer), defended her M.S. Thesis "Effects of Productivity Gradients on Fish-Community Structure in Lake Erie", on December 15, 2016. 
   
markdufour Mark DuFour (advisor: Dr. Christine Mayer), defended his Ph.D. Dissertation "Hydroacoustic quantification of Lake Erie walleye (Sander vitreus) distribution and abundance", on December 14, 2016. Mark is currently working as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at Michigan State University - Quantitative Fisheries Center working on a Structured Decision-Making exercise to help guide Lake Erie grass carp management and also working with the Lake Erie Percid Management Advisory Group to determine sustainable harvest levels for yellow perch. 
   
matthew mayer Matthew Mayher (advisor: Dr. Daryl Dwyer), graduated with his M.S. in Biology, non-thesis track, August 5, 2016. 
Brian S Brian Schmidt (advisor: Dr. Christine Mayer), defended his M.S. Thesis, "Determining the Habitat Limitations of Maumee River Walleye Production to Western Lake Erie Fish Stocks", May 3, 2016. Brian is doing consulting work for the USGS in Ann Arbor, Mi.

2015 degrees

ken Ken Gibbons (advisor: Dr. Tom Bridgeman), defended his M.S. Thesis, "Effect of Temperature on Phosphorus Release from Anoxic Western Lake Erie Sediments", December 4, 2015. Ken is working as a Water Quality Fellow for the Great Lakes Commission.
phoenix Phoenix Golnick (advisor: Dr. Tom Bridgeman), defended her M.S. Thesis, "Spatial and Temporal Trends in the Thermal Structure and Oxygen Depletion in Western Lake Erie", December 3, 2015. Phoenix accepted a position with Ohio Department of Transportation. 

2014 degrees

betsyBetsy Bodamer Scarbro (advisor: Dr. Tom Bridgeman), defended her Ph.D., "The Physiological and Behavioral Responses of Yellow Perch to Hypoxia", March 21, 2014. Betsy is a Biological Fisheries Technician at U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Sandusky, OH. 
jeremyJeremy Pritt (advisor: Dr. Christine Mayer), defended his Ph.D., "Fish Migration as an Ecosystem Linkage between Lake Erie and its Tributaries", January 10, 2014. Jeremy is now a post-doctoral research at USGS in Ann Arbor. 

 2013 degrees 

Lindsey Pierce (advisor: Dr. Carol Stepien), defended her Ph.D., The evolution and detection of the fish Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia virus (VHSv)", August 15, 2013. Lindsey is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Cleveland Clinic.
amanda Amanda Haponski (advisor: Dr. Carol Stepien), defended her Ph.D., "Evolutionary, biogeographic, and population genetic patterns of walleye and other Sander: Relationships across continents, corridors, and spawning sites", June 20, 2013. Amanda is a Post-Doc. Research Fellow at the University of Michigan.
nate manning Nate Manning (advisors: Drs. Christine Mayer and Jon Bossenbroek), defended his Ph.D.,"Modeling the Effects of Turbidity on Age-0 Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens) in the Western Basin of Lake Erie", May 29, 2013.
Tim Sullivan Timothy Sullivan (advisor: Dr. Carol Stepien), defended his M.S.,"A Fine-scale Analysis of Spatial and Temporal Population Genetic Patterns in the Yello Perch (Perca flavescens)", February 14, 2013.
jason ross Jason Ross (advisor: Dr. Christine Mayer), defended his M.S.,"A Coastal Monitoring Program for a Large Lake Fish Community: the first step in capturing long-term trends and addressing evolving questions", June 18, 2013.
Justin Justin Chaffin (advisor: Dr. Tom Bridgeman), defended his Ph.D.,"Effects of Low Available Nitrogen Concentrations on Phytoplankton Dynamics in Eutrophic Lakes", January 23, 2013. Justin is the Research Coordinator at OSU Stone Laboratory.

 2012 degrees


Mark Morandi (advisor: Dr. Jon Bossenbroek), defended his M.S., "Assessing the influence of different inland lake management strategies on human-mediated invasive species spread", November 19, 2012.
mark Mark DuFour (advisor: Dr. Christine Mayer) defended his M.S. thesis, "Quantification of variability, abundance, and mortality in the Maumee River larval walleye (Sander vitreus) using Bayesian hierachical models", July 31, 2012.
todd crail Todd Crail (advisor: Dr. Jon Bossenbroek) defended his Ph.D. dissertation, "The ecological niche of darters (Pisces: Percidae) across multiple scales in the Ohio River Basin", May 15, 2012. He is now an instructor in the Dept. of Env. Sci. at UT.
Sarah Sarah Panek (advisor: Dr. Tom Bridgeman) defended her M.S. thesis,"The ecology of the nuisance cyanobacterium, Lyngbya wollei, in the Western Basin of Lake Erie", March 29, 2012.

2011 degrees

Osvaldo Jhonatan Sepulveda Villet (advisor: Dr. Carol Stepien) successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation, "Population genetic structure and biogeographic patterns in the yellow perch Perca flavescens", October 24, 2011. Jhonathan is an Asst. Professor at the University of Wisconsin's School of Freshwater Science.
Kristen DeVanna (advisor: Dr. Christine Mayer) defended her Ph.D. dissertation, "Spatial correlation and facilitation between Dreissena and Hexagenia: Possible food-web disruption", August 26, 2011. She is now a post-doctoral researcher at The Ohio State University. 
Jo Ann Banda (advisor: Dr. Carol Stepien) defended her M.S. thesis, "Temporal and spatial genetic consistency of walleye (Sander vitreus) spawning groups", January 4, 2011. Jo Ann is a Fish and Wildlife Biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

 2009 - 2010 degrees

Patricia Armenio (advisor: Dr. Christine Mayer) successfully defended her M.S. thesis, "Nutrient contributions from Dreissena spp. to Lyngbya wollei and Cladophora glomerata", December 16, 2010.
Jordan Rofkar (advisor Dr. Daryl Dwyer) successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation, "An ecologically engineered system for remediation of arsenic-contaminated water: Selecting plant species for northwest Ohio", April 7, 2010.
Kris Barnswell (advisor Dr. Daryl Dwyer) successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation, "Determining Preliminary Components for a Landfill Evapotranspiration Cover", April 1, 2010. Kris is a Water Quality Planner for the Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments (TMACOG).
Joshua Brown (advisor: Dr. Carol Stepien) successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation, "Genetic Portraits of Introduced Gobies and Mussels: Population Variation Delineates Invasion Pathways", Tuesday, November 24, 2009.
Matthew Neilson (advisor: Dr. Carol Stepien) successfully defended his dissertation, "Evolution, systematics, and phylogeography of Ponto-Caspian gobies (Benthophilinae: Gobiidae: Teleostei)", Thursday, September 10, 2009.
Audra Crosky (advisor Dr. Jon Bossenbroek) defended her M.S. thesis, "Evaluating the costs of the emerald ash borer invasion in Ohio", Tuesday, August 18, 2009.
Justin Chaffin (advisor: Dr. Tom Bridgeman) defended his M.S. thesis, "Physiological Ecology of Microcystis Blooms in Turbid Waters of Western Lake Erie", July 21, 2009. He is continuing on at the Lake Erie Center in the Ph.D. program.
Last Updated: 6/27/22