Scholarship and Outreach Fund

Laura grew up in Turin, capital of the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. She earned a degree in Environmental Science and Technology at the University of Turin (Italy). Thereafter, she was awarded an Erasmus Scholarship, a European High Academic Achievement Award, to support one year of study at the University of Castilla - La Mancha (UCLM) in central Spain working on preserving local plant varieties against biodiversity threats and influences such as invasive species and pollution. After working for two years with Agroinnova (Centre of Competence for the Innovation in the Agro-Environmental Sector at the University of Turin) studying the impact of agricultural activities on the nutrients, pesticides and the use of water resources, Laura enrolled in graduate school at Washington State University. The focus of her M.S. thesis was to establish the protocol for the detection and quantification of airborne fungal pathogens using DNA in field-collected samples. The main goal was to potentially reduce fungicide usage through early and accurate identification of the pathogen. Laura is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Dr. Mark Sytsma’s lab in the Center for Lakes and Reservoirs at Portland State University. The main goal of her Ph.D. research is to incorporate molecular tools into a routine harmful algal blooms (HAB) monitoring program. She will address the hypothesis that quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) can detect the onset of harmful algal blooms earlier than the traditional monitoring programs. Research will be conducted in Oswego Lake, but has applicability to all lakes with cyanobacteria blooms. Realtime qPCR will be added to the HABs monitoring program that has been maintained by the Lake Oswego Corporation since 2000. Phytoplankton samples will be collected weekly and identified using bothmorphological and molecular methods. The genotype of the Oswego Lake phytoplankton community composition will be characterized using PCR. Aphanizomenon flos-aquae, Dolichospermum flos-aquae and Microcystis aeruginosa are the dominant species of cyanobacteria in Oswego Lake. Toxigenic strains are likely present in the lake. qPCR will be used for monitoring toxic genotype dynamics and to predict toxin concentration in water to establish the minimum threshold cell number for toxic contamination events. Laura’s ultimate goal is to share knowledge and enthusiasm for science through teaching and research at the university level. She will use the OLA scholarship funds to complete the molecular methods she is using to characterize the phytoplankton community composition and monitoring toxic genotype dynamics in Oswego Lake (OR).

Katey Queen is a MSc. candidate in Environmental Science at Western Washington University. She is under the advisement of Dr. Angela Strecker of the Institute for Watershed Studies. Katey completed her undergraduate at UW-Bothell (BS Biology), graduating in 2020. There, she carried out research under the supervision of Dr. Cynthia Chang on plant community assemblages and successional changes in the blast zone of Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. While researching in the monument as an undergrad, she observed the over 100 ponds developed by the massive landslide following the eruption in 1980 and began to question how the aquatic communities were also affected and evolving in this heavily disturbed landscape.

Katey’s master's research at WWU aims to investigate the state of the ponds created by the 1980 debris avalanche and the terrestrial-aquatic linkages driving succession and zooplankton community changes in these small waterbodies. She hopes to observe and predict changes associated with terrestrial vegetation shifts by creating mesocosms near ponds and altering leaf litter types. The plant communities are expected to shift from deciduous dominant shrubs and trees to coniferous forests over a long period of time. Katey acknowledges that climate change will also alter this montane ecosystem as this shift occurs; she will evaluate the “brownification” effects on these freshwaters. The predicted regional warming is expected to decrease snowpacks and increase in rain precipitation frequency and intensity. The runoff from these events could introduce large amounts of terrestrial organic matter, causing waters to brown or darken in color.

Jamila Baig is a PhD candidate in the Environmental Sciences, Studies, and Policy and Geography Departments at University of Oregon. Jamila has a Master of Philosophy degree in Animal Sciences from Karakoram International University (KIU), Pakistan; a Master of Science degree in Zoology from University of Peshawar, Pakistan; and both Bachelor and Master of Education degrees from Notre Dame Institute of Education in Karachi Pakistan.

Lindsay Collart is a 4th year PhD student from southeastern Ohio. She earned dual B.Sc. degrees from The Ohio State University in Molecular Genetics and Evolution, plus Ecology and Organismal Biology. In 2013, she began work as a technician at the Ohio State University’s Aquatic Ecology Laboratory, where she worked on the ecological effects of harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie and helped develop a method to quantify cyanobacterial toxin concentrations in Lake Erie sport fish.

Crysta Gantz is a 4th year PhD Student originally from Renton, Washington. Crysta earned an undergraduate degree in Botany from the University of Washington and after working in a private microscopy lab for a couple of years, moved to Scotland to pursue an MSc at the University of Edinburgh. After finishing the degree, she returned to the US moving to Florida, where she worked as a researcher at the University of Florida. After working on this project for two years, she joined a group that was developing a risk assessment for terrestrial plants. In 2007, she began working on risk assessment for aquatic plants. In 2011, Crysta was hired to work on a grant-funded project on risk assessment at the University of Notre Dame. This project involved developing risk assessment tools for multiple aquatic organisms in the Great Lakes basin.

Following this effort she wanted to pursue a PhD on projects that help preserve and protect lakes. Crysta wanted a PhD program on the West Coast so that she could be closer to family and because she missed the Pacific Northwest. She was accepted to work with Dr. Strecker so that she could learn more about limnology and aquatic ecology. Her research project is in the Columbia Basin Project in Washington State. The dissertation work combines several aspects of her past research: population genetics, aquatic ecology, landscape ecology, and aquatic invasive species. Crysta plans to use funding from the scholarship to attend the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography Summer Meeting in Madison, WI, where she is planning on presenting her research on landscape genetics of a keystone species. These funds will give Crysta a chance to interact with the top researchers in her field, which will be an invaluable opportunity. Crysta is an active student Board member of the Oregon Lakes Association and will present her research at OLA’s 2019 annual meeting in Bend. See: https://www.oregonlakes.org/