| Description | VOLCANIC ECOLOGY: JUST ADD WATER with Dr. Carri LeRoy, The Evergreen State College Dr. Carri LeRoy’s current research focuses on how streams have developed in the 40 years since the eruption of Mt St Helens. The catastrophic lateral blast resulted in a massive landslide that covered forests in streams around Spirit Lake in up to 300 feet of sterile pumice and ash. Snowmelt, springs, and runoff have carved new watersheds across what is known as the Pumice Plain. New stream channels are being quickly colonized by willow, which is particularly interesting because they have both male and female individuals. In 2018, Dr. LeRoy was awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation for this research. This talk explores both new watershed development and the influence of willow sex on in-stream communities and ecosystem processes. Carri LeRoy has been a freshwater ecologist at The Evergreen State College since 2006. She completed her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences in 2005 at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ, a Masters in Liberal Studies (Environmental Education) in 2001, and her undergraduate degrees in Environmental Science and International Studies at Oregon State University. She Co-Directed the Sustainability in Prisons Project from 2011-2017. Dr. LeRoy’s research focuses on how riparian forests interact with streams and provide energy through leaf litterfall. Her research has shown that both the species diversity and genetic diversity of these litter inputs can affect in-stream leaf litter decomposition rates, aquatic fungi and aquatic macroinvertebrates. |
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