Helping the Great Lakes
Alicia Perez-Fuentetaja (biology) is the recipient of a $10,000 grant from the Great Lakes Protection Fund to study "Endocrine-Mediated Effects of Estrogenic Compounds and Persistent Organic Pollutants in Fish Populations from Eastern Lake Erie.” Dr. Perez-Fuentetaja's research interests include different aspects of aquatic community ecology; such as the biology, ecology and behavior of aquatic organisms and how those traits influence the dynamics of food webs. The organisms she most frequently work with are fish, zooplankton and algae.
She studies their trophic interactions and the nutrient and energy pathways that determine food web structure and dynamics. She is also intrigued by the factors affecting food web stability, and the degree of food web resistance and resilience to different levels of stress. In this sense, she is interested in the alterations to food webs by introduced fish and zooplankton species in local bodies of water.
