Casey J Huckins

Research Description

Research conducted by my lab group is focused on ecology and restoration in aquatic systems including lakes, streams, coastal wetlands and the riparian ecosystems that connect them.  The research that my graduate students, our collaborators and I conduct tends to focus on ecological patterns and processes in systems influenced by human actions.  We then apply the basic scientific understanding to attempt to restore or rehabilitate the system or population.  Our projects are often motivated by this reciprocal interplay and exchange between restoration and the advancement of scientific understanding.  Major projects we are currently conducting examine 1) the ecology and restoration of coaster brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), 2) the ecology, restoration, and monitoring of aquatic ecosystems degraded by disturbances (e.g., fine sediment aggradation resulting from logging and roads, historical stamp sand deposition, introduced species); 3) biomonitoring of aquatic ecosystems, 4) watershed assessment of biotic and abiotic conditions necessary for the reestablishment of species such as Arctic grayling, 5) effects of road deicer application on amphibian populations, and 6) the restoration of coastal wetland ecosystems.  This work is founded on the goal to increase our understanding of the biology, ecology, and natural history of the organisms and systems of interest for their continued restoration and sustainability.