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Bernard Sweeney, Ph.D.

500 500 Stroud Water Research Center
Bernard Sweeney, Ph.D.

Distinguished Research Scientist

Entomology Group

Adjunct Professor of Biology, Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania

Contact

sweeney@stroudcenter.org
tel. 610-268-2153, ext. 1300
970 Spencer Road, Avondale, PA 19311

Interests and Expertise

Bernard Sweeney’s interests include the role of water quality monitoring in conservation, population and community ecology of temperate and tropical aquatic invertebrates; pollution assessment in temperate and tropical streams using macroinvertebrates; the role of streamside forests in the structure and function of stream and river ecosystems; factors affecting the growth and survivorship of trees in riparian forests; the effects of global warming on stream ecosystems; genetic variation and gene flow among populations of stream insects; the effects of diel and seasonal temperature change on aquatic insect populations; evolution of facultative parthenogenesis in aquatic insects; bioenergetics and secondary production of aquatic insects; and the bioassay of toxic materials in aquatic systems.

ResearchGate | Download CV

Education

  • Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, Population Biology/Zoology.
  • B.S., Delaware Valley College of Science and Agriculture, Biology.

Professional Experience

  • Distinguished Research Scientist, Stroud Water Research Center, December 2017–present.
  • President, Distinguished Research Scientist, Stroud Water Research Center, 2017.
  • President, Executive Director, Curator, Director, Stroud Water Research Center, 1999–2016.
  • Vice President, Asociación Centro de Investigación Stroud, San José, Costa Rica, 1991–present.
  • Curator, Executive Director, Stroud Water Research Center of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia; Vice-President, Curator, Environmental Group, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 1996–1999.
  • Associate Curator, Executive Director, Stroud Water Research Center of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 1988–1996.
  • Assistant Curator, Stroud Water Research Center of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 1978–1988.

Publications

Oxygen limitation fails to explain upper chronic thermal limits and the temperature size rule in mayflies

Funk, D.H., B.W. Sweeney, and J.K. Jackson. 2021. Journal of Experimental Biology 224:jeb.233338.

Transcriptomic and life history responses of the mayfly Neocloeon triangulifer to chronic diel thermal challenge

Hsuan C., D.D. Jima, D.H. Funk, J.K. Jackson, B.W. Sweeney, and D.B. Buchwalter. 2020. Nature Scientific Reports 10:19119.

Evaluating water quality for Amazonian streams along the Interoceanic Highway in Peru using macroinvertebrates collected by hand and with leaf packs

Sweeney, B.W., J.M. Battle, D.H. Funk, R.W. Flowers, T. Gonzales Ojeda, A. Huamantinco, J.K. Jackson, and M. Arnold. 2020. Limnologica 81, 125759.

Phenological modeling of the parthenogenetic mayfly Neocloeon triangulifer (Ephemeroptera: Baetidae) in White Clay Creek

Kolpas, A., D.H. Funk, J.K. Jackson, and B.W. Sweeney. 2019. Ecological Modeling 416, 108892

Why some mayfly adults are older and larger: photoperiodic induction of larval quiescence

Funk, D.H., B.W. Sweeney, and J.K. Jackson. 2019. Freshwater Science 38(4): 725–741.

See all publications by Stroud Center authors

Related Content

Reclaiming the Commons: Some Thoughts on Rivers, Wildlife, and People

By treating our commons as a resource to be exploited instead of a public trust to be protected, we threaten to destroy the very thing on which we depend.

Oxygen Not Behind Threat To Mayflies When Temps Rise

When stream temperatures rise, often as a result of climate change or thermal pollution or a lack of tree shade, mayflies display poorer growth.

Modeling Mayflies to Understand the Challenges of a Warming Planet

There are some questions too complicated for lab experiments to answer.

Help Us Meet the $1 Million Challenge!

Meeting the challenge for the Bernard W. Sweeney, Ph.D., Executive Director’s Fund will ensure we retain global leadership in freshwater science.

Stroud Center Heads to Lancaster: Our Role in Lancaster Conservancy’s Water Week

Create habitat, protect water, and explore the outdoors: these are the principles and action steps that guide the Lancaster Conservancy’s Water Week.

Volunteers Plant 1,500 Trees for National Volunteer Week

The Stroud Center celebrated National Volunteer Week by planting six acres adjacent to a tributary of White Clay Creek at the Brandywine Polo Club.

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