Menu

Bernard Sweeney, Ph.D.

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

Distinguished Research Scientist Emeritus

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

Forest restoration on floodplains mantled with legacy sediments: removing sediments appears unnecessary for successful restoration

Sweeney, B.W., A. Dunbar, C.L. Dow, and M.D. Daniels. 2019. Restoration Ecology 27(6): 1220-1230.

Riparian and upland afforestation: improving success by excluding deer from small areas with low fencing

Sweeney, B.W., and C.L. Dow. 2019. Natural Areas Journal 39(1):90–107.

Large-scale protection and restoration programs aimed at protecting stream ecosystem integrity: the role of science-based goal-setting, monitoring, and data management

Kroll, S.A., R.J. Horwitz, D.H. Keller, B.W. Sweeney, J.K. Jackson, and L.B. Perez. 2019. Freshwater Science 38(1): 23–29.

The good, the bad and the lethal: gene expression and metabolomics reveal physiological mechanisms underlying chronic thermal effects in mayfly larvae (Neocloeon triangulifer)

Chou, H., W. Pathmasiri, J. Deese-Spruill, S.J. Sumner, D. Jima, D. Funk, J. Jackson, B. Sweeney, and D. Buchwalter. 2018. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 6:27.

Why adult mayflies of Cloeon dipterum (Ephemeroptera:Baetidae) become smaller as temperature warms

Sweeney, B.W., D.H. Funk, A.A. Camp, D.B. Buchwalter, and J.K. Jackson. 2018. Freshwater Science 37(1):64–81.

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.
You might also like