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Bernard Sweeney, Ph.D.

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

Distinguished Research Scientist

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

Streamside forest buffer width needed to protect stream water quality, habitat, and organisms: a literature review

Sweeney, B.W., and J.D. Newbold. 2014. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 50:560–584.

Does DNA barcoding improve performance of traditional stream bioassessment metrics?

Stein, E.D., B.P. White, R.D. Mazor, J.K. Jackson, J.M. Battle, P.E. Miller, E.M. Pilgrim, and B.W. Sweeney. 2014. Freshwater Science 33(1):302–311.

Cryptic biodiversity in streams: a comparison of macroinvertebrate communities based on morphological and DNA barcode identifications

Jackson, J.K., J.M. Battle, B.P. White, E.M. Pilgrim, E.D. Stein, P.E. Miller, and B.W. Sweeney. 2014. Freshwater Science 33(1):312–324.

Abandoned coal mine drainage and its remediation: impacts on stream ecosystem structure and function

Bott, T.L., J.K. Jackson, M. McTammany, J.D. Newbold, S. Rier, B.W. Sweeney, and J. Battle. 2012. Ecological Applications 22:2144–2163.

Slimy leaves for clean streams: the leaf pack experiment

Medved, C., B.W. Sweeney, J.G. Blaine. 2012. Pages 56–57 in Interpretive Sourcebook: 2012 NAI National Workshop, Hampton, Virginia.

See all publications by Stroud Center authors

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Would You Drink the Water?

Stroud Water Research Center collaborated with senior students in the horticulture program at the Williamson College of the Trades on their 2018 Philadelphia Flower Show exhibit entitled “Would You Drink the Water?”

USDA Programs Put Stroud Center Science on the Ground

With the help of the USDA, a growing number of farmers are choosing to plant streamside forests to protect water quality for their downstream neighbors.

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Arscott Takes Reins as Stroud Center’s Executive Director

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Clean by Design

38 Master of Landscape Architecture students from the University of Pennsylvania visited Stroud Water Research Center to learn about protecting clean fresh water through land use and best management practices. Distinguished Research Scientist and President Bern Sweeney, Ph.D., led the program.

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This spring, more than 130 students helped Stroud Center educators and watershed restoration staff monitor streamside forests in the Middle-Schuylkill and Brandywine-Christina watersheds.
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