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Freshwater Research

Moving Freshwater Science Forward

Our efforts at Stroud™ Water Research Center require intellectual curiosity, a systematic and rigorous approach to scientific research, and the drive to answer a series of challenging questions about freshwater ecosystems. The answers to these questions may take decades to fully understand, but it is critical that we persist, as they have the power to influence others in ways that positively affect the world’s finite supply of clean fresh water.

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Recent Publications

Arsenic and mercury distribution in an aquatic food chain: importance of femtoplankton and picoplankton filtration fractions

Alowaifeer, A.M., S. Clingenpeel, J. Kan, P.E. Bigelow, M. Yoshinaga, B. Bothner, and T.R. McDermott. 2023. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 42(1): 225–241.

Saturated, suffocated, and salty: human legacies produce hot spots of nitrogen in riparian zones

Inamdar, S.P., E.K. Peck, M. Peipoch, A.J. Gold, et.al. 2022. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 127 (12): e2022JG007138.

Deciphering the diversity and distribution of chromophytic phytoplankton in the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea via RuBisCO genes (rbcL)

Pujariabe, L., J. Kan, Y. Xin, G. Zhang, M.A. Noman, S. Nilajkar, and J. Sun. 2022. Marine Pollution Bulletin 184: 114193.

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Freshwater Research News

Algal bloom in Brandywine Creek where it flows under a railroad bridge.
Who’s Polluting Our Water? Scientists’ New Way to Trace Algae Origins Could Tell Us
Not all algae are harmful but too much can be deadly. Why? Because when they die, the blooms feed bacteria that rob the water of oxygen. 
River with riparian forest
Protecting Forests, Clean Water Amid Changing Remote-Work Landscape
To make the case for preserving open space amid the demand for new development, it’s important to measure impact. Now scientists are doing just that.
A close view of green-dyed road salt on a walking path in Fairfax County, Virginia.
Who Can You Trust? Stroud Center Scientist Testifies on Threats of Road Salt to Fresh Water
The invitation came on the heels of the Stroud Center sharing data with the Philadelphia Inquirer underlining the gravity of the road salt crisis as it affects clean fresh water.
Myriah Wadley taking a stream sample.
Where Passion Meets Purpose: Myriah Wadley on Environmental Science and Education
Wadley is excited to share her passion for the environment with her community through boots-in-the-water educational experiences. “I want learners to feel more connected to the world around them.”
A metal scoop full of road salt being sprinkled on pavement.
Over-Seasoned: Our Taste for Salt is Killing Our Freshwater Ecosystems
The intense use of salt is now threatening our streams and rivers, marshes and ponds, and even groundwater — freshwater resources that were never meant to be so salty.
A purple martin with a large dragonfly in its beak.
Follow the Martin! Migration Sensor Network Tracks Bird From Our Backyard to Central America
When wildlife-tracking telemetry towers were installed in Pennsylvania and Costa Rica, a purple martin reminded us of the connections between the temperate and tropical watersheds we study.