Current Team
Faculty
Dr. Lesley Knoll: Lesley’s research explores drivers of lake dynamics and aquatic-watershed connections. Her research interests include nutrient fluxes, phytoplankton ecology, and lake ecosystem function (e.g., oxygen depletion, primary production). The lab uses long-term datasets, field and lab experiments, large-scale field surveys, and advanced aquatic sensors to address questions that bridge the fields of community and ecosystem ecology.
Post Docs and Research Staff
Isabelle Andersen: As a postdoc of the Knoll lab, Isabelle serves as the resident phytoplankton ID and nutrient stoichiometry wizard. Her research broadly explores how nutrient dynamics affect freshwater ecosystems, with a focus on how nitrogen and phosphorus imbalances impact phytoplankton communities and biogeochemical cycling. She is currently analyzing a 30-year dataset from Acton Lake to understand how long term changes in nutrient availability and climate-controlled variables have influenced phytoplankton community dynamics.
Beth Mette: Beth is a research associate, managing the data from the Poconos Lakes LTREB. She began working in the Knoll lab in 2025, but has worked on the Acton Lake and/or Poconos Lakes data sets since 2001.
Amy Weber: Amy is a research associate and manager of the Acton LTREB project. Alongside her leading role in the project and day-to-day activities of running the lab, she is currently working with watershed partners to increase conservation opportunities for farmers in the Four Mile watershed. She is mainly interested in watershed nutrient dynamics, specifically in agriculturally dominated landscapes.
Graduate Students
Alex Bros: Alex is a second year Biology PhD student studying phytoplankton community dynamics in Acton Lake with interest in environmental and biotic factors promoting and sustaining cyanobacterial dominance in eutrophic systems. Currently, she is continuously sampling Acton Lake for a total of 250 sampling days to assess daily changes in the Acton Lake phytoplankton community over the course of early spring to late fall and how intense precipitation can mediate phytoplankton dynamics. She is most interested in how storms may enhance cyanobacterial (harmful algae) concentrations under their harsh, yet potentially nutrient rich, conditions that may favor cyanobacteria over other major taxonomic groups of phytoplankton. Her previous work included frequent monitoring of nearly 30 freshwater Lakes in the Pocono Mountain region of Pennsylvania and contributions to a long-term dataset on Pennsylvania lakes that are part of an LTREB study.
GiGi Dedrick: GiGi is a master’s student in Environmental Science focusing on applied ecology and conservation. She is interested in understanding how environmental change influences lake ecosystems and water quality. Through her graduate studies, she hopes to develop skills in field research and data analysis to better understand freshwater systems. She is still deciding on her long-term interests, but knows that she wants to be working out in the field with water resources.
Madison Miller: Madison is a second-year MS student in Biology. Her research explores long-term trends in lake temperature and dissolved oxygen in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota to better understand how climate and land use changes influence lake dynamics and fish oxythermal habitat. She is also involved in the collaborative NSF Thin Ice Project, where she leads monthly sampling efforts at Acton Lake. Madison’s broader interests include how lakes and fisheries respond to environmental change and developing strategies for conservation and restoration.
Ellie Connett: Ellie is a first-year Masters student within the Knoll lab. Her thesis will be looking into nutrient limitation in Acton Lake as it enters, sits, and exits the system. Her research interests include nutrient cycling within aquatic systems and how eutrophication is affecting ecosystems.
Undergraduate Students
Kate Halsey: Kate is an undergraduate working on the Acton Lake LTREB. She is looking into cyanobacteria toxin production in the lake.
Emily Harris: Emily is an undergraduate majoring in Biology and Environmental Science. She is working in the Knoll lab collecting and processing lake samples.
Sam Hofer: Sam is a junior biology major starting in the lab this spring semester. She is looking forward to learning more and helping with others’ research.
Anna Maki: Anna is an undergraduate conducting research investigating changing larval bluegill population dynamics in Acton Lake.
Eliana Radler: Eliana is a second-year undergrad majoring Biology, Math and pre-med who works in the lab processing lake samples.
Eden Waters-Carpenter: Eden is a senior undergraduate researcher, majoring in Biology and Environmental Science. Her research focuses on the impacts of changing lake temperatures on phytoplankton nutrient limitation, phytoplankton dynamics, and cyanobacteria toxin production.
