Jasmine Saros

Address: 132 Sawyer Research Center, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469

Research Area:

My main research interests involve paleolimnology and phytoplankton ecology, as I use diatom fossil records in lake sediments to reconstruct environmental change over time. My approach differs from conventional reconstructions involving diatom profiles in that I apply information from both field observations and bioassays to the sediment records, and I use patterns in the sediment record to pose testable hypotheses about mechanisms driving observed changes.

My current research in the Beartooth Mountain Range of the central Rocky Mountains focuses on understanding how the interactive effects of enhanced atmospheric nitrogen deposition and climate change may be driving observed shifts in alpine diatom communities. We have also recently discovered key linkages between melting alpine glaciers and the nitrogen cycle in alpine ecosystems. I also use algal ecology as a tool to investigate indirect lake-climate interactions, particularly the linkage between lake-water chemistry and climate, in saline lakes of the northern Great Plains.

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