Burlington Standard

University Of Vermont And State Agricultural College issued the following announcement.

Rubenstein School Assistant Professor, Dr. Mindy Morales-Williams, has been honored with a National Science Foundation CAREER Award for her outstanding contributions and vision for continued research in limnology and phytoplankton ecology.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created "to promote the progress of science…" The agency’s Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program offers the NSF’s most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their organization. The awards, presented once each year, include a federal grant for research and education activities for five consecutive years.

Dr. Morales-Williams received her CAREER Award—a first for the Rubenstein School and tenth at UVM since 2018—for her research proposal on predicting algal community responses to disturbance and links to lake ecosystem function. As seasonal patterns become less consistent with climate change, the predictability of algae has also decreased. Algal communities have significant impacts on ecosystems as they influence carbon cycles and habitat health for other aquatic species.

Dr. Morales-Williams explains that the predictability of algal communities isn’t as simple as you might think, and some interesting shifts have been observed in recent years. “It isn’t just that algae are increasing with warmer temperatures, we’re also seeing cyanobacteria blooms in remote regions where we wouldn’t expect them, and long-term nutrient increases in lakes with historically low nutrient levels,” she said.

The research will aim to identify resiliency traits in algae to disturbances across different bodies of water, time scales, and regions. Dr. Morales-Williams will work alongside partners in the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation to conduct sampling at four inland lakes throughout the state and Lake Champlain.  In collaboration with the Pringle Herbarium at the UVM Natural History Museum, she will also establish and digitize the first museum collection of freshwater algae of Vermont, representing a decade of samples collected with the VT DEC in 60 Vermont inland lakes between 2017 and 2027. These physical resources and data will allow comparisons of current trends against historical time periods.

In addition to funding this research, the CAREER Award will provide an educational component for undergraduate students in limnology, phycology, and ecosystem ecology courses at UVM. They will design experimental tanks on campus to study algae trends in a laboratory setting. Dr. Morales-Williams will support a PhD student and a post-doctoral fellow to complete her research team.

“It is an incredible honor to see Dr. Morales-Williams receive this deserved recognition and to host her research in the Rubenstein School,” said Nancy Mathews, Dean of the Rubenstein School. “Her work through this CAREER Award will lead to crucial discoveries in how our lakes are impacted by climate change. We are thrilled for Mindy and for our students that will benefit immensely from this hands-on learning opportunity.”  

Dr. Morales-Williams joined the Rubenstein School in 2017 after completing her doctoral degree in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology at Iowa State University. She serves on the international steering committee for the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON), where she is currently leading two collaborative projects related to the CAREER Award.

“When I sat down to write this proposal, I wanted it to be interdisciplinary and impactful, I decided to focus on my ideal project – the research I was most excited about,” said Dr. Morales-Williams. “It is truly an honor to receive this award. I am grateful to have this opportunity to pursue something I’m passionate about and to further my career and contributions in aquatic ecosystem research.”

To learn more about Dr. Morales-Williams’ work, read her latest publications: Cyanobacterial blooms in oligotrophic lakes: Shifting the high-nutrient paradigm (co-authored with GLEON collaborators), and Eutrophication Drives Extreme Seasonal CO2 Flux in Lake Ecosystems.

Original source can be found here.