Katherine O'Reilly

• Bachelor of Science
• PhD Student at University of Notre Dame

Mercury (Hg) contamination of aquatic environments can lead to bioaccumulation in organisms, but most previous work has focused on fish and not on semi-aquatic reptiles such as turtles that traverse both terrestrial and aquatic habitats. Here, we analyzed total Hg (THg) concentrations in 30 painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) collected from Lake Mich...

In large lake ecosystems, fish movement between coastal littoral habitats such as wetlands and the adjacent open‐water nearshore represents an understudied but potentially important linkage supporting energy flow and fisheries production. We hypothesized that yellow perch (Perca flavescens), an ecologically and economically important sport fish in...

Coastal wetlands of the Laurentian Great Lakes are diverse and productive ecosystems that provide many ecosystem services, but are threatened by anthropogenic factors, including nutrient input, land-use change, invasive species, and climate change. In this study, we examined one component of wetland ecosystem structure – phytoplankton biomass – usi...

Perspectives of white males have overwhelmingly dominated fisheries science and management in the USA. This dynamic is exemplified by bias against “rough fish”—a pejorative ascribing low‐to‐zero value for countless native fishes. One product of this bias is that biologists have ironically worked against conservation of diverse fishes for over a cen...

Freshwater scientists, like scientists in other fields, are increasingly participating in public engagement with science (PES) activities. Published surveys and analyses of keywords in abstracts associated with the Society for Freshwater Science journal and annual meetings indicate that many scientists are interested in pursuing PES opportunities b...

Coastal wetlands of the Laurentian Great Lakes are vital habitats for biota of ecological and economic importance. These habitats are susceptible to water quality impairments driven by runoff from the landscape due to their location along the shoreline. Monitoring of the overall status of biotic and abiotic conditions of coastal wetlands within the...

The Deep Reef Refugia Hypothesis proposes that deep reefs can act as local recruitment sources for shallow reefs following disturbance. To test this hypothesis, nine polymorphic DNA microsatellite loci were developed and used to assess vertical connectivity in 583 coral colonies of the Caribbean depth-generalist coral Montastraea cavernosa. Samples...