I worked on quite a few different projects within the Relyea Lab. The majority have involved amphibian plasticity responses to various pesticides. One example was a fascinating study examining brain plasticity as a response to several environmental stressors throughout the development of leopard frogs. Brain morphology did in fact change depending on the stressor, but these changes were not retained through metamorphosis.

 

Since the lab moved from Pittsburgh to Troy, we shifted our focus to the impact of invasive species and the effects of road salt on aquatic communities. These were largely tied to the lab's affiliation with the Jefferson Project.

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We also conducted survey work on Lake George and some of its surrounding streams. My primary task in the lab was to quantify and identify the numerous aquatic macroinvertebrates that we collected from these surveys.