Josef Daniel Ackerman, PhD
Research Background
My interest in the physical ecology
was influenced by the Marine Ecology
Course at the MBL (Woods Hole). I
undertook my Master's research under the late Akira Okubo at SUNY Stony
Brook, where I examined the flow around eelgrass (Zostera marina)
plants and flowers, before moving to Cornell University where I studied
the biomechanics of submarine pollination in eelgrass for my
dissertation under Karl Niklas. I spent five years in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Toronto, as a postdoctoral scientist and research associate, where I set up a lab to examine the biomechanics of recruitment and adhesive. Later while also affiliated with the Royal Ontario Museum, I examined suspension feeding and benthic-pelagic coupling in zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha and D. bugensis).
During my nine years as a founding faculty and Canada Research Chair in Physical Ecology and Aquatic Science at UNBC, I was involved in the studies related to suspension feeding and growth of blue mussels (Mytilus trossulus and M. californianus), the hydraulic habitats of stream periphyton and riparian management, abiotic pollination, pheromone dispersion, kelp holdfast mechanics, and particle capture in aquatic and wetland plants.
I am pursuing my primary interests in the physical ecology of trophic interactions and reproduction in benthic plants and invertebrates at the University of Guelph. I am also actively involved in species and ecosystem recovery in southwestern Ontario involving unionid mussels, introduced round gobies, and hypoxia in the Great Lakes.
In terms of the larger scientific community, I serve as the founding Editor in Chief of Limnology & Oceanography: Fluids and Environments, Associate Editor of Aquatic Sciences, and a former Associate Editor of Limnology and Oceanography. I am a member of a number of scientific societies including: ASLO, BSA, AGU, AIBS, BES, CERF, IAGLR, NABS, SMB,and TOS.
Current Research Interests
The ecological and evolutionary problems that underlie my research interests include the convergent evolution of morphology, the manner by which organisms have adapted to their physical environment, physical aspects of energy transfer through ecosystems, and physical-biological linkages in aquatic systems. I have been fortunate to ask many of these questions within an applied context related to industrial ecology, fisheries, forestry, and conservation/management. Most of this research is undertaken in the Physical Ecology Laboratory (and Hagen Aqualab) and in the field in locations that include Lake Erie, Vancouver Island (Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre), and the Rocky Mountains.Current Research Projects
I am interested in a variety of topics related primarily to marine and freshwater benthic plants (including algae) and invertebrates. Additional information about lab personnel, research projects, and our lab resources are posted on the Physical Ecology Laboratory webpage.(1) Mass transfer and the ecophysiology of benthic producers and consumers
• The effects of fluid dynamics on macrophyte photosynthesis.
• The effect of fluid dynamics on suspension feeding in bivalves.
• Biophysical aspects of benthic-pelagic coupling.
(2) The physical ecology of reproduction, dispersal, and early life history
• External fertilization in broadcast-spawning invertebrates.
• Wind and water pollination.
• Dispersal and recruitment of macrophytes and benthic invertebrates.
• Glochidial dispersal and juvenile recruitment in freshwater mussels.
• Determination of hydraulic habitats of juvenile mussels.
(3) The Physical Ecology of Vegetative Flows
• Particle capture (including abiotic pollination) in aquatic plants.
• Physical forcing and hydro-riparian interactions on stream productivity.
• Pheromone dispersal in vegetated flows.
(4) Conservation and Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystems
• Identification of host fish and rearing juveniles of endangered unionid mussel.
• Determination of the role of benthic processes in hypoxia of lakes
Important
Links:
The
Physical Ecology Laboratory - more information on my
research projects and personnel
BEMS
- The Biological and Environmental Mechanics Homepage!
ackerman@uoguelph.ca | Last Modfied
March 25, 2011 |