Schindler, Daniel

My research emphasizes experimental and theoretical approaches to understanding relationships between species interactions and ecosystem dynamics. We meld trophic ecology and biogeochemistry to understand how species interactions drive the transfers and transformations of energy and matter in ecosystems.

Current and past research—which has been directed in the Wood River Lakes system of Alaska, and Olympic National Park and Lake Washington (both in Washington)—includes the following studies:

• effects of watershed development on the food webs of Pacific Northwest lakes
• coupling of marine ecosystem variability to freshwater ecosystem variability by anadromous fishes in Alaska
• interactions between exploitation of exotic fishes and conservation of endemic cichlids in Lake Victoria, East Africa
• effects of ultraviolet radiation on the spatial distribution of amphibians in the Pacific Northwest, and
• spatial ecology of predator–prey interactions in aquatic ecosystems.

My approach to research integrates field ecology with simulation and statistical modeling. Modeling is an important component of the research process because it generates hypotheses, provides innovative methods for analyzing data, and allows generalization of ecological problems across time and space scales. I encourage collaborative research because I believe that the best ecology is accomplished by multi-investigator teams that can effectively address ecological problems at scales relevant to resource management and conservation.