Research
Research in the Frost Lab focuses on how nutrients affect animals and their foodweb interactions in aquatic ecosystems. Most of our work involves 'ecological stoichiometry', which is a way of thinking about the effects of nutrient ratios in the environment. The Frost lab has used this perspective to study how nutrient availability affects a diverse collection of aquatic life from aquatic plants and algae to mayflies and zooplankton. Much of our current research now examines animal responses (biochemical, physiological and population-level) to interactions among nutritional and environmental stressors in the laboratory and in the field.
People
Dr. Paul Frost
David Schindler Professor of Aquatic Science
Dr. Paul Frost
David Schindler Professor of Aquatic Science
Dr. Frost is a Professor at Trent University in the Department of Biology. He conducts research on ecological stoichiometry with a particular interest in zooplankton consumers and lake nutrient dynamics. He is also Editor-in-Chief of Ratios Matter, a newsletter focused on ecological stoichiometry. For more information on Ratios Matter, click here.
Contact Dr. Paul Frost:
Katlin Doughty
PhD Student
Katlin Doughty
PhD Student
Kate is working on examining the interplay of dissolved oxygen in the hypolimnion on nutrient release and the associated effects to phytoplankton communities within the Kawartha Lakes Region. Her project involves both field collection and field experiments centralized around defining and understanding the effects of hypolimnetic anoxia on phytoplankton stoichiometry, biomass, and community composition.
Contact Katlin Doughty:
Vedanti Ghatwala
Lab Manager
Sen Han
MSc Student
Jack Millar
MSc Student
Ella Honey
MSc Student
Ella Honey
MSc Student
El focuses on silicon stoichiometry and periphyton ecology. Her current projects investigate Cladophora and its diatom epiphytes in the Great Lakes in partnership with the USGS, as well as lake-wide silicon dynamics in Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park. This work involves comprehensive environmental field sampling and lab analysis for periphyton, sediments, macrophytes, and dissolved nutrients.
Contact Ella Honey:
Kendra Jaspers-Fayer
MSc Student
Kendra Jaspers-Fayer
MSc Student
Kendra is researching N:P stoichiometry and algal population dynamics. This centers around Scenedesmus sp. in the lab, and periphyton assemblages throughout the Kawartha Highlands. This involves environmental field sampling, along with laboratory analysis for periphyton, dissolved nutrients, and species identification.
Contact Kendra Jaspers-Fayer:
Nilufar Thabet Sarwestani
Undergraduate Student
Past Lab Members
Click to view our past lab membersgallery
Join us!
The Frost Lab is accepting applications for new graduate students (MSc and PhD) with an interest in freshwater ecology. Interested students should contact Professor Frost to discuss current openings in the lab and provide a curriculum vitae, an outline of research interests, and a list of relevant course work.