Jim Junker
Degrees Held
M.S., Biological Sciences, Montana State University, 2011
B.S., Natural Resources: Fisheries & Wildlife Ecology, Northland College, 2007
Degree Sought
Ph.D., Ecology & Environmental Sciences, Montana State University
Advisor
Dr. Wyatt Cross
Current Research
My research focuses on understanding how processes operating across multiple levels of organization influence ecosystem structure and function. My current research attempts to understand the impacts of climate warming on stream ecosystems by linking responses at the individual, species, and community levels to ecosystem processes. To do this, we are exploiting a large temperature gradient (5°C to 30°C) in a geothermally-influenced watershed in Iceland. Importantly, the wide temperature range is found in the absence of major differences in water chemistry, allowing us to isolate the impacts of temperature outside of large confounding factors. Our work builds on the theories of metabolic ecology and ecological stoichiometry to help predict general responses of stream ecosystems to climate warming.
More information can be found at my website: https://sites.google.com/site/jimjunkerecology/
and the Iceland project blog: http://icelandstreams.blogspot.com/