Note: I have graduated and am currently a cooperative post-doc with the USDA Forest Service and University of Mississippi (i.e., Ole Miss).  While this site will remain active, I'm not updaing it anymore. Please visit the link below for my most recent contact information and publications.  Thanks!

http://olemiss.academia.edu/AndrewRypel

Andrew L. Rypel (Publication list or resume)

Primary research: Presently, I'm finishing my PhD in ecology at The University of Alabama with Robert H. Findlay.  In the next century, water will likely become known the most important natural resource on our planet. The human ability to properly manage and conserve water is now critical for numerous reasons including those which are economic and geopolitical. My research focuses on the importance of hydrology, hydrologic connectivity and the natural flow regime for the functioning of aquatic ecosystems. A vast body of theory has been developed for predicting how aquatic systems might respond to common forms of human disturbance such as river regulation, pollution or climate change. Yet large portions of this theory lack empirical data and have not focused on tropical and sub-tropical systems where most of Earth's biodiversity resides, nor have they incorporated lengthy time scales. However, this data is urgently needed to populate, test and rapidly validate existing theory before stakeholder decisions are made, especially with regards to diverse and severely imperiled ecosystems. Subtropical, southeastern floodplain-rivers are spotlighted for my dissertation and I endeavor to find how annual hydrology affects the growth (e.g., production) of fishes, freshwater mussels and trees in such ecosystems?

Satellite research: I am fascinated by freshwater mussels in general. In Alabama, mussel biodiversity is extraordinarily high (~60% of North American diversity) and they are profound indicators of water quality. Yet, very little is known concerning growth of these animals. My mussel work is done primarily as a collaboration with Wendell R. Haag (USDA Forest Service, Oxford, MS) and we have been working hard to document growth patterns of mussels because (1) so little is known (2) some are quite long-lived (>50 years) and (3) they are among the most endangered organisms on the planet.

I also have a long-standing interest in ecotoxicology with an emphasis on understanding and predicting bioaccumulation of contaminants (mainly PCBs and Hg) in fishes and assessing health risks resulting from human fish consumption. I firmly believe that mercury contamination, primarily in fish, but probably other animals as well, will be the next great environmental issue in America and likely the rest of the globe.

A relatively new and promising area of my research program examines ecological consequences of fragmentation of tidal creeks due to road crossings (each road crossing varies in amount of fragmentation induced) in the Bahamas. This research is part of an ongoing collaboration with Craig A. Layman (Florida International University) who has inititated a unique set of experiments and tidal creek restorations on Andros and Abaco Islands. This research taps into the same ecological dilemas I face in USA rivers: fragmentation of lotic ecosystems, loss of the natural flow regime and then the "million dollar question": how do we boost, restore or balance the need for ecosystem functionality with cold, hard economics?

I've had 5 incredible undergraduates who've helped out in the field and have pursued their own independent research projects in the last several years. If you are a student interested in research please feel free to e-mail me.

Take the ECOSURVEY! This study will help ecologists become better at serving people. My sense is that we as ecologists are adrift in our own scientific world and have lost touch with the people who care about the environment.

E-mail: rypel001@ua.edu

Phone: (205) 348-4439

http://www.mountainbrookenvironmental.com