![\"\"](\"https:\/\/carey.biol.vt.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/MariaPhoto-769x1024.jpg\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Maria joined the Carey Lab in August 2024 as a PhD student. She is broadly interested in understanding how climate change and human activities influence freshwater biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem function.<\/p>\n
Maria graduated in May 2020 from Rhodes College with a B.S. in Biology and a minor in Environmental Science. During her undergraduate studies in Dr. Patrick Kelly\u2019s lab, she assisted in collecting and analyzing samples and data from Mid-South Lakes. This work focused on incorporating nutrient cycling and carbon processing into the characterization of lake productivity. She also contributed to a project that examined changes in nutrient, zooplankton, and phytoplankton community composition within an urban lake, aiming to better understand how these lakes process and transport nutrients downstream.<\/p>\n
Now, Maria is excited to explore questions related to phytoplankton community structure and function, as well as carbon and nutrient cycling in freshwater lakes and reservoirs. She plans to use a variety of methods to enhance our understanding of how these systems are changing and will continue to evolve in response to human activity and climate change.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Maria joined the Carey Lab in August 2024 as a PhD student. She is broadly interested in understanding how climate change and human activities influence freshwater biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem function. Maria graduated in May 2020 from Rhodes College with a B.S. in Biology and a minor in Environmental Science. During her undergraduate studies in Dr. Patrick Kelly\u2019s lab, she assisted in collecting and analyzing samples and data from Mid-South Lakes. This work focused on incorporating nutrient cycling and carbon…<\/p>\n