Kathryn L. Cottingham

Last updated
Kathryn L. Cottingham
Alma mater Drew University (BS)
University of Wisconsin – Madison (PhD)
Scientific career
Institutions Dartmouth College
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Thesis Phytoplankton responses to whole-lake manipulations of nutrients and food webs  (1996)

Kathryn Linn Cottingham is a Professor of Ecology, Evolution, Environment and Society in the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College. She is a Fellow of the Ecological Society of America and American Association for the Advancement of Science. From 2020 she will serve as editor-in-chief of the journal Ecology .

Contents

Early life and education

Cottingham earned her bachelor's degree at Drew University in 1990. [1] Here she majored in mathematics and biology, and played lacrosse and field hockey. [2] Cottingham played Lacrosse in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Tournament during her first season and was on the team that won the 1988 Middle Atlantic Conference championship. [3] She was the only NCAA Division III athlete to earn one of the Disney Scholar-Athlete Awards. [3] She moved to the University of Wisconsin–Madison for her graduate studies, where she earned her master's and doctoral degrees under the supervision of Steve Carpenter. [2] She was supported by an National Collegiate Athletic Association postgraduate fellowship. [3] Her PhD research in the Center for Limnology evaluated the effects of nutrients and the food web structure on freshwater plankton. [4] [5] She was one of the first cohort of postdoctoral researchers at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, where she developed early warning indicators and ways to study community dynamics. [2]

Research and career

Cottingham studies the dynamics of lake plankton communities and relationships between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. She joined the faculty at Dartmouth College in 1998. She has studied the reasons that cyanobacteria bloom occur, and the consequences of them blooming in low nutrient clear-water lakes. She has investigated ways to manage the growth of these blooms and mitigate the negative impacts of them on ecosystems. [6] Cottingham showed that cyanobacterial blooms create their own optimised environments, driving nitrogen and phosphorus cycling in otherwise low nutrient lakes. [7] [8] She has started work with computer scientists to use big data and artificial intelligence to understand cyanobacteria across the East Coast. [9] Data will be collected using robotic boats, buoys and drones equipped with cameras. [9]

Cottingham also works on environmental health, in particular the occurrence of arsenic in food and drinking water. Her 2012 research on pregnant women's rice consumption and arsenic exposure was selected by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) as one of the most important papers of the year. [10] [11] She identified that women who ate rice had considerably higher urinary arsenic concentrations than those who did not consume rice. [11] [12] She went on to show that white wine, beer, Brussels sprouts and salmon significantly increased arsenic levels in humans. [13]

Academic service

From 2017 to 2019 Cottingham served as a National Science Foundation Program Director in the Division of Environmental Biology. [14] She returned to Dartmouth College in 2019. Cottingham is involved with several public engagement projects, including acting as Vice Chair of the Science Advisory Boards of the Lake Sunapee Protective Association and Jefferson Project at Lake George. [2]

Awards and honours

Selected publications

Cottingham is the Editor-in-Chief of Ecology . [17] [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Algal bloom</span> Rapid increase or accumulation in the population of planktonic algae

An algal bloom or algae bloom is a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in freshwater or marine water systems. It is often recognized by the discoloration in the water from the algae's pigments. The term algae encompasses many types of aquatic photosynthetic organisms, both macroscopic multicellular organisms like seaweed and microscopic unicellular organisms like cyanobacteria. Algal bloom commonly refers to the rapid growth of microscopic unicellular algae, not macroscopic algae. An example of a macroscopic algal bloom is a kelp forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eutrophication</span> Excessive plant growth in response to excess nutrient availability

Eutrophication is the process by which an entire body of water, or parts of it, becomes progressively enriched with minerals and nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. It has also been defined as "nutrient-induced increase in phytoplankton productivity". Water bodies with very low nutrient levels are termed oligotrophic and those with moderate nutrient levels are termed mesotrophic. Advanced eutrophication may also be referred to as dystrophic and hypertrophic conditions. Eutrophication can affect freshwater or salt water systems. In freshwater ecosystems it is almost always caused by excess phosphorus. In coastal waters on the other hand, the main contributing nutrient is more likely to be nitrogen, or nitrogen and phosphorus together. This depends on the location and other factors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyanobacteria</span> Phylum of photosynthesising prokaryotes

Cyanobacteria, also known as Cyanophyta, are a phylum of gram-negative bacteria that obtain energy via photosynthesis. The name cyanobacteria refers to their color, which similarly forms the basis of cyanobacteria's common name, blue-green algae, although they are not usually scientifically classified as algae. They appear to have originated in a freshwater or terrestrial environment. Sericytochromatia, the proposed name of the paraphyletic and most basal group, is the ancestor of both the non-photosynthetic group Melainabacteria and the photosynthetic cyanobacteria, also called Oxyphotobacteria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Okeechobee</span> Natural freshwater lake in Florida, United States

Lake Okeechobee, also known as Florida's Inland Sea, is the largest freshwater lake in the U.S. state of Florida. It is the tenth largest natural freshwater lake among the 50 states of the United States and the second-largest natural freshwater lake contained entirely within the contiguous 48 states, after Lake Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florida Bay</span> The bay between the southern end of the Florida mainland and the Florida Keys in the United States

Florida Bay is the bay located between the southern end of the Florida mainland and the Florida Keys in the United States. It is a large, shallow estuary that while connected to the Gulf of Mexico, has limited exchange of water due to various shallow mudbanks covered with seagrass. The banks separate the bay into basins, each with its own unique physical characteristics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyanotoxin</span> Toxin produced by cyanobacteria

Cyanotoxins are toxins produced by cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria are found almost everywhere, but particularly in lakes and in the ocean where, under high concentration of phosphorus conditions, they reproduce exponentially to form blooms. Blooming cyanobacteria can produce cyanotoxins in such concentrations that they poison and even kill animals and humans. Cyanotoxins can also accumulate in other animals such as fish and shellfish, and cause poisonings such as shellfish poisoning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harmful algal bloom</span> Population explosion of organisms that can kill marine life

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bacterioplankton</span> Bacterial component of the plankton that drifts in the water column

Bacterioplankton refers to the bacterial component of the plankton that drifts in the water column. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word πλανκτος, meaning "wanderer" or "drifter", and bacterium, a Latin term coined in the 19th century by Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg. They are found in both seawater and freshwater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microcystis aeruginosa</span> Species of bacterium

Microcystis aeruginosa is a species of freshwater cyanobacteria that can form harmful algal blooms of economic and ecological importance. They are the most common toxic cyanobacterial bloom in eutrophic fresh water. Cyanobacteria produce neurotoxins and peptide hepatotoxins, such as microcystin and cyanopeptolin. Microcystis aeruginosa produces numerous congeners of microcystin, with microcystin-LR being the most common. Microcystis blooms have been reported in at least 108 countries, with the production of microcystin noted in at least 79.

<i>Gloeotrichia</i> Genus of bacteria

Gloeotrichia is a large (~2 mm) colonial genus of Cyanobacteria, belonging to the order Nostocales. The name Gloeotrichia is derived from its appearance of filamentous body with mucilage matrix. Found in lakes across the globe, gloeotrichia are notable for the important roles that they play in the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles. Gloeotrichia are also a species of concern for lake managers, as they have been shown to push lakes towards eutrophication and produce deadly toxins.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kinwamakwad (Long) Lake</span> Lake in Michigan, United States

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Elizabeth T. Borer is an American ecologist and a professor of ecology, Evolution and Behavior in the College of Biological Sciences at the University of Minnesota.

Amy D. Rosemond is an American aquatic ecosystem ecologist, biogeochemist, and professor in the Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia. Rosemond studies how global change affects freshwater ecosystems, including effects of watershed urbanization, nutrient pollution, and changes in biodiversity on ecosystem function. She was elected an Ecological Society of America fellow in 2018, and has been elected to serve as the Society for Freshwater Science president from 2019-2020.

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References

  1. ↑ "Kathryn L. Cottingham | Faculty Directory". faculty-directory.dartmouth.edu. 2 April 2013. Retrieved 2019-12-25.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Kathy Cottingham | The Cottingham Lab at Dartmouth". sites.dartmouth.edu. Retrieved 2019-12-25.
  3. 1 2 3 "Kathy Cottingham (2000) - Drew University Athletics Hall of Fame". Drew University Athletics. Retrieved 2019-12-25.
  4. ↑ Cottingham, Kathryn L (1993). Effects of food web structure on the resilience and resistance of lake phosphorus cycles. [Place of publication not identified]: [publisher not identified].
  5. ↑ Cottingham, Kathryn L (1996). Phytoplankton responss to whole-lake manipulations of nutrients and food webs (Thesis). 1996.
  6. ↑ "Meet DEB: Daniel Gruner and Kathryn Cottingham". DEBrief. 2017-09-29. Retrieved 2019-12-25.
  7. ↑ "Algae blooms create their own favorable conditions". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 2019-12-25.
  8. ↑ "WKSU News: Cyanobacteria continues to thrive in Ohio lakes". WKSU. Retrieved 2019-12-25.
  9. 1 2 "Big data, artificial intelligence to support research on harmful blue-green algae". phys.org. Retrieved 2019-12-25.
  10. ↑ Gilbert-Diamond, Diane; Cottingham, Kathryn L.; Gruber, Joann F.; Punshon, Tracy; Sayarath, Vicki; Gandolfi, A. Jay; Baker, Emily R.; Jackson, Brian P.; Folt, Carol L.; Karagas, Margaret R. (2011). "Rice consumption contributes to arsenic exposure in US women". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. National Academy of Sciences. 108 (51): 20656–60. Bibcode:2011PNAS..10820656G. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1109127108 . OCLC   811397106. PMC   3251121 . PMID   22143778.
  11. 1 2 "Environmental Factor - January 2013: 2012 papers of the year". factor.niehs.nih.gov. Archived from the original on 2020-10-19. Retrieved 2019-12-25.
  12. ↑ Cottingham Kathryn K. (2012). "Bite of Arsenic, with Kathryn Cottingham". Podcasts: The Researcher's Perspective. 2012 (1): 8p following A189. doi: 10.1289/ehp.trp050112 . PMID   22696767.
  13. ↑ "Why is there arsenic in wine anyway?". Fox News. 2016-11-25. Retrieved 2019-12-25.
  14. ↑ "| NSF - National Science Foundation". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 2019-12-25.
  15. ↑ "ESA Fellows – The Ecological Society of America" . Retrieved 2019-12-25.
  16. ↑ "2019 Fellows". American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved 2019-12-25.
  17. ↑ Gentes, Zoe (June 3, 2019). "ESA Welcomes Kathryn Cottingham as Editor in Chief of Ecology – The Ecological Society of America" . Retrieved 2019-12-25.
  18. ↑ "Kathryn Cottingham Appointed Editor-in-Chief of the Journal Ecology". Women In Academia Report. 2019-08-28. Retrieved 2019-12-25.
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