Krista Slemmons, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Biology

Office: CBB 347, Research Lab: CBB 260
Email:krista.slemmons@uwsp.edu
Paleoecology Website:paleodiatom.com

Coordinator: Natural Science for Science Teaching Certification

Education

Ph.D., Ecology and Environmental Science – University of Maine (2013)

Dissertation: The influence of glacial meltwater on alpine and arctic lake phytoplankton throughout the Holocene.

M.S., Environmental Science and Conservation Biology – Miami University (2007)

Thesis: The effects of eutrophication on algae and seagrass biomass, species diversity, and abundance.

M.Ed., Science Education – Wright State University (2000)

Thesis: Explorative science: the impact on ecological self-efficacy, misconceptions, and ethics.

B.S., Biology and Chemistry - Dension University (1994)

Courses

BIOL 100 Biological Principles and the Human Environment

BIOL 205 Survey of Ecology and Evolution

BIOL 309 Field Ecology of Hawaii
BIOL 490  Paleoecology
BIOL 490  Global Change and Freshwater Systems
BIOL 490  Ecology and Natural History of Water

BIED 400 Seminar: Student Interns/Teachers
BIED 398/498 Student Teaching

Research Areas

I am a paleoecologist and limnologist combining historical diatom community data with current field observations and modern ecological experimentation to understand drivers of aquatic community change. Particularly, I examine how changes in the mass balance of glaciers in arctic and alpine areas alter phytoplankton communities over the Holocene. I am also interested in inquiry-based science teaching strategies as well as STEM diversity.

Grants, Awards, Fellowships

2021 2020	Excellence in Service, UWSP Biology Department Award University Excellence in Scholarship, UWSP
2019	Research and Creative Activities Grant, UWSP, Temporal-spatial ecosystem dynamics in lake chemistry and biota in temperate and arctic lakes, USA. ($6,254)
2019	University Excellence in Teaching, UWSP
2019	Excellence in Scholarship, UWSP Biology Department Award
2018	Excellence in Scholarship, UWSP Biology Department Award
2018	Excellence in Teaching, UWSP Biology Department Award
2017	Excellence in Scholarship Department Award
2017	Center for Inclusive Teaching and Learning, Online Course Development Grant, ($3,000)
2017	Undergraduate Education Initiative, UWSP, Habitat-induced change in diatom communities through the use of high capacity wells in the central sands region of Wisconsin, USA, as inferred from paleolimnological data and lake level modeling ($3,340)
2017	Educating a Workforce for Aquaculture Industry: Matching Skill Needs of the Aquaculture Industry with US Career and Technical Education, co-principle investigators: Helal, Evans, Pattillo, and Hartleb (UW-Stevens Point), ($188,036)
2016	Undergraduate Education Initiative, Fall, UWSP ($3,590)
2016	Undergraduate Education Initiative, Summer, UWSP ($6,180)
2015	Wisconsin Teaching Fellow, University of Wisconsin System Office of Professional and Instructional Development ($4,000)
2015	Research and Creative Activities Grant, UWSP ($7,492)
2015	Undergraduate Enhancement Initiative, UWSP ($4,595)
2014	Undergraduate Enhancement Initiative, UWSP ($4,526)
2013	UPDC New Faculty grant, UWSP ($4,912)
2010, 2012	Dan and Betty Churchill Exploration Fund ($4,600)
2011-12	National Park Service, George Melendez Wright Fellowship ($12,372)
2011-12	Correll Fellowship ($27,000)
2010	Chase Distinguished Researcher ($14,000)
2010	Best presentation, American Association of Limnology and Oceanography Annual Meeting Santa Fe, NM
2000	Women in Science Fellowship ($10,000)Kappa Delta Pi International honor society in education

Publications

2021 2019	Price JR, Szymanski DW, Slemmons KEH, Eskey M, Johnson, E, Bricker S (2021) Climatic controls on phosphorus concentrations in The Loch Vale Watershed, Rocky Mountian NAtional Park, Colorado, USA: Frost-cracking, apatite dissolution, and paleoclimate from the late Pleistocene to early Holocene, under review Applied Geochemistry. Slemmons KE (2019) Clues in the Core, Untangling the mystery of dead fish in Bear Pond: a case study in acid rain and paleoecology. National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science, University of Buffalo.
2018	Sepsenwol S and Slemmons KE (2018) Automated SEM Diatom Survey and Correlative Light Microscopy. Proceedings of Microscopy and Microanalysis, Vol 24: S1.
2018	Slemmons KE, Anyanwu K, Hames J, Graski D, Mlsna J, Cook P (2018) The Impact of Video Length on Learning in a Middle Level Flipped Science Setting. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 27(5):469-479.
2017	Slemmons KE, Rodgers ML, Stone JR, Saros JE (2017) Nitrogen subsidies in glacial meltwaters have altered planktonic diatom communities in lakes of the US Rocky Mountains for at least a century. Hydrobiologia* Special Issue, 800: 129-144.
2017	Ballen CJ, Blum JE, Brownell S, Herbert S, Hewlett J, Klein JR, McDonald EA, Monti DL, Nold SC, Slemmons KE, Soneral PAG, Cotner S (2017) Course-based undergraduate research experiences for nonmajors. Cell Biology Education-Life Sciences Education, doi: 10.1187/cbe.16-12-0352.
2016	Slemmons KE, Medford A, Hall B, Stone JR, McGowan S, Lowell T, Kelly M, and Saros, J (2016) Changes in glacial meltwater alter algal communities in lakes of Scoresby Sund, Renland, East Greenland throughout the Holocene Abrupt reorganizations began 1000 years before present. The Holocene: DOI: 10.1177/0959683616678468.
2016	Slemmons KE and Saros JE (2016) Effects of glacier meltwater on the algal sedimentary record of an alpine lake in the central US Rocky Mountains. Mountain Views Chronicle Brevia, 10(1).
2015	Slemmons KE, Saros JE, Stone JR, McGowan S, Hess CT, Cahl D (2015) Effects of glacier meltwater on the algal sedimentary record of an alpine lake in the central U.S. Rocky Mountains throughout the late Holocene. Journal of Paleolimnology, 53(4) 385-399, doi: 10.1007/s10933-015-9829-3.
2013	Slemmons KE, Saros JE and Simon K. (2013) The influence of glacial meltwater on alpine aquatic ecosystems: a review. Environmental Sciences: Processes and Impacts, DOI: 10.1039/C3EM00243H.
2012	Slemmons KE and Saros JE (2012) Implications of nitrogen-rich glacial meltwater for phytoplankton diversity and productivity in alpine lakes. Limnology and Oceanography, 57(6):1651-1663.
2012	Saros JE, Stone JR, Pederson GT, Slemmons KE, Spanbauer T, Schliep A, Cahl D, Williamson CE, and Engstrom DR (2012) Merging neo- and paleoecological approaches to decipher the response of lakes to climate change over the last millennium. Ecology, 93: 2155-2164.

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