Kristina Riemer
If one does not walk the feather edge of one's own limits, it is not worth doing.
-Woodrow Wilson Sayre
Rotifer DVM Honors Project
Mesocosm Project, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Summer 2012-Spring 2013
Mentor: Mark Bevelhimer
The summer after graduation, I returned to ORNL to work with Mark again. The purpose of this project was to determine how anthropogenic sources of sound and electromagnetic fields affect fish behavior using a mesocosm. We set up a net pen in a small pond, along with an underwater sound system and EMF-producing cable. My primary responsibilities included fish tagging and maintenance, and determining out how to best use our biotelemetry system. After we ran the experiments, I chose appropriate statistical tests for the data and ran them.
Summer 2011-Spring 2012
Mentors: Bart De Stasio (Lawrence), Mike Swift (St. Olaf)
In this project, I determined the diel vertical migration patterns of seven species of rotifers and how these patterns were correlated with those of an invertebrate predator. My study system was Low Lake in northern Minnesota; I spent the 2011 field season at the Coe Wilderness Field Station adjacent to the lake. I wrote my senior honors thesis during the following school year and defended it before a committee. I received magna cum laude. A copy of the paper can be found here, and a story (with video!) about data collection can be found here. Rotifers are awesome!
Summer 2010, Winter & Spring 2011
Mentor: Bart De Stasio
This was my first big research project! I took water samples from Green Bay and used an ELISA assay to determine the concentrations of microcystin, a cyanobacterial toxin, at different locations in the bay. I also counted phytoplankton in the samples and looked for correlations between plankton and toxin concentrations because microcystin is produced by certain algal species. This was my first experience with figuring out species based on morphology, and also with the tedium that accompanies counting samples (especially algae!).
Fall 2010
Mentor: Mark Bevelhimer
During the fall of my junior year, I participated in the Oak Ridge Science Semester. This is what I did instead of studying abroad, and I'm very glad I did. I set up and ran laboratory experiments to determine the effects of magnetic fields, both alternating and direct current, on short- and long-term fish behavior. This was my first experience with fish maintenance and care, and I learned a lot about experimental design and analyzing large data sets. The greater context of these experiments was determining the environmental effects that new marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) devices may have. See publication here.
Cyanobacterial Toxins Project
Magnetic Fields & Fish Behavior, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This is a brief overview of all the work I have done. Most of these projects were done independently and were primarily focused on aquatic systems and organisms.
See my CV for more information.