Bridgett K. Chapin

Bridgett is pursuing a Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology. She received a B.A. (1995) in biology with an emphasis in Spanish from Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. During her junior year, she received the Piper Scholarship to spend six months studying in Madrid, Spain. Bridgett holds a M.S. (1998) in environmental science from the civil and environmental engineering department at KU.

Bridgett specializes in freshwater ecology and has done research in Costa Rican and Midwestern aquatic systems. Her research addresses the development of regional monitoring frameworks for freshwater systems and the interface between environmental science and policy. Specifically, she is attempting to test the validity of the ecoregional stream classification approach in accounting for ecological distinctiveness in Midwestern streams by analyzing multiple-scale patterns in fish communities. Bridgett recently finished consulting with the EPA to improve the design of monitoring programs for streams in the Midwest. After graduation, she plans to expand her research on ecoregions into tropical systems, and will continue to work on applied problems in an academic setting.

Mentor: F. Jerry DeNoyelles, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology