Dr. Bill Perry

Research Interests & Areas

My laboratory works on two major projects at this time. The first project deals with the ecology and biogeochemistry of agricultural streams. We are currently working with The Nature Conservancy to examine the effects of watershed management practices and wetlands on downstream water quality. This work is being conducted in headwater streams of the Mackinaw River east of Illinois State University. The second project in the laboratory deals with invasive species ecology. We are currently focusing on the invasions dynamics of the rusty crayfish, Orconectes rusticus, in streams. We are assessing the role of flow in mediating invasion dynamics. Another aspect of this research is examining the role of hybridization in streams using microsatellite markers developed in collaboration with David Lodge and Jeff Feder at the University of Notre Dame.