PhD Student
Within aquatic environments, trace metals persist as numerous species and complexes. My graduate research interests reside in the realms of aquatic and metal toxicology, focusing on the effects which metal binding have on toxicity and bioavailability in the freshwater environment. To provide a greater understanding of the relationship between metal speciation and toxicity, I am using several physiological and toxicological assays along with analytical chemistry techniques such as Asymmetrical Flow Field Flow Fractionation (AF4) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) to examine how metal complex’s ranging 1 to 1000 nm in size lead to physiological response. Using invertebrate (Daphnia magna) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) species models under acute and chronic exposure to trace metals Silver (Ag) and Thallium (Tl), sub-lethal endpoints will be assessed to further understand colloidal interaction and toxic effects within the “dissolved” size fraction (< 0.45µm). This work is made possible due to the SWAMP laboratory, a metal-free ultraclean research facility at the University of Alberta.