Aquatic ecology or limnology, fish, and the socio-ecological systems that use fish and water, are important areas of research in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment (DNRE). We conduct research in oceans, Great Lakes, inland lakes, rivers, and streams across New York State and the world, and work directly with management agencies, international organizations, and federal laboratories to solve applied problems in water resources and fisheries.
Our research span spatial and temporal scales from whole lakes and analysis of long-term patterns, to mechanisms governing species interactions operating at scales of mm and seconds. We work across scales of organization from ecosystems to populations and individuals, and with tools such as population genetics, simulation and statistical models, and large scale automated surveys. Three field stations within DNRE are dedicated to aquatic research, the Cornell Biological Field Station on Oneida Lake, the Adirondack Fisheries Research Laboratory, and the Hudson River Institute. The USGS Cooperative Fish and Wildlife unit is located in DNRE.
This research area integrates with terrestrial ecology through studies on coupling between watersheds and lakes, with social science through studies of socio-ecological systems, with international conservation of fisheries and aquatic resources across the world, and with climate and energy by including climate change in predictions and solutions of aquatic and fisheries problems.
Affiliated Faculty
Senior Research Associate
Natural Resources and the Environment
- (315) 369-6781
- td389 [at] cornell.edu
Associate Professor
Natural Resources and the Environment
Director
Environment and Sustainability
- (607) 255-5685
- mph75 [at] cornell.edu
Professor
Natural Resources and the Environment
- (607) 255-6887
- barbara.knuth [at] cornell.edu
Professor
Natural Resources and the Environment
- (607) 255-2775
- clifford.kraft [at] cornell.edu
Associate Professor
Natural Resources and the Environment
- (607) 255-2270
- pbm3 [at] cornell.edu
Director of MPS Program. Senior Research Associate and Adjunct Associate Professor
Natural Resources and the Environment
- (607) 254-4912
- sjm11 [at] cornell.edu
Director, Cornell Biological Field Station and Professor
Natural Resources and the Environment
- (607) 255-1555
- lgr1 [at] cornell.edu
Associate Professor
Natural Resources and the Environment
- (607) 255-2110
- rls11 [at] cornell.edu
Adjunct Associate Professor
Natural Resources and the Environment
- suresh.sethi [at] cornell.edu
Associate Professor
Natural Resources and the Environment
- (607) 255-2014
- nt246 [at] cornell.edu
Associate Director, Cornell Biological Field Station and Senior Research Associate
Natural Resources and the Environment
- (315) 378-8115
- jmw237 [at] cornell.edu
Working on deck, Jim Watkins hauling in a zooplankton net on Lake Michigan. Photo by Beth Whitmore.