Southeast USA Chapter
President – Dr. Garrett Hopper (ghopper@agcenter.lsu.edu)
Garrett is an assistant professor in the School of Renewable Natural Resources at Louisiana State University. He is interested in community ecology, biodiversity-ecosystem function, and management and conservation of freshwater animals, particularly unionid mussels and fishes. Research in his lab addresses two basic themes: 1) identifying processes driving species diversity and habitat associations; 2) how global change influences the relationship between animal diversity and freshwater ecosystem function. To address these topics, his lab uses a combination of field observational approaches, lab experiments, and manipulative mesocosm studies. He has been a member of the Society for Freshwater Science since 2015.
Vice President- Dr. Arial Shogren (ashogren@ua.edu)
Arial is an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alabama. She is a stream ecosystem ecologist and biogeochemist focused on the transport and transformation of material as it moves from upstream to downstream, and how stream ecosystems respond to the impacts of climate and land cover change. Arial's research has taken her to river networks flowing through the agricultural Midwest, cutting across Arctic Alaska, and meandering through the coastal plains of the Southeast. Her work combines methods from stream ecology, hydrology, and biogeochemistry to understand the fate and transport of materials in flowing waters, including dissolved and particulate materials, microplastics, and other novel materials. Arial is an affiliate of the Collaborative Center for Freshwater Studies at UA. She has been a member of the Society for Freshwater Science since 2013, and she has been active in the Instars and Emerge communities.
Treasurer – Nathaniel (Nate) Sturm (nsturm@gsa.al.us)
Nate is an aquatic ecologist with the Geological Survey of Alabama’s Ecosystems Investigations Program. As a state biologist, he works with a wide variety of partners to manage and accomplish conservation goals for the waters and aquatic species of Alabama. In particular, Nate’s work focuses on the distribution and monitoring of federally listed and state priority species of fish, crayfish, mussels, snails and their habitats. Nate is also the regional coordinator for the Alabama River and Stream Network’s (ARSN) East Region Working Group, where he helps facilitate conversations and the development of conservation goals with partner agencies, non-governmental organizations, landowners, stakeholders, and community groups.
Lauren Morris (lmmorris7@crimson.ua.edu)
Lauren is a PhD candidate in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alabama. Her dissertation research examines how freshwater mussels shape nutrient dynamics and ecosystem processes in southeastern rivers. Her work aims to advance ecological understanding of these imperiled organisms while improving conservation and management of mussel assemblages by highlighting the critical services they provide. Her research is grounded in a deep interest in biodiversity and conservation, with a particular focus on freshwater invertebrates. Originally from Nashville, she returned to the South after completing her master’s in South Dakota on dragonfly conservation to focus on the unique and threatened freshwater communities of the Southeast. She has been a member of the Society for Freshwater Science since 2023.
Chapter’s Goal
The Southeast USA Chapter is open to all those interested in freshwater science in the southeast USA. The southeastern USA is rich in freshwater resources and contains a disproportionate diversity of freshwater animals relative to the rest of the USA, with more than a quarter of the region’s species found nowhere else in the world. Unfortunately, the southeastern USA is also a hotspot for imperilment, in part because of intensive agricultural and urban development coupled with insufficient investment conservation. The Chapter aims to foster exchange of scientific information among the membership, and with other professional societies, resource managers, policy makers, educators, and the public in the Southeast USA.
Specific goals of the southeastern USA chapter include:
- Increase engagement of southeastern Minority-Serving (MSI) and Undergraduate-Focused (UFI) institutions with SFS.
- Increase undergraduate engagement in freshwater science.
- Organize funded workshops and training experiences among labs
- Enhance regional collaborations
- Promote research and conservation of freshwater ecosystems in the southeast USA
- Develop a regional network of field sites and contacts for education and research
- Increase engagement of southeastern researchers with the larger SFS organization
Mission Statement
The Southeast USA chapter seeks to support and facilitate communication among SFS members working in Southeast ecosystems. We also aim to provide a bridge for non-SFS members to interact with the society at regional meetings to enhance engagement with other groups.
Southeast Chapter Social Media
If you have content to share on the chapter's social media channels (Twitter and Instagram), please send it via email to sfs.southeast@gmail.com. Ideas for content include chapter members, future members and current freshwater research!