News Release
February 25, 1998
Contact: Stephanie Boyd
(619) 594-8761
(619) 594-8762
Dr. Stuart Hurlbert is a limnologist and biostatistician. He has conducted research on amphibian ecology, pesticide effects in freshwater ecosystems, flamingos, plankton, water chemistry and geocryology of saline lakes of the Central Andes, and the effects of salinity and fish on lake ecosystems. He was a pioneer in the use of microcosms to study fish-plankton interactions and the first to propose, in 1972, manipulation of fish populations as a way of controlling algal blooms in lakes.
With students and colleagues, Dr. Hurlbert recently carried out a long-term microcosm experiment on how salinity and the presence of tilapia alter plankton and benthos of the Salton Sea. His research group is currently monitoring and analyzing the seasonal dynamics of Salton Sea plankton, with special attention to harmful algal blooms, and will soon initiate a program of research on fisheries biology and reversal of eutrophication at the Salton Sea.
He has served as a consultant to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the South Florida Water Management District, and the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Mosquito Control District on the design, statistical analysis and interpretation of aquatic ecosystem investigations.
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