Greg Cope
Bio
Education
Ph.D., Iowa State University (1991)
Research Interests
Aquatic Toxicology, Molluscan and Fish Biology, Physiology
My research strives for a high impact program that delivers objective, science-based information to federal and state natural resource management agencies and to other policy or decision makers for effectively informing conservation, management, and recovery of imperiled species of native freshwater mollusks and fish. My research interests within this realm are in aquatic toxicology, ecology, and physiology, as well as in the transport, fate, and effects of aquatic pollutants and other human-mediated stressors such as temperature and climate change. This research utilizes sentinel aquatic organisms, biomarkers of exposure, effect, or susceptibility, or alternative toxicological models from which linkages to environmental and human health are evaluated. Major areas of research include: 1) assessment of pesticides, persistent organic pollutants, and metals in surface waters and sediment, 2) toxicological effects of waterborne and sediment-associated contaminants on fish and native mollusks (mussels and snails) in inland waterways, 3) techniques for reducing non-point source pollution from urban (e.g., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and agricultural (e.g., nutrients) watersheds, and 4) effects of non-toxicant stressors such as temperature and drought (climate change) on ecosystem function and organismal susceptibility.
Publications
- Thermal Threats to Freshwater Mussels: An Empirical Stream Assessment , DIVERSITY-BASEL (2024)
- Assessing the Toxicity of Sea Salt to Early Life Stages of Freshwater Mussels: Implications for Sea Level Rise in Coastal Rivers , ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY (2023)
- Histological evaluations of organ tissues reveal sublethal effects in a freshwater mussel (Villosa iris) exposed to chloride and potassium concentrations below benchmark estimates , AQUATIC TOXICOLOGY (2023)
- Review and Development of Best Practices for Toxicity Tests with Dreissenid Mussels , ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY (2023)
- Total mercury, methylmercury, and selenium concentrations in blue marlin Makaira nigricans from a long-term dataset in the western north Atlantic , Science of The Total Environment (2023)
- A New Open-Source Web Application with Animations to Support Learning of Neuron-to-Neuron Signaling , AMERICAN BIOLOGY TEACHER (2021)
- Genetic Structure and Diversity of the Endemic Carolina Madtom and Conservation Implications , NORTH AMERICAN JOURNAL OF FISHERIES MANAGEMENT (2021)
- Method Development for a Short-Term 7-Day Toxicity Test with Unionid Mussels , ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY (2021)
- Survival and Contaminants in Imperiled and Common Riverine Fishes Assessed with an In Situ Bioassay Approach , ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY (2021)
- Understanding the influence of multiple pollutant stressors on the decline of freshwater mussels in a biodiversity hotspot , SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT (2021)