Astrid Schnetzer

Office: 2800 Faucette Drive
4148 Jordan Hall
Raleigh, NC 27695-8208
Phone: 919-515-7837

AND

Research Laboratory:
1575 Varsity Drive, Varsity Research Building
Module 8, Rooms: 1603 & 1611

Research
My research interests focus on the ecology of protists and zooplankton which comprise numerous taxa and play diverse ecological roles within aquatic ecosystems. Protists are major primary producers (phytoplankton) and consumers (i.e. heterotrophic cilliates) at the base of the food web. Zooplankton (i.e. copepods and euphausiids) are important consumers of protists (and each other) and in turn preyed upon by shellfish, fish and marine mammals. My research group addresses how natural and anthropogenic processes shape plankton assemblages and how changes in protistan and/or zooplankton community structure impact biogeochemical cycles in coastal and open ocean environments.