EMILY Cornwell
Fulbright Postgraduate Scholar
Media Profile
"Knowledge of the ecology of Lake Connewarre is extremely important to the perseverance of the diverse organisms that inhabit the region as well as the development of agriculture as access to fresh water continues to be limited."
Emily Cornwell is off to Australia on a Fulbright Postgraduate Scholarship to study mussels in a protected lake outside of Geelong, Australia. Emily, a graduate of Kalamazoo College (Michigan), will use ecological and physiological techniques to study the metabolism of these mussels in the extremely salty conditions of the lake while studying at Deakin University.
Emily through her study, Ecophysiological Characteristics of Molluscan Populations in Lake Connewarre, hopes to gain a better understanding of the adaptations associated with the hypersaline conditions of the lake that can then be applied to its future conservation and management, as well as obtain an honors degree in physiology.
“This research has implications for future conservation strategies for the organisms within the lake. Additionally, fresh water is an increasingly limited resource throughout the world and learning more about the metabolic adaptations of organisms that thrive in hypersaline conditions has implications in agriculture and aquaculture.”
“As a protected RAMSAR site, Lake Connewarre presents a unique situation where extreme variations in salinity occur rapidly and seasonally and yet a wide range of flora and fauna persist through these variable conditions. We currently don’t know whether the mussel (Xenostrobus pulex) tolerates the extreme range of salinity to which it is exposed in the lake, or if the population suffers mortality and subsequent replacement by larval settlement from plankton on the flooding tide once tolerable conditions are re-established.”
High levels of salinity adversely affect agricultural production as well as local biodiversity. “Through learning more about the ecology and physiology of the organisms in Lake Connewarre we help ensure that this and other lakes are available for future generations to enjoy and apply our findings to aid agriculture in the face of a changing environment.”
During two previous summer internships at the Hatfield Marine Science Center, Emily has conducted research on fish gill physiology in an effort to understand how the physiological stress response in fish that is associated with transport might be overcome. She also completed a NSF-REU internship with Dr David Evans and Dr J.B. Claiborne in Maine, where she examined acid-base balance and ion transport in the killifish.
On returning to the U.S. from her Fulbright, Emily plans to enter veterinary school in a combined DVM and PhD program. Emily has been a veterinary assistant since 2000, including international veterinary work in Mexico and Ecuador.