Carla L Atkinson Freshwater Sciences 2023

Carla L Atkinson

Dr. Carla L. Atkinson is an associate professor in aquatic ecology in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alabama. She earned a B.S. in Biology from Missouri State University, a M.S. in Ecology from the University of Georgia, a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Oklahoma, and received post-doctoral training in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University. Dr. Atkinson’s research in the field of aquatic ecology is strongly oriented towards the advancement of both basic scientific understanding as well as better conservation prioritization of biodiversity and ecosystems. Dr. Atkinson’s research encompasses a broad set of long-standing questions in ecology such as the linkages between community structure and ecosystem function, food web structure and dynamics, landscape scale patterns dictating community assembly, and the importance of interactions between ecology and evolution for community and ecosystem processes. To address these questions, her lab employs a combination of observational approaches, field experiments, mesocosm, and laboratory studies. The fundamental theme linking these diverse topics in both basic and applied ecology is her deep interest in the role biodiversity plays in ecological function. She has been a member of the Society for Freshwater Science since 2006. Learn more: https://atkinsonlab.ua.edu/