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Dr. Stuart E.G. Findlay

Aquatic Ecologist | PhD, University of Georgia

Expertise
freshwater ecosystems, Hudson River

Stuart Findlay has worked on the Hudson River for over 30 years. His research on sensitive wetlands, shoreline restoration, and environmental monitoring is helping to guide the river’s recovery.

Human activities can have positive and negative consequences on the environment. It is important to reinforce the positive through effective management, while rapidly detecting and mitigating the negative. Findlay aims to identify impending problems and devise suitable solutions in streams, wetlands, and the Hudson River.

Aquatic vegetation provides essential nutrients and habitat for small animals, yet these plants are threatened by human-induced habitat alterations, including climate change. To improve the management, protection, and restoration of aquatic systems, it is essential to know how environmental conditions influence these communities and what humans can do to support them.

Findlay works closely with the Hudson River Environmental Conditions Observing System (HRECOS) and directed the installation of a monitoring station that continually records the river’s salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, turbidity, and water elevation – a key management tool to facilitate a quick response to threats such as harmful contaminants or floods. He also studies the impacts of shoreline modification and guides sustainable management practices to protect native species and their habitats.

Findlay is committed to carrying science from discovery to dissemination and is actively engaged with a wide array of management, outreach, and educational programs. He has been an advisor to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for more than 25 years and works with several other private, state, and federal organizations.

Kelly, Victoria R., Stuart E. G. Findlay, Stephen K. Hamilton, Gary M. Lovett, and Kathleen C. Weathers. 2019. “Seasonal and Long-Term Dynamics in Stream Water Sodium Chloride Concentrations and the Effectiveness of Road Salt Best Management Practices”. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 230 (1). doi:10.1007/s11270-018-4060-2.
Gutiérrez, Jorge L., Clive G. Jones, P.D. Ribiero, Stuart E. G. Findlay, and Peter M. Groffman. 2018. “Crab Burrowing Limits Surface Litter Accumulation in a Temperate Salt Marsh: Implications for Ecosystem Functioning and Connectivity”. Ecosystems 21 (5): 1000-1012. doi:10.1007/s10021-017-0200-6.
Kelly, Victoria R., Mary Ann Cunningham, Neil Curri, Stuart E. G. Findlay, and Sean M. Carroll. 2018. “The Distribution of Road Salt in Private Drinking Water Wells in a Southeastern New York Suburban Township”. Journal of Environment Quality 47 (3): 445. doi:10.2134/jeq2017.03.0124.
Strayer, David L., Christopher T. Solomon, Stuart E. G. Findlay, and Emma J. Rosi. 2018. “Long-Term Research Reveals Multiple Relationships Between the Abundance and Impacts of a Non-Native Species”. Limnology and Oceanography 64 (S1): S105 - S117. doi:10.1002/lno.11029.
Findlay, Stuart E. G. 2018. “The Bright Side of Linking Science and Management in Large River Ecosystems: The Hudson River Case Study”. River Research and Applications 35 (5): 459-65. doi:10.1002/rra.3233.
Kelly, Victoria R., Stuart E. G. Findlay, and Cornelia Harris. 2018. “Chemical Composition of Rock Salt Brine Compared With Brine from Oil and Gas Wells”. Journal of Environmental Engineering 144 (9). ASCE.
Findlay, Stuart E. G., and Thomas B. Parr. 2017. “Dissolved Organic Matter”. In Methods in Stream Ecology, 21-36. Elsevier. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-813047-6.00002-4.
Strayer, David L., and Stuart E. G. Findlay. 2017. “Ecological Performance of Hudson River Shore Zones: What We Know and What We Need to Know”. In Bilkovic, D., Mitchell, M., La Peyre, M., Toft J. Living Shorelines: The Science and Management of Nature-Based Coastal Protection. CRC Press.
Hamberg, Jonas, Stuart E. G. Findlay, K. E. Limburg, and Stewart E.W. Diemont. 2017. “Post-Storm Sediment Burial and Herbivory of <i>Vallisneria americana< i> in the Hudson River Estuary: Mechanisms of Loss and Implications for Restoration”. Restoration Ecology 25 (4): 629-39. doi:10.1111/rec.12477.
Mineau, Madeleine M., W. Wollheim, I. Buffam, Stuart E. G. Findlay, Robert O. Hall, E. R. Hotchkiss, Lauren E Koenig, William H. McDowell, and Thomas B. Parr. 2016. “Dissolved Organic Carbon Uptake in Streams: A Review and Assessment of Reach-Scale Measurements”. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 121 (8): 2019-29. doi:10.1002/jgrg.v121.810.1002/2015JG003204.
Alldred, Mary, Stephen B. Baines, and Stuart E. G. Findlay. 2016. “Effects of Invasive-Plant Management on Nitrogen-Removal Services in Freshwater Tidal Marshes”. PLOS ONE 11 (2): e0149813. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0149813.
Strayer, David L., E. Kiviat, Stuart E. G. Findlay, and Nancy Slowik. 2016. “Vegetation of Riprapped Revetments Along the Freshwater Tidal Hudson River, New York”. Aquatic Sciences 78 (3): 605-14. doi:10.1007/s00027-015-0445-0.
Findlay, Stuart E. G. 2016. “Stream Microbial Ecology in a Changing Environment”. In Stream Ecosystems in a Changing Environment, 135-50. Elsevier. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-405890-3.00003-8.
Logue, Jürg B., Stuart E. G. Findlay, and Jérôme Comte. 2015. “Editorial: Microbial Responses to Environmental Changes”. Frontiers in Microbiology 6. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2015.01364.
Freimann, Remo, Helmut Bürgmann, Stuart E. G. Findlay, and Christopher T. Robinson. 2015. “Hydrologic Linkages Drive Spatial Structuring of Bacterial Assemblages and Functioning in Alpine Floodplains”. Frontiers in Microbiology. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2015.01221.
Creed, I.F., D.M. McKnight, Brian A. Pellerin, Mark B. Green, Brian A. Bergamaschi, George R. Aiken, D.A. Burns, et al. 2015. “The River As a Chemostat: Fresh Perspectives on Dissolved Organic Matter Flowing down the River Continuum”. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 72 (8): 1272-85. doi:10.1139/cjfas-2014-0400.
Sinsabaugh, Robert L., Jennifer J. Folstad Shah, Stuart E. G. Findlay, K. A. Kuehn, and Daryl L. Moorhead. 2015. “Scaling Microbial Biomass, Metabolism and Resource Supply”. Biogeochemistry 122 (2-3): 175-90. doi:10.1007/s10533-014-0058-z.
Parr, Thomas B., Christopher S. Cronan, Tsutomo Ohno, Stuart E. G. Findlay, Sean M. C. Smith, and Kevin S. Simon. 2015. “Urbanization Changes the Composition and Bioavailability of Dissolved Organic Matter in Headwater Streams”. Limnology and Oceanography 60 (3): 885-900. doi:10.1002/lno.10060.
Osborne, Robert I., M. J. Bernot, and Stuart E. G. Findlay. 2015. “Changes in Nitrogen Cycling Processes Along a Salinity Gradient in Tidal Wetlands of the Hudson River, New York, USA”. Wetlands 35 (2): 323-34. doi:10.1007/s13157-014-0620-4.
Strayer, David L., Jonathan J. Cole, Stuart E. G. Findlay, David T. Fischer, Jessica A. Gephart, Heather M. Malcom, Michael L. Pace, and Emma J. Rosi-Marshall. 2014. “Decadal-Scale Change in a Large-River Ecosystem”. BioScience 64 (6): 496-510. doi:10.1093/biosci/biu061.

Projects