Suchy, Amanda

B.A., University of Utah, Film Studies, 2005

B.S., University of Utah, Biology, 2009

Ph.D., Arizona State University, Biology, 2016

Post Doctoral Researcher, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies and City University of New York, 2017-2020

I am an urban and aquatic ecologist interested in exploring the bidirectional relationship between people and the environment. My research frames watersheds as social ecological systems and is motivated by the broad question:

“How do water, nutrients and emerging contaminants (such as microplastics) move through, and are transformed by, human impacted ecosystems?”

To address this question, it is important that we understand both the bio-geo-physical processes in human impacted ecosystems and how human behavior impacts the environment. Additionally, it is necessary to consider how the environment can act as a driver and motivator of human behavior. In my lab, we explore these complex relationships in a variety of environments from coastal wetlands to suburban lawns and urban ponds. My approach utilizes a mix of field and laboratory studies, as well as synthesizing existing long-term survey and environmental data.

Ongoing projects in my lab include:

• Drivers of microplastics in Great Lakes coastal wetlands and their effect on nitrogen cycling
• Assessment of wetland ecosystem functions at Shiawassee State Game Area based on different management strategies for waterfowl populations
• Movement and transport of nutrients and microplastics in urban headwaters
• Assessment of people’s environmental attitudes and perceptions using long term data