Darcy Lonsdale

Darcy Lonsdale is a Professor at Stony Brook University's School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, focusing on marine zooplankton ecology and harmful algal bloom impacts. As Undergraduate Program Director, they lead educational initiatives while maintaining active interdisciplinary research collaborations.

• Education:
  • Ph.D. (1979) from University of Maryland, College Park

Their research explores estuarine plankton food web dynamics, emphasizing copepod population responses to environmental stressors like harmful algal blooms and temperature variations. Key projects include investigating Mercenaria mercenaria suspension feeding effects on Aureococcus anophagefferens blooms in Long Island bays through field, laboratory, and modeling approaches.

Recent publications (2014-2000) demonstrate consistent contributions to understanding ctenophore-copepod interactions, nutrient cycling, and bivalve-mediated bloom control. Collaborative work with Stony Brook faculty and institutions like USC reveals cross-disciplinary influences.

Labs and teams include partnerships with Robert Cerrato (SoMAS) and David Caron (USC) on coastal food web projects. Their work integrates genetic analyses of phenotypic variation with environmental factor assessments to explain zooplankton fitness patterns.