Karen Wilson

Dr. Karen Wilson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at the University of Maine, affiliated with the College of Science, Technology, and Health. Her research focuses on aquatic ecosystems, particularly invasive species impacts, river herring ecology, and dam management. She holds a PhD in Limnology/Zoology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has held postdoctoral positions at the University of Toronto and Ontario Ministry of the Environment.

Key research areas include:

• Aquatic food web dynamics
• Effects of invasive species like rusty crayfish
• Ecological impacts of dams and dam removal
• eDNA applications for biodiversity monitoring

Recent projects involve studying juvenile alosines in the Kennebec River and alewife grazing effects in coastal lakes via the NSF EPSCOR Maine eDNA project. She leads the Aquatic Systems Lab, collaborating with agencies like the Maine Department of Marine Resources and Bigelow Laboratories.

Her work bridges ecology and policy, addressing trade-offs in dam management and river restoration. Notable contributions include developing frameworks for dam removal monitoring and assessing species resilience to climate change.