Alex Quebbeman research
SES Master's Student Identifies an Invasive Species New to the Chicago Region
Graduate student research supports local conservation efforts
This summer, Loyola graduate student Alex Quebbeman found an invasive aquatic plant called starry stonewort in a Chicago harbor. It was the first time anyone had identified the nonnative species in the Chicago region.
Alex graduated from Loyola's School of Environmental Sustainability (SES) in the spring of 2023 with a bachelor's in environmental studies. She decided to continue her education in SES as a master's student in environmental science and sustainability. Professor Reuben Keller, PhD, invited her to join his lab studying aquatic invasive species.
Alex's research involves surveying nonnative aquatic invertebrates and plants in Chicago's recreational harbors. She uses a double-sided rake attached to a rope to sample aquatic plants, throwing it into harbor waters to collect the plants and taking them to the lab for analysis.
In the summer of 2023, while surveying plants in Chicago's Jackson Park Inner Harbor, Alex found a plant she had never seen in the area. Concerningly, it appeared to be starry stonewort, an invasive freshwater alga originating in Europe and Asia. However, she could not be sure about the identification because she had only pulled up a part of the plant.
Alex returned to the harbor with Keller, and they gathered additional samples, this time by swimming and collecting the entire plant by hand. They determined that it was indeed starry stonewort, an invasive species that takes over lake ecosystems, reducing biodiversity and clogging waterways with dense mats of plant material. While researchers have previously identified starry stonewort in other lakes in the Midwest, Alex was the first to discover it in the Chicago area.
Finding starry stonewort in Jackson Harbor is particularly problematic. The harbor connects to Lake Michigan, and boats using the harbor could easily transport the invader to other parts of the lake. Alex and Keller reported the discovery to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (DNR). They also logged the location where they found it in the U.S. Geological Survey's Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database—a central repository for information about introduced aquatic organisms.
Alex is continuing her efforts to monitor invasive plants and invertebrates in Chicago's harbors and will report her findings in her master's degree thesis. She hopes her research will provide valuable information for natural resource managers developing plans to combat invasive species and restore biodiversity in local waterways. Alex is also working to establish standard sampling methods for invertebrates and plants in harbors, and she aims to make that information easily accessible to other researchers.
Individuals can help stop the spread of aquatic invasives by emptying all water from boats and clearing plants from boats and trailers before moving to a different body of water.
-- Article and video by Michael W. Chopra
Graduate student research supports local conservation efforts
This summer, Loyola graduate student Alex Quebbeman found an invasive aquatic plant called starry stonewort in a Chicago harbor. It was the first time anyone had identified the nonnative species in the Chicago region.
Alex graduated from Loyola's School of Environmental Sustainability (SES) in the spring of 2023 with a bachelor's in environmental studies. She decided to continue her education in SES as a master's student in environmental science and sustainability. Professor Reuben Keller, PhD, invited her to join his lab studying aquatic invasive species.
Alex's research involves surveying nonnative aquatic invertebrates and plants in Chicago's recreational harbors. She uses a double-sided rake attached to a rope to sample aquatic plants, throwing it into harbor waters to collect the plants and taking them to the lab for analysis.
In the summer of 2023, while surveying plants in Chicago's Jackson Park Inner Harbor, Alex found a plant she had never seen in the area. Concerningly, it appeared to be starry stonewort, an invasive freshwater alga originating in Europe and Asia. However, she could not be sure about the identification because she had only pulled up a part of the plant.
Alex returned to the harbor with Keller, and they gathered additional samples, this time by swimming and collecting the entire plant by hand. They determined that it was indeed starry stonewort, an invasive species that takes over lake ecosystems, reducing biodiversity and clogging waterways with dense mats of plant material. While researchers have previously identified starry stonewort in other lakes in the Midwest, Alex was the first to discover it in the Chicago area.
Finding starry stonewort in Jackson Harbor is particularly problematic. The harbor connects to Lake Michigan, and boats using the harbor could easily transport the invader to other parts of the lake. Alex and Keller reported the discovery to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (DNR). They also logged the location where they found it in the U.S. Geological Survey's Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database—a central repository for information about introduced aquatic organisms.
Alex is continuing her efforts to monitor invasive plants and invertebrates in Chicago's harbors and will report her findings in her master's degree thesis. She hopes her research will provide valuable information for natural resource managers developing plans to combat invasive species and restore biodiversity in local waterways. Alex is also working to establish standard sampling methods for invertebrates and plants in harbors, and she aims to make that information easily accessible to other researchers.
Individuals can help stop the spread of aquatic invasives by emptying all water from boats and clearing plants from boats and trailers before moving to a different body of water.
-- Article and video by Michael W. Chopra