Sapna Sharma

About Me

Broadly, I am interested in predicting the effects of environmental stressors, such as climate change, invasive species, and habitat alteration, on lakes. 

Winter is changing. With the recent warming patterns that are expected to continue, lakes are freezing less often, for shorter periods of time, or for the very last time. In the lab, we explore how patterns of lake ice have shifted over recent centuries and what these patterns might look like in the future, including the implications for humans and wildlife.

Human-induced environmental stressors are among the leading drivers of change in freshwater ecosystems. We are currently researching the impacts of multiple stressors on water quality, primary production, and nutrient content in lakes around the world. We use big data and machine learning to address novel research questions in global change biology.

Our research has increased our understanding of how different taxa and ecological communities respond to environmental stressors along a gradient of spatial and temporal scales. We also develop quantitative frameworks to predict the effects of environmental stressors on wide-ranging ecosystems.

Research Focus

Predicting the effects of environmental stressors, such as climate change, invasive species, and habitat alteration on ecosystems and improving the use of quatitative approaches used to generate these predictions.

Sub-Disciplines

Aquatic Ecology, Climate Change, Community Ecology, Quantitative Ecology, Cryosphere

Research Areas