Eugenia Zandonà
Eugenia Zandonà
Drexel University
I am an Italian PhD student at Drexel University and I am part of the FIBR ecosystem team. I am mostly interested in trophic ecology and food web dynamics in stream ecosystems. For my PhD, I am studying the ecology of guppies (Poecilia reticulata) and Hart’s killifish (Rivulus hartii) that inhabit the streams of Trinidad. As part of the FIBR group, I have been responsible for the diet analysis of wild-caught guppies and killifish as well as guppies under experimental cond
itions. I am also characterizing the food webs of 18 sites in Northern Range, which represent replicates of 3 types of communities with different fish composition (high predation, low predation, and Rivulus only localities). I am using natural abundance stable isotopes and resource biomass standing stocks for this purpose.
I have spent many months in Trinidad since the beginning of the project (dry season 2007). During my time there, I participated in the 15N drip, the biomass sampling in the focal streams, the 18 sites survey, an electric exclosure experiment, and I helped on other projects and tasks. I love working in the streams in Trinidad and spending time in the forest with my FIBR colleagues,from whom I learned so much about fish, aquatic invertebrates, streams, birds, and so many other interesting things.