Dr. Priyanka Roy Chowdhury

I am an evolutionary ecologist interested in understanding the mechanisms underlying species’ responses to rapid human induced environmental changes. To that end, my lab in Keene State College uses a combination of genetic, molecular, biochemical and physiological approaches to determine how multiple environmental stressors can influence organismal adaptation.

Some environmental factors that we currently study are temperature, heavy metal pollution, eutrophication (nutrient loading) and pH alterations. Mostly, we study these factors in our model organism Daphnia. These are small keystone herbivores found in lakes and ponds across the world. We are also beginning to expand our questions to include microbial communities of estuarine ecosystems in New Hampshire.

In sync with my research, I teach multiple introductory and advanced courses in Ecology, Evolution and Cellular Biology in the Department of Biology @ Keene State College. This includes BIO 111 Ecology and Evolution, BIO 312 Cell Biology, BIO 313 Populations and Communities and BIO 495 Global Change Biology.