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Dr. Stephen K. Hamilton

Ecosystem Ecologist, Biogeochemist | PhD, University of California at Santa Barbara

Expertise
wetlands, streams, rivers and lakes, agricultural ecology, water quality, tropical rivers, floodplains

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Stephen Hamilton’s principal research interests involve ecosystem ecology and biogeochemistry, with particular emphasis on water. He has studied wetlands, streams, lakes, reservoirs, and watersheds, as well as agricultural cropping systems and their effects on water and climate. His research draws on multiple disciplines to understand and mitigate environmental problems and inform environmental protection and conservation.

Hamilton’s research publications include studies of nutrient cycling, greenhouse gas emissions, invasive species, food webs, remote sensing, conservation planning, and hydrology. He has received awards for his engagement with environmental issues from the Michigan Environmental Council and the Society for Freshwater Science, and is a Fellow of that society.

Hamilton has conducted a variety of studies in tropical floodplain and river ecosystems of South America and Australia, and presently works with several research groups in Brazil on hydropower effects on river systems.

Hamilton also works part-time as a Professor at Michigan State University’s Kellogg Biological Station. Here, Hamilton has recently served as the Lead Principal Investigator of the National Science Foundation’s Long Term Ecological Research site. He is also a Project Leader in the Department of Energy’s Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center.

Sarnelle, Orlando, Jeffrey D White, Geoffrey P. Horst, and Stephen K. Hamilton. 2012. “Phosphorus Addition Reverses the Positive Effect of Zebra Mussels (<i>Dreissena polymorpha< i>) on the Toxic Cyanobacterium, <i>Microcystis aeruginosa< I&gt”;. Water Research 46 (11): 3471-78. doi:10.1016/j.watres.2012.03.050.
Pettit, N. E., T. D. Jardine, Stephen K. Hamilton, V. Sinnamon, D. Valdez, P. M. Davies, M. M. Douglas, and S. E. Bunn. 2012. “Seasonal Changes in Water Quality and Macrophytes and the Impact of Cattle on Tropical Floodplain Waterholes”. Marine and Freshwater Research 63 (9): 788-800. doi:10.1071/MF12114.
Hamilton, Stephen K. 2012. “Biogeochemical Time Lags May Delay Responses of Streams to Ecological Restoration”. Freshwater Biology 57 (s1): 43-57. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2427.2011.02685.x.
Burgin, Amy J., Stephen K. Hamilton, Stuart E. Jones, and Jay T. Lennon. 2012. “Denitrification by Sulfur-Oxidizing Bacteria in a Eutrophic Lake”. Aquatic Microbial Ecology 66 (3): 283-93. doi:10.3354/ame01574.
O’Brien, Jonathan M., Stephen K. Hamilton, Laura Podzikowski, and Nathaniel Ostrom. 2012. “The Fate of Assimilated Nitrogen in Streams: an <i>in situ< i> Benthic Chamber Study”. Freshwater Biology 57 (6): 1113-25. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2427.2012.02770.x.
Jardine, Timothy D., Bradley J. Pusey, Stephen K. Hamilton, Neil E. Pettit, Peter M. Davies, Michael M. Douglas, Vivian Sinnamon, Ian A. Halliday, and Stuart E. Bunn. 2012. “Fish Mediate High Food Web Connectivity in the Lower Reaches of a Tropical Floodplain River”. Oecologia 168 (3): 829-38. doi:10.1007/s00442-011-2148-0.
Jin, Lixin, Samuel B. Mukasa, Stephen K. Hamilton, and Lynn M. Walter. 2012. “Impacts of Glacial Interglacial Cycles on Continental Rock Weathering Inferred Using Sr Ca and <sup>87< sup>Sr <sup>86< Sup>Sr Ratios in Michigan Watersheds”. Chemical Geology 300-301: 97-108. doi:10.1016/j.chemgeo.2012.01.017.
Bruesewitz, Denise A., Jennifer L. Tank, and Stephen K. Hamilton. 2012. “Incorporating Spatial Variation of Nitrification and Denitrification Rates into Whole-Lake Nitrogen Dynamics”. Journal of Geophysical Research – Biogeosciences 117 (G3). doi:10.1029/2012JG002006.
Robertson, Philip, Scott L. Collins, David R. Foster, Nicholas Brokaw, Hugh W. Ducklow, Ted L. Gragson, Corinna Gries, et al. 2012. “Long-Term Ecological Research in a Human-Dominated World”. BioScience 62 (4): 342-53. doi:10.1525/bio.2012.62.4.6.
Syswerda, S. P., B. Basso, Stephen K. Hamilton, J. B. Tausig, and G. P. Robertson. 2012. “Long-Term Nitrate Loss Along an Agricultural Intensity Gradient in the Upper Midwest USA”. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 149: 10-19. doi:10.1016/j.agee.2011.12.007.