Personnel & Advisors

Dr. Norman is the Director of Science and Research at Lacawac Sanctuary. She received her PhD from Virginia Tech and has been researching freshwater ecosystems since 2004. Dr. Norman is an ecosystem ecologist interested in how interactions among organisms influence the structure and functioning of freshwater habitats. Her research investigates how essential elements like nitrogen and carbon are transformed and transported through ecosystems and the role microorganisms, plants, and animals play in these processes. She also studies how these relationships are affected by human activities such as land use change, nutrient loading, and pollution.

Dr. Williamson is a Professor of Biology at Miami University and an Ohio Eminent Scholar of Ecosystem Ecology since 2005. He has been conducting research on the Pocono Lakes for over 20 years. He was a Professor of Earth & Environmental Sciences at Lehigh University from 1993 to 2005. Dr. Williamson serves as the Lead Author of Aquatic Group on the United Nations Environment Programme Environmental Effects Assessment Panel (UNEP EEAP panel member 2010-present) on the effects of ozone depletion and interactions with climate change, and was a lead co-contributor to reports to the United Nations on UV effects for the Montreal Protocol as well as publications.

Dr. Fischer is a Professor of Biology at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She has been studying Pocono lakes since 1989 and also has an active research program in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. She also serves as an outside reviewer for journals and funding agencies, including Ecology, Limnology & Oceanography, Photochemistry & Photobiology, National Science Foundation, Environmental Protection Agency, and National Environmental Research Council.

Dr. Princiotta is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Penn State Schuylkill. Previously, she was the Director of Research and Education at Lacawac Sanctuary and was the founder of PLEON. Dr. Princiotta received her BS and PhD in biology from Temple University where she studied aquatic microbial ecology. Her field work on the role of thermal stratification in shaping patterns of protistan dynamics and diversity took place in Lake Lacawac, an ideal venue to study ecological patterns in the absence of anthropogenic forces. Dr. Princiotta has also contributed to work in the effects of dissolved organic matter on lake ecosystems and physiological tolerance of different algal species.

Dr. Carroll is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Holy Family University. Dr. Carroll’s research centers on the interactions between nutrient cycling and habitat loss. She has expertise in freshwater macrophytes, nutrient influences in aquatic ecosystems, and macroinvertebrate identification. Dr. Carroll has extensive experience in citizen science which will help to achieve the project goal of organizing community education forums for PLEON. Dr. Carroll is a previous recipient of the NSF GK-12 Fellowship which cultivates STEM graduate students to improve science communication by serving as instructors in urban high school settings. She also is an active organizer of local community cleanups and has led ecology field trips with female high school students interested in the sciences.

Theresa Black has served as Lacawac’s PLEON Manager since 2024. She runs PLEON’s lake monitoring program as well as the Wallenpaupack Water Quality in Action citizen science program.

Alexandra Bros is PhD student at Miami University of Ohio. She served as the PLEON Technician for several years and has conducted research in Lake Lacawac and Lake Wallenpaupack. She is interested in algal communities and drivers of harmful algal blooms.

Dr. Yokota is an associate professor of Biology at State University of New York (SUNY) Oneonta and the President of the North American Lakes Management Society. Her areas of expertise include environmental assessment, phytoplankton ecology, and lake food webs. She is a Certified Lake Manager and leads the NALMS Professional Certification Program.

Dr. Chris Dempsey is an associate professor at Gannon University in Erie, PA. He is a broadly trained aquatic ecologist that works in streams and lakes with his students. Chris’s primary research interests include carbon cycling and long-term data collection/monitoring.

Dr. Kristin Strock is an associate professor of Environmental Science and Chair of the Environmental Studies Department at Dickinson College. She has established a career exploring issues that are critical to effectively managing freshwater resources and has published on lake response to changes in climate and atmospheric deposition, algal ecology, food-web interactions, watershed biogeochemistry, and freshwater resource management.

Lauren Knose is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Biology at Miami University of Ohio. She is the Student Director of the North American Lakes Management Society and a member of the PLEON Science Advisory Group. Her areas of expertise include cyanobacteria dynamics, harmful algal bloom detection and response, and phytoplankton ecology. She developed and leads PLEON’s Harmful Algal Bloom workshop.

Benjamin Harris is a current graduate student at Bard College’s Center for Environmental Policy. He is studying environmental education and is especially interested in community engagement, aquatic ecology, and freshwater ecosystem management.