Karen F. Gaines

Dr. Gaines is taking a break with her son from her summer teaching and research activities in the estuaries of Georgia and South Carolina.

Landscape Ecotoxicology

and

Environmental Health

Dr. Gaines’ research interests primarily focus on wildlife toxicology at the landscape level.  Most of her work involves developing spatial models that predict how different wildlife species may be exposed to contaminants such as radionuclides, metals and organics and how that may impact environmental health.  Her work also focuses on spatially explicit biokinetic models for a variety of wildlife species. To accomplish this, she studies energy flow within different environmental systems (using stable isotopes). Dr. Gaines applies her research by developing tools within a Geographic Information System (GIS) framework to aid in ecological risk assessments.  She works closely with and has been funded by the Department of Energy (DOE), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), as well as other national and international organizations. Graduate students who are interested in working with Dr. Gaines should have a general background in wildlife ecology and interests in learning GIS techniques to explore questions regarding environmental health.

Department of Biological Sciences

Room 1162 Life Sciences Building

600 Lincoln Ave.

Charleston IL, 61920-3099

 

To contact Dr. Gaines:

Office: 217.581.6235

Fax: 217.581.3126

e-mail: kfgaines@eiu.edu