Bio

Alicia McGrew is a postdoctoral fellow in the Strecker Lab of Aquatic Ecology and the Institute for Watershed Studies at Western Washington University, where she works on “big data” related to continental-scale drivers of freshwater fish trait variation and biodiversity. She earned her doctoral degree from the University of Florida, studying patterns of biodiversity in the food web of a carnivorous pitcher plant. She earned her master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Central Michigan University, where she researched the omnivorous feeding behaviors of a Great Lakes invasive species and counted (a lot!) of plankton under the microscope. Alicia enjoys hiking, traveling, reading and spending time with her family.

Alicia is a community and aquatic ecologist broadly interested in the drivers of biodiversity in aquatic ecosystems. She has worked on questions scaling from genes to communities, from microbes to plants and fishes, and from freshwater ecosystems as small as the leaves of a carnivorous plant to the large and complex Great Lakes. Alicia currently maintains exciting research collaborations related to the National Ecological Observatory Network, carnivorous pitcher plant food webs and Floridian coastal dune lakes. In addition to her ecological research interests, Alicia is passionate about teaching and continuing to expand her knowledge in the scholarship of teaching and learning.

Learn more about Alicia’s research