LESLEY B. KNOLL
Lacawac Sanctuary
94 Sanctuary Road
Lake Ariel, PA 18436
knolllb@MiamiOH.edu
PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS AND TRAINING
2012-present Director of Research and Education at Lacawac Sanctuary for Miami University, Lake
Ariel, PA.
2011
Ph.D., Zoology; Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Miami
University, Oxford, OH
2008
Biological Science Technician, US Environmental Protection Agency, National Risk
Management Research Laboratory, Cincinnati, OH
2004-2006
Research Associate/Lab Manager, Zoology, Miami University, Oxford, OH
2004
M.S. Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing MI
2001
B.S. magna cum laude Botany, Miami University, Oxford, OH
PUBLICATIONS
2014
Williamson, C.E., J.A. Brentrup, J. Zhang, W.H. Renwick, B.R. Hargreaves, L.B. Knoll, E.P.
Overholt, and K.C. Rose. Lakes as sensors in the landscape: Optical metrics as scalable sentinel
responses to climate change. Limnology and Oceanography 59: 840-850.
2013
Knoll, L.B., M.J. Vanni, W.H. Renwick, E.K. Dittman, J.A. Gephart. Temperate reservoirs are
large carbon sinks and small CO2 sources: Results from high-resolution carbon budgets. Global
Biogeochemical Cycles 27: 52-64.
2011
White, J.D., R.B. Kaul, L.B. Knoll, A.E. Wilson, and O. Sarnelle. Large variation in
vulnerability to grazing within a population of the colonial phytoplankter, Microcystis
aeruginosa. Limnology and Oceanography 56: 1714-1724.
2010
Kissman, C.E.H., L.B. Knoll, and O. Sarnelle. Dreissenid mussels (Dreissena polymorpha and
Dreissena bugensis) reduce microzooplankton and macrozooplankton biomass in thermally
stratified lakes. Limnology and Oceanography 55: 1851-1859.
González, M.J., L.B. Knoll, and M.J. Vanni. Differential effects of elevated nutrient and
sediment inputs on survival, growth and biomass of a common larval fish species. Freshwater
Biology 55: 654-669.
2009
Tranvik, L.J., J.A. Downing, J.B. Cotner, S.A. Loiselle, R.G. Striegl, T.J. Ballatore, P. Dillon, K.
Finlay, K. Fortino, L.B. Knoll, P.L. Kortelainen, T. Kutser, S. Larsen, I. Laurion, D.M. Leech,
S.L. McCallister, D.M. McKnight, J.M. Melack, E. Overholt, J.A. Porter, Y. Prairie, W.H.
Renwick, F. Roland, B.S. Sherman, D.W. Schindler, S. Sobek, A. Tremblay, M.J. Vanni, A.M
Verschoor, E. von Wachenfeldt, and G.A. Weyhenmeyer. Lakes and reservoirs as regulators of
carbon cycling and climate. Limnology and Oceanography 54: 2298-2314.
Knoll, L.B., P.B. McIntyre, M.J. Vanni, and A.S. Flecker. Feedbacks of consumer nutrient
recycling on producer biomass and stoichiometry: separating direct and indirect effect. Oikos
118: 1732-1742.
2008
Knoll, L.B., O. Sarnelle, S.K. Hamilton, C.E.H. Kissman, A.E. Wilson, J.B. Rose, and M.R.
Morgan. Invasive zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) increase cyanobacterial toxin
concentrations in low-nutrient lakes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 65:
448-455.
2006
Vanni M.J., A.M. Bowling, E.M. Dickman, R.S. Hale, K.A. Higgins, M.J. Horgan, L.B. Knoll,
W.H. Renwick, and R.A. Stein. Nutrient cycling by fish supports relatively more primary
production as lake productivity increases. Ecology 87: 1696-1709.
2005
Sarnelle, O., A.E. Wilson, S.K. Hamilton, L.B. Knoll, and D.F. Raikow. Complex interactions
between the zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha and the harmful phytoplankton, Microcystis
aeruginosa. Limnology and Oceanography 50: 896-904.
2003
Knoll, L.B., M.J. Vanni, and W.H. Renwick. Phytoplankton primary productivity and
photosynthetic parameters in reservoirs along a gradient of watershed land use. Limnology and
Oceanography 48: 608-617.
MANUSCRIPTS IN REVIEW / IN PREPARATION
Knoll, L.B., M.J. Vanni, W.H. Renwick, S. Kollie. Watershed morphometric features and land
use predict sediment carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus stoichiometric burial ratios and rates in
human-dominated reservoirs. In revision for Freshwater Biology.
Knoll, L.B., M.J. Vanni, W.H. Renwick, and E.M. Mette. Weather and land use mediate carbon,
nitrogen, and phosphorus exports and stoichiometric ratios in streams of Midwestern US
watersheds. In revision for resubmission to Ecosystems.
Knoll, L.B., Hagenbuch, E.J., M.J. González, M.H. Stevens, M.J. Vanni, W.H. Renwick, J.C.
Denlinger, and R.S. Hale. Complex relationships among watershed land cover and reservoir
morphometry, productivity, and zooplankton communities. In preparation for Global Change
Biology.
Baustian, M.M., G.J.A. Hansen, K. Robinson, A. de Kluiver, E.N. Henry, L.B. Knoll, K.C.
Rose, C.C. Carey,. Linking the bottom to the top in aquatic ecosystems: mechanisms and
stressors of benthic-pelagic coupling. In review at Limnology and Oceanography E-Books, Oct.
2013.
GRANTS
2013-2016
2013
2013
2012
2008-2011
2006-2011
Field Station and Marine Labs: A regional hub for the EON’s at Lacawac Sanctuary.
Lead-PI with co-PIs J. Fischer (Franklin and Marshall), B. Hargreaves (Lehigh), R.
Sanders (Temple), and C. Williamson (Miami). NSF-Biological Infrastructure $329,094
Wayne County Community Foundation Grant. $1,760
Wayne County Tourism Grant. $1,000
Pennsylvania Foundation for Watersheds Grant. $2,000
EPA STAR Fellowship: The role of human-made impoundments and watershed land use
on carbon cycling and sequestration at local and regional scales. $111,000
Travel awards from MU Graduate School ($1450), MU Graduate Student Association
($600), and MU Zoology Department ($2000)
2006-2009
2003-2004
2002-2003
2002
2002
2002
1999
MU Zoology Award for Field Study and Research. $13,100
MSU Minority and Women Graduate Assistantship Fellowship. $45,000
George H. Lauff Research Grant. $900
Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research Grant. $500
MSU Graduate Student Research Enhancement Grant. $700
MSU EEEB Grant. $100
MU Undergraduate Research Grant. $500
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Teaching Assistant. Limnology Lab (ZOO 463/563), Miami University, 2011
Instructor with sole gradebook responsibility. Environmental Biology (ZOO 121), Miami UniversityMiddletown, 2010
Instructor. Advanced Ecology Graduate Seminar (ZOO 710), Miami University, 2009
Created and organized seminar entitled Communicating Science with the Public for MU graduate
students
Teaching Assistant. Aquatic Ecosystem Management (FW 414), Michigan State University, 2003
Guest Lecturer: Environmental Quality (ESC 115) 2012 and 2013, Lackawanna College; Capstone:
Contemporary Issues in Macrosystems Ecology (ZOO 400), Miami University, 2012;
Fundamentals of Ecology (ZOO 209), Miami University-Hamilton, 2010; Limnology (ZOO
463/563), Miami University, 2010; Fundamentals of Ecology, Honors (ZOO 209), Miami
University, 2010
AWARDS / HONORS
P.E.O., Oxford, OH Chapter, Graduate Student Award, 2008 ($500)
Honorable Mention for Best Student Poster at the International Association of Theoretical and Applied
Limnology Conference in Montreal, Canada, 2007
Young Botanist Award from Botanical Society of America, 2001
GRADUATE ADVISING
Jeff Babb, Miami University’s Institute for the Environment and Sustainability, Master of
Environmental Science, August 2013.
UNDERGRADUATE MENTORING
Devyn Riley (Miami University ’13)
Kristine Wasco (Bloomsburg University ’13)
Rachel Rush (East Stroudsburg University ’13)
Kelsea Downs (Miami University ’12)
Jessica Gephart (Miami University ’11)
Elizabeth Cable (Miami University ’08)
Gillian Elder (Miami University ’06)
Chelsea Stephens (Michigan State University ’05)
SERVICE / OUTREACH
Ecological Society of America (ESA) mentor: Post-doc and graduate student mentor at ESA in
Minneapolis, MN, 2013
Ecological Society of America (ESA) mentor: Post-doc and graduate student mentor at ESA in Portland,
OR, 2012
Representative on Watershed Education and Research Center committee, Miami University, 2010
Chair’s Graduate Student Advisory Committee, Zoology, Miami University, 2010-2011
Graduate student representative for faculty meetings, Zoology, Miami University, 2009-2011
Volunteer: Twin Creek Watershed Group, Southwest, OH 2007-2010; Butler County Stream Team, OH,
2007-2009; Various outreach projects in Ohio with Ohio Soil and Water Conservation, Talwanda
Science Days, and Cincinnati Girls in Science Program, 2007-2011
Ecolunch Seminar Series coordinator, Miami University, 2007
Graduate student representative for social committee, Zoology, Miami University, 2006-2009
REVIEWER
Journals: American Midland Naturalist, Biological Invasions, Ecosystems, Freshwater Biology,
Freshwater Science, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Hydrobiologia, Journal of Plankton
Research, Nature Climate Change
Funding agencies: Belmont Forum Freshwater Security, National Science Foundation
INVITED WORKSHOPS
Ecological Dissertations in the Aquatic Sciences (Eco-DAS X), Honolulu, Hawaii, 2012, selective
symposium for recent aquatic science PhD graduates.
Reservoir Function Workshop, Columbus, Ohio, organized by Ohio Department of Wildlife, 2008.
WORKSHOPS/CONFERENCES/SPECIAL SESSION ORGANIZED
Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting 2014 (SFS, PSA, ASLO, SWS). Double trouble: Interactive effects of
climate change and other anthropogenic drivers on aquatic ecosystems.
Lacawac Ecology Conference (LEC). LEC was attended by 18 participants from 10 institutions. 2013.
Lacawac Ecological Observatory Workshop (LEOW). LEOW was attended by 33 participants from
three countries and 16 institutions. 2013
Lacawac Ecology Conference (LEC). LEC was attended by 19 participants from 10 institutions. 2012.
Lacawac Ecological Observatory Workshop (LEOW). LEOW was attended by 36 participants from four
countries and 15 institutions. 2012.
INVITED PRESENTATIONS
Do watershed features mediate carbon fluxes in human-made reservoirs? Murray State University.
March, 2011.
Ecosystem-level and community-level responses of inland waters to land use change and invasive
species. SUNY College at Oneonta. February, 2011.
Carbon fluxes in a hypereutrophic impoundment dominated by agricultural land use. EPA STAR
Graduate Fellowship Conference. September, 2009. Washington D.C.
PRESENTATIONS
*UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT
Knoll, L.B. and M.J. Vanni. Biological field stations: Opportunities and the future. Joint Aquatic
Science Meeting. May, 2014. Portland, OR.
Knoll, L.B., M.J. Vanni, W.H. Renwick, and E.M. Mette. Weather and land use mediate carbon,
nitrogen, and phosphorus exports and stoichiometric ratios in streams of Midwestern US
watersheds. Ecological Society of America. August, 2013. Minneapolis, MN.
Knoll, L.B., J.R. Babb. Bridging the gap between public visitors at Lacawac Sanctuary and lake
researchers: Developing outreach materials on advanced environmental sensors. Ecological
Society of America. August, 2013. Minneapolis, MN.
Knoll, L.B., J.A. Brentrup, C.E. Williamson, and B.R. Hargreaves. Automated profiling buoy for
exploring lakes as sentinels of climate and environmental change. Pennsylvania Academy of
Science. April 2013. Bradford, PA.
Knoll, L.B., J.A. Brentrup, C.E. Williamson, and B.R. Hargreaves. Automated profiling buoy for
exploring lakes as sentinels of change: ARTHUR at Lake Lacawac in NE Pennsylvania.
Northeastern Ecosystem Research Cooperative. March 2013. Saratoga Springs, NY.
Knoll, L.B., B.R. Hargreaves, J.A. Brentrup, and C.E. Williamson. Update on a new GLEON site, Lake
Lacawac, PA, USA: Data and opportunities. GLEON 14. October, 2012. Mulranny, Ireland.
Knoll, L.B., M.J. Vanni, W.H. Renwick, E.M. Dittman*. Impact of high flow events on the export of C,
N, and P from two watersheds. Lacawac Ecology Conference. September, 2012. Lacawac
Sanctuary, PA.
Knoll, L.B.. Lacawac Sanctuary Field Station overview. Organization of Biological Field Stations.
September, 2012. Archbold Biological Station, FL.
Knoll, L.B., M.J. Vanni, W.H. Renwick, and E.M. Dittman*. Hydrological and land use controls on the
export of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus from two contrasting Midwestern US watersheds.
ESA. August, 2012. Portland, Oregon.
Knoll, L.B., W.H. Renwick, E.M. Dittman*, and M.J. Vanni. Organic and inorganic carbon budgets in
two human-made impoundments are controlled by watershed features and hydrology. GLEON
13. October, 2011. Sunapee, NH.
Knoll, L.B., M.J. Vanni, W.H. Renwick, S. Kollie*. Local burial of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in
small artificial impoundments. ASLO. February, 2011. San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Knoll, L.B., M.J. Vanni, E.K. Cable*, S. Kollie*, and W.H. Renwick. Can lakes affect global carbon
cycles? Carbon sequestration in Ohio impoundments of varying size and productivity. Graduate
Research Forum. November, 2010. Oxford, OH
Knoll, L.B., M.J. Vanni, E.K. Cable*, and W.H. Renwick. Particulate and dissolved carbon loading,
export, and retention is related to watershed land use and hydrology in two Midwestern US
reservoirs. ASLO/NABS. June, 2010. Santa Fe, NM.
Knoll, L.B., M.J. Vanni, E.K. Cable*, and W.H. Renwick. The role of watershed land use on carbon
sequestration in two Ohio impoundments. ESA. August, 2009.
Albuquerque, NM.
Knoll, L.B., M.J. Vanni, E.K. Cable*, and W.H. Renwick. A carbon budget for a hypereutrophic
impoundment dominated by agricultural land use. Great Lakes Regional Biogeochemistry
Symposium. May, 2009. Kellogg Biological Station, Hickory Corners, MI.
Knoll, L.B., E.K. Cable*, M.J. Vanni, and W.H. Renwick. Land use and precipitation variability
influence reservoir carbon dynamics. Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference. December, 2008.
Columbus, OH.
Knoll, L.B., E.K. Cable*, M.J. Vanni, and W.H. Renwick. Reservoir carbon budgets mediated by land
use and precipitiation variability. American Geophysical Union Chapman Conference.
September, 2008. Incline Village, NV.
Knoll, L.B., M.J. Vanni, E.K. Cable*, W.H. Renwick. The influence of watershed land use on carbon
dynamics of Ohio impoundment. Ohio Lake Management Society. November, 2007. Mt.
Sterling, OH.
Knoll, L.B., M.J. Vanni, and W.H. Renwick. The influence of watershed land use on organic carbon
dynamics in impoundments. Congress of the International Association of Theoretical and
Applied Limnology. August, 2007. Montreal, Canada.
Knoll, L.B., W.H. Renwick, M.J. Vanni, and M.J. Horgan. Burial of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus
in reservoir sediments along a watershed land use gradient. ASLO. June, 2006. Victoria, Canada.
Knoll, L.B., O. Sarnelle, S.K. Hamilton, C.E.H. Scheele, A.E. Wilson, J.B. Rose, M.R. Morgan.
Invasive zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) increase cyanobacterial toxin concentrations in
low-nutrient lakes. ESA. August, 2006. Memphis, TN.
Knoll, L.B., M.J. González, and M.J. Vanni. Effects of dissolved nutrients, allochthonous sediments,
and larval gizzard shad on zooplankton communities. ESA. August, 2005. Montreal, Canada.
Knoll, L.B., C.E.H. Scheele, O. Sarnelle, and S.K. Hamilton. The impact of zebra mussels (Dreissena
polymorpha) on rotifer and ciliate biomass and community structure in low-nutrient inland lakes.
Midwest Ecology and Evolution Conference. March, 2004. South Bend, IN.
Knoll, L.B., M.J. Vanni, and W.H. Renwick. Primary productivity and photosynthetic parameters in
twelve Ohio reservoirs along a watershed land use gradient. Midwest Ecology and Evolution
Conference. March, 2001. Oxford, OH.
Knoll, L.B., M.J. Vanni, and W.H. Renwick. Primary productivity and photosynthetic parameters in
reservoirs along a watershed land use gradient. ASLO. February, 2001. Albuquerque, NM.
30 additional presentations as co-author: Ecological Society of America (8), Global Lake Ecological
Observatory Network (6), Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (6), American
Geophysical Union (3), Joint Aquatic Science Meeting (3), International Association of Great Lakes
Research (2), Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (1), Great Lakes Beach Association
Conference (1)
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
American Geophysical Union, Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography,
Ecological Society of America, Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network