Interview with Dr. April Blakeslee

In this episode, I interviewed Gregg Schumer, Vice President and Director of Lab Services at Cramer Fish Sciences. Gregg is a senior molecular biologist whose expertise in environmental DNA (eDNA) has been instrumental in advancing research on invasive species. During our conversation, Gregg shared fascinating insights into his work monitoring endangered aquatic species, his innovative projects using metabarcode analysis, and his unique career path from gene therapy and virology to large-scale ecosystem monitoring. I was truly inspired by Gregg’s passion for scientific discovery, his resilience in the face of research challenges, and his vision for more holistic approaches to ecosystem health. I learned so much from his experiences and advice for aspiring scientists!

In the sixth episode, I interviewed Dr. Amy Fowler, Associate Professor at George Mason University's Department of Environmental Science and Policy. Dr. Fowler is a Fulbright Scholar currently conducting pioneering research at Finland's Archipelago Research Institute studying invasive crab species' impacts on the Baltic Sea ecosystem. While speaking with her, I was extremely impressed by the amount of varied research she had done and the amazing places that she had been. She was so knowledgeable, and I learned so much from her myriad of experiences conducting research on invasive species!

In the fourth episode, I interviewed Dr. James T. Carlton, Professor Emeritus of Marine Sciences at Williams College, Director Emeritus of the Williams College-Mystic Seaport Maritime Studies Program, Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, founding Editor–in–Chief of Biological Invasions, and a distinguished Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation.   Since 1962, Dr. Carlton has been a pioneering force in marine ecology and biological invasions research. His nine congressional testimonies have directly shaped national invasive species legislation. I was extremely excited to speak to someone with such knowledge and experience. Dr. Carlton taught me so much and I'm confident that he will do the same for you!

In the third episode, I interviewed Gerard Urbanozo, the Senior Water Quality Specialist for Lake County, Illinois. Mr. Urbanozo works to make the waterways of Lake County healthier and he often deals with invasive species, such as invasive carp. He is also an accomplished fisherman. It was very important to have him on this podcast because I live in Lake County, and I think that it’s very important to learn and teach others about my local ecosystem as well as those that are around the world. 

In the second episode, I interviewed Dr. April Blakeslee. Dr. Blakeslee is a professor of parasite ecology at East Carolina University, and she has worked on many fascinating projects having to do with different types of parasites. For example, she worked on a project about a parasite whose host is mud crabs that have moved out of their natural habitat in the Gulf of Mexico, causing it to have a much easier time parasitizing crabs further north. Dr. Blakeslee also helped me connect with many of the other guests, allowing this project to hear from so many incredible people.

In the first episode of Invasive Insights, I interviewed Dr. Kimberly Ritchie. Dr. Ritchie is the Associate Professor of Genetics and Prokaryotic Cell Biology at the University of South Carolina Beaufort, where I was fortunate to work for her colleague, Dr. Mercer Brugler, in the Summer of 2024. Dr Ritchie is incredibly knowledgeable about a wide variety of oceanic organisms, and studies how bacteria impact and are impacted by them.

In the fifth episode, I interviewed Dr. John Darling, Senior Research Biologist at the United States Environmental Protection Agency. I was interested in shifting perspectives from university research to learn that imbedded within the EPA, Dr. Darling applies his expertise in molecular ecology to tackle policy and government challenges posed by invasive species. In his research, Dr. Darling uses environmental DNA to identify invasive species in various locations and applies bioinformatics to decipher and distill noisy data into actionable information. I found talking to Dr. Darling very interesting because I would like to use similar tools to what he is using now in my own research. I hope our conversation will be interesting to you as well.