WilsonLab
Aquatic Ecology – Water Quality – Drinking Water
Aquaculture – Harmful Algal Blooms – Limnology
Studying ecological factors influencing cyanobacterial bloom formation in recreational reservoirs, aquaculture ponds, and other systems along with studying factors leading to taste, odor, and toxicity issues in drinking water reservoirs.
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Current PhD & MS Students
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Past PhD & MS Students
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Current Undergrad Researchers
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Past Undergrad Researchers
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Lab Publications
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Historic Grant Funding (Millions)
Latest News
June 19, 2025
Ashley’s second MS chapter has been published! This is included a large number of other students in the lab and our USDA collaborators. Great work, team.
Hennessey, A. V., M. B. McDonald, P. P. Johnson, M. F. Gladfelter, K. L. Merrill, S. E. Tenison, S. S. Ganegoda, T. C. Hoang, H. A. Torbert, B. H. Beck, and A. E. Wilson. In press. Lowering pH enhances copper toxicity: A novel strategy for controlling harmful algal blooms and off-flavors. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety
June 18, 2025
I have finally gotten a journal cover photo! This is a drone picture I took of our beautiful ponds at the E.W. Shell Fisheries Center at Auburn University. Our article in this issue shows that the Turner Designs Cyanofluor can estimate cyanobacterial abundance in drinking water reservoirs and aquaculture ponds.
May 22, 2025
Evin is all done with high school and heading to Johns Hopkins in the fall! Incredible! Keep working hard, Evin.
May 15, 2025
Summer has officially started! Our Dauphin Island Sea Lab friend, Alison Robertson, and her student, Elyssa, stopped by to learn more about our SPME GC-MS analyses. Of course, we had to eat at Little Italy.
May 9, 2025
Mattie has graduated! She has been a wonderful, hard-working member of our team and will be missed. Good luck to you, Mattie! War algae!
April 1, 2025
Nisham’s hard work has paid off! She just published her meta-analysis project in the Journal of Forestry. Nice job, Nisham!
February 27, 2025
Matt Gladfelter was the recipient of the Best Presentation Award at the American Fisheries Society and US Aquaculture Society Symposium held at the E.W. Shell Fisheries Center in Auburn. Matt’s talk was part of his dissertation focused on the importance of heavy metal cycling in subtropical ponds. Congrats, Matt!
February 18, 2025
Harsha Galkanda-Arachchige, Allen Davis and I were recently awarded the 2025 College of Agriculture Outstanding Publication Award for Harsha’s past meta-analysis class project. This paper has been collecting citations. Congrats, Harsha!
February 8, 2025
The Robotics team got through Super Regionals and made it to the First Lego League State championship at Georgia Tech where they placed 2nd (out of 24 teams!) in core values. Incredible group of future engineers and scientists. I am very happy to support them along their journey.
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We are still looking for a new Postdoctoral Researcher!
Interested prospective postdocs are encouraged to contact Alan at wilson@auburn.edu
We are looking for new Ph.D. or M.S. students to join us in 2026!
Interested prospective students are encouraged to contact Alan at wilson@auburn.edu Learn more about these openings here!
Looking for a harmful algal bloom forecasting model?
About the Lab
Our approach to research is multidimensional. First, we use large-scale observational studies and meta-analysis of existing data from the literature to discover patterns in nature. Then, we identify mechanisms mediating these patterns through laboratory and field-based experimentation.
As a community ecologist, I am generally interested in consumer-prey interactions and identifying the ecological and evolutionary consequences of intraspecific genetic and phenotypic variation on aquatic communities and ecosystems. My current research focuses on the ecology of cyanobacterial blooms with an emphasis on understanding how biotic and abiotic factors influence cyanobacterial bloom formation in a variety of systems including recreational reservoirs and aquaculture ponds. In tandem with our harmful algal bloom research, the lab is also studying the factors leading to taste, odor, and toxicity issues in drinking water reservoirs.
Want to Join the Lab?
I am always looking for hard-working, honest, and self-motivated graduate and undergraduate students to join our group. I encourage individual thinking, so it is not critical that we share identical research interests. But, it is important that you are fascinated by science and want to explore how the natural world works. Please email me your resume, transcripts, GRE scores (if applicable), research interests, and contact information for three references and we will try to find a spot for you in the lab.
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