Alldred Lab of Aquatic Biogeochemistry

Mary Alldred

Mary Alldred

Associate Professor of Environmental Science

SUNY Plattsburgh

Mary Alldred is an associate professor of environmental science at the Center for Earth and Environmental Science at SUNY Plattsburgh. She studies the influence of organisms and ecological communities on ecosystem function. Her research focuses on predicting the influence of wetland plants on denitrification, a microbial process that provides an important ecosystem service by removing excess nitrogen. Her work has also addressed the impacts of coastal management, including invasive-plant removal and coastal marsh restorations, on nitrogen cycling and ecosystem services.

Interests

  • Nitrogen cycling
  • Wetland ecology
  • Urban ecosystems
  • Coastal management
  • Ecological restoration
  • Data analysis and visualization

Education

  • Postdoc in Natural Sciences, 2015-2017

    Baruch College CUNY

  • PhD in Ecology and Evolution, 2015

    Stony Brook University

  • BS in Biology, 2008

    University of Notre Dame

Professional Wetland Scientist

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People

Graduate Students

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Lucas Kemmerling

MS Natural Resources & Ecology

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Lydia Harvey

MS Natural Resources & Ecology

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Shannon Cooper

MS Natural Resources & Ecology

Undergraduate Students

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Erica VanValkenburg

BA Environmental Science

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Leif Goldie

BA Environmental Science

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Owen Allen

BS Environmental Science

Alumni

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Alexandria Elliott

Formulation Team Lead

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Brandon Lenberger

Public Health Specialist

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Chase Wojtowecz

Environmental Health and Safety Technician

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Jesse Pruden

Prescribed Fire Crew Member

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Juliana Flint

PhD Student

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Kierstyn Higgins

Graduate Research Assistant

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Makayla Tompkins

US Coast Guard Approved Merchant Mariner

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Mark Heyer

MS Student, Hydrogeology

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Michala Hendrick

Director Rensselaer Youth Outdoors

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Riley Stone

BS Ecology

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Robert Kruse

PhD Student, Ecology and Evolution

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Sara Lester

Forestry Technician

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Sarahana Shrestha

PhD Candidate, Environmental Science and Management

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Stephanie Gray

County Extension Agent in Horticulture

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Troy Tetreault

Eli K. Price Plant Science Fellow

Graduate Alumni

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Emily Reinhardt

Public Health Fellow

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Kayleen Snyder

Assistant Consultant, Biologist

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Lily Delmarsh

Hydrologic Technician, USGS

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Thomas Whaley

Plant Protection Technician, USDA

Projects

Undergraduate Research Projects

A variety of undergraduate-led research projects from the lab. Recent projects include a solar-power internship, quantifying ecosystem services in restored wetlands, leveraging data to answer management challenges, and science outreach and communication.

Salty Water

Developing place-based inquiry lessons for K12 education around the problem of managing road-salt contamination

Urban Marsh Restoration

Investigating development of ecosystem services following urban marsh restoration in New York City

Educational Displays at the LaPierre Lane Riverway

Collaborative project with the Town of Plattsburgh to develop eduational displays for the LaPierre Lane Riverway, a spur of the Saranac River Trail

Mutualistic Species Interactions

Determining the influence of positive species interactions between marsh grasses and ribbed mussels on nitrogen cycling and marsh stability in restored urban marshes

Zoom a Microbe

Let’s face it, microbes can be hard to relate to. That’s why I created the Zoom a Microbe video series, where we dive below the surface and get to know them.

Ecosystem Dynamics of the Altona Flat Rock

Collaborative project to understand short-term and long-term dynamics in the fire-dependent ecosystems of the Altona Flat Rock sandstone pavement pine barren

Using Organismal Traits to Predict Ecosystem Processes

A number of studies that use plant traits to predict the effects of plants on denitrification in wetland sediments

Recent Publications

Putting a lake together: Integrating synthetic data and field observations to build a better food web

Food webs provide context to understand how ecological communities will respond to environmental change, but revealing their structure …
Jonathan J. Borrelli, Matthew S. Schuler, William D. Hintz, Mary Alldred, Brian Mattes, Candace Schermerhorn, Erika Yates, Lawrence W. Eichler, Mark A. Lucius, Rick A. Relyea
PDF DOI

A meta-analysis reveals knowledge gaps in our understanding of the *Spartina*-*Geukensia* mutualism

The relationship between Atlantic ribbed mussels (Geukensia demissa) and smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) represents a textbook …
Thomas Whaley, Mary Alldred
PDF Code Dataset DOI
A meta-analysis reveals knowledge gaps in our understanding of the *Spartina*-*Geukensia* mutualism

Loss of salt marsh plants impacts ribbed mussel (*Geukensia demissa*) size, density, and influence on sediment nitrogen cycling

The mutualism between Spartina alterniflora (Smooth Cordgrass) and Geukensia demissa (Ribbed Mussels) can increase ecosystem services, …
Ahmed T. Abbas, Anais Cardenas, Darius LaFond, Brandon Guasaquillo, Leila Belgaid, Priscilla Lee, Mary Alldred, Chester B. Zarnoch
PDF DOI
Loss of salt marsh plants impacts ribbed mussel (*Geukensia demissa*) size, density, and influence on sediment nitrogen cycling

Estuarine sediment microbiomes from a chronosequence of restored urban salt marshes

Salt marshes play an important role in the global nutrient cycle. The sediments in these systems harbor diverse and complex bacterial …
Nathan Morris, Mary Alldred, Chester Zarnoch, S. Elizabeth Alter
PDF DOI
Estuarine sediment microbiomes from a chronosequence of restored urban salt marshes

Size and density of upside-down jellyfish, *Cassiopea* sp., and their impact on benthic fluxes in a Caribbean lagoon

Anthropogenic disturbances may be increasing jellyfish populations globally. Epibenthic jellyfish are ideal organisms for studying this …
Chester B. Zarnoch, Noshin Hossain, Erika Fusco, Mary Alldred, Timothy Hoellein, Sophia Perdikaris
PDF DOI
Size and density of upside-down jellyfish, *Cassiopea* sp., and their impact on benthic fluxes in a Caribbean lagoon
See all publications

Courses

CFS 1889 Cardinal Foundation Seminar

ENV 340 Environmental Science Seminar

ENV 422 Environmental Data Analysis

ENV 462 Ecosystem Ecology

ENV 304 Ecology

ENV 413 Biogeochemical Cycling

ENV 439 Wetland Ecology and Management

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