Spotlights
Kaylynne Dennis defends thesis on freshwater carbon cycle
Kaylynne Dennis successfully defended her Master's thesis on October 31st, 2025, titled "Trends, Drivers, and Implications: Measurements of Production and Respiration Reveal Net Autotrophy in a Great Lakes Estuary ". Her thesis committee included AWRI's Bopi Biddanda and Tony Weinke, GVSU’s Eric Snyder, as well as NOAA’S Steve Ruberg.
World’s freshwater ecosystems are hotspots of carbon cycling. Kaylynne's research synthesized over two decades of seasonal planktonic primary production measurements in the pelagic zone of Muskegon Lake, as well as high-frequency readings in the littoral zone to answer questions about both temporal and lake-wide variability in carbon cycling. The study’s results allowed her to confirm the carbon sink status (annual net primary production) in the pelagic zone. Findings also indicated a decrease in nutrient concentrations across the 20 years, possibly due to remediation efforts on Muskegon Lake watershed. Linear mixed models constructed for metabolic rates across pelagic and littoral zones revealed similar patterns of relationships between metabolic rates and environmental parameters. Continued empirical investigations can aid in the integration of carbon cycling occurring in the world’s inland waters into the global carbon cycle.
Following graduation, Kaylynne plans to stay on at the Biddanda Lab assisting in the operation of the Muskegon Lake Observatory buoy (https://www.gvsu.edu/wri/buoy/) while she applies for Ph.D. programs.
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