Summary
Dr. Carina Seitz is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at University of Nevada, Reno and a faculty affiliate of the Tahoe Institute for Global Sustainability. She earned her Ph.D. in Geology from the Universidad Nacional del Sur (Argentina) and has interdisciplinary training spanning limnology, aquatic ecology, paleoenvironmental reconstruction, and biogeochemistry.
Dr. Seitz’s research focuses on understanding how natural and anthropogenic drivers alter ecosystem processes and long-term environmental change. A central component of her work is based in Lake Tahoe, where she investigates how particle composition influences light penetration, primary production, and food-web dynamics in one of the clearest large lakes in the world.
She has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals on topics including algal community structure, lake metabolism, wildfire and smoke impacts on aquatic ecosystems, invasive species, and paleoenvironmental change.
Dr. Seitz is deeply committed to mentoring and training students and is especially passionate about providing early, hands-on research experiences for students interested in aquatic (paleo) ecology, algae, diatoms, geomorphology, and environmental science.
Research interests
- Limnology and freshwater ecosystem ecology
- Lake Tahoe water clarity and particle dynamics
- Algal and diatom ecology
- Paleoenvironmental reconstructions
- Lake-watershed processes