Karolina Stark Curriculum Vitae

Savannah River Ecology Laboratory
Drawer E
Aiken, SC 29802
Contact Info

updated July 2005

Education

Research Interests and Career Goals

I am a Ph.D. student in Ecotoxicology. In my research in Radioecology I focus on the mechanisms behind the accumulation of ¹³⁷Cs from Chernobyl in wetlands in Sweden. In addition, I estimate and measure the radiation doses from ¹³⁷Cs that frogs receive by living in these contaminated ecosystems. In May 2004, I completed my Licentiate Thesis in which I included two papers. In the first study I measured post-depositional redistribution and gradual accumulation of ¹³⁷Cs in a riparian wetland (manuscript in preparation). In the second study I estimated radiation doses from ¹³⁷Cs to frogs in a wetland. This paper was recently published in Journal of Environmental Radioactivity. Because the research fields, Radioecology and Radiobiology, have been separated my career goal in the near future is to conduct a dissertation that combines the field of Radioecology and Radiobiology. My visit to the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL) would be an excellent opportunity to broaden my field of research to Radiobiology. For example, I would like to study the effects on frogs after chronic exposure of low doses from ¹³⁷Cs at SREL’s tremendous Low Dose Irradiation Facility at the Par Pond Laboratory. In addition, my long term goal would be to continue to do research and to conduct multi-stressor studies with amphibians. I would also like to study any possible effects on the frogs living in the wetlands contaminated with ¹³⁷Cs in Sweden.

Research in progress

• Measuring doses from ¹³⁷Cs in a wetland ecosystem using frog phantoms and TLDs.
• Comparing characteristics of flooded wetlands that accumulate ¹³⁷Cs and those that do not.

Employment

Publications

• Stark, K. 2001. Uppskattning av stråldos till grodor från cesium-137 i en våtmark norr om Gävle. Projektrapport från utbildningen i Ekotoxikologi. Ekotoxikologiska avdelningen. Nr. 80. Uppsala universitet. A report in Swedish on evaluation of radiation from cesium-137 to frogs in a wetland north of Gävle, Sweden. Pp 57. Master’s Thesis.

• Stark, K. Wetlands and Radioecology. Migration, accumulation and uptake of ¹³⁷Cs and ⁹⁰Sr in wetland ecosystems. Doctoral essay. 2003.

• Stark, K. Accumulation of ¹³⁷Cs in a wetland ecosystem and radiation doses to frogs. Licentiate Thesis in Marine Ecotoxicology. May 2004.

• Stark, K., Avila, R., and Wallberg, P. 2004. Estimation of radiation doses from 137Cs to frogs in a wetland ecosystem. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 75:1-14

• Stark, K. Post-depositional redistribution and gradual accumulation of ¹³⁷Cs in a riparian wetland (Manuscript submitted to J of Env Rad).

• Scott, D.E., D. A. Croshaw, and K. Stark. Dispersal of juvenile marbled salamanders from a Carolina bay wetland. in preparation.

Honors and Awards

• Winner of 1st place award in the 2nd annual SREL Graduate Student Symposium, July 15, 2005, Aiken, South Carolina) -- EFFECTS ON FROGS AND TOADS AFTER LOW-DOSE RATE EXPOSURE TO IONIZING RADIATION (PDF file)

Grants
 

Personal Interests
Personal interests are wildlife, yoga, lindy hop dancing and reptiles and amphibians.

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