JoAnn Burkholder

About

JoAnn Burkholder is the William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor and an Adjunct Professor at North Carolina State University, where she directs the Center for Applied Aquatic Ecology within the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology. Her research over the past ten years has focused on aquatic ecosystems, specifically examining the chronic effects of nutrient over-enrichment (eutrophication) and chemical environmental contaminants on aquatic plants such as algae and angiosperms. She has studied the ecology and impacts of harmful algae, including cyanobacteria, dinoflagellates, haptophytes, and raphidophytes, and how long-term changes in watershed land use and pollution sources influence surface water quality. Burkholder's work includes designing and maintaining long-term research and monitoring programs, such as a 14-year study on the Neuse Estuary and a six-year program in North Carolina's potable water reservoirs. She has developed innovative automated water quality profiling instruments and integrated microarray technologies to detect toxic cyanobacteria, pesticides, and microbial pathogens, enhancing early warning systems for public water safety. Her research has documented significant increases in ammonium concentrations linked to agricultural and confined animal feeding operations, and identified potentially toxic dinoflagellates associated with nutrient over-enrichment, which can cause fish kills. Her contributions extend to understanding the ecological and…

Research topics

• Biology
• Ecology
• Environmental science
• Oceanography
• Geology
• Zoology
• Botany
• Geography

Selected publications

• Sampling bias misrepresents the biogeographical significance of constitutive mixotrophs across global oceans

  Global Ecology and Biogeography · 2019-01-29 · 63 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Aim Most protist plankton are mixotrophic, with potential to engage in photoautotrophy and phagotrophy; however, the ecology of these organisms has been misdiagnosed for over a century. A large proportion of these organisms are constitutive mixotrophs (CMs), with an innate ability to photosynthesize. Here, for the first time, an analysis is presented of the biogeography of CMs across the oceans. Location Global marine ecosystems. Time period 1970–2018. Major taxa studied Marine plankton…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Mixotrophy in Harmful Algal Blooms: By Whom, on Whom, When, Why, and What Next

  Ecological studies · 2018-01-01 · 56 citations

  book-chapterSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Harmful Macroalgal Blooms in a Changing World: Causes, Impacts, and Management

  2018-06-01 · 47 citations

  other

  Macroalgae are a natural, common feature of inland waters as well as estuaries, coastal waters, and oceanic waters particularly the Gulf of Mexico, North Atlantic Ocean, and Caribbean Sea where pelagic Sargassum is distributed. As the causes and effects of macroalgal blooms are similar in many ways to those associated with harmful phytoplankton species, scientists use the term harmful algal bloom (HAB) to describe this diverse array of bloom phenomena. Many studies have addressed the importance…

  PublisherDOI

• Food Web and Ecosystem Impacts of Harmful Algae

  2018-06-01 · 42 citations

  other1st authorCorresponding

  This chapter considers food web and ecosystemlevel impacts of major groups of harmful algae in U.S. and nearby waters. Harmful algal blooms (HAB) cause a “vast array” of food web effects across multiple trophic levels. The chapter defines food web impacts as effects on organisms from one or more trophic levels. It provides an overview of the present status of ecosystem-level impacts, considered as effects on the entire food web structure. Various species of microalgae and macroalgae respond to n…

  PublisherDOI

• Causes of Harmful Algal Blooms

  2018-06-01 · 39 citations

  otherSenior author

  This chapter highlights the key role of changes in nutrients; emphasizes estuarine/marine microalgal species, and includes information on some freshwater harmful algal blooms (HAB). It focuses mainly on microalgae and also presents several examples of macroalgae. It explores some suggestions for advancement in the understanding of HAB and nutrients. Physical factors influence both nutrient retention and cell retention. A major question in HAB biogeography is whether there are biotic provinces th…

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Parke A. Rublee

  University of North Carolina at Greensboro

  83 shared

• Howard B. Glasgow

  North Carolina State University

  74 shared

• Jason W. Kempton

  South Carolina Department of Natural Resources

  68 shared

• Alan J. Lewitus

  64 shared

• John S. Ramsdell

  NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science

  63 shared

• Nora J. Deamer

  North Carolina State University

  61 shared

• Peter Möeller

  Thomas Jefferson University

  60 shared

• Harold G. Marshall

  Old Dominion University

  55 shared

Labs

• Plant and Microbial BiologyPI

Education

• Ph.D., Plant Pathology

  University of California, Berkeley

  1984

• M.S., Plant Pathology

  University of California, Berkeley

  1980

• B.S., Botany

  University of California, Davis

  1977

Awards & honors

• William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor

Similar researchers at North Carolina State University

• William Thompsonh-62
• Linda Hanley-Bowdoinh-55
• Candace Haiglerh-48