National Park Service
Communities in Freshwater Coastal Rock Pools of Lake Superior, with a Focus on Chironomidae (Diptera) A Dissertation SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY Alexander Taurus Egan IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Advisor: Leonard C. Ferrington, Jr. May 2014 © Alexander Taurus Egan 2014 Acknowledgements Projects of this size are rarely accomplished without the assistance and support of many people. Primarily, my advisor, Len Ferrington, has been a great source of guidance and enthusiasm. My committee, Jacques Finlay, Ralph Holzenthal, and Roger Moon, have raised the bar considerably by pushing, pulling and steering me toward being a better scientist. Friends and colleagues in the Chironomidae Research Group have made my graduate experience a time I will remember fondly, with Alyssa Anderson, Will Bouchard and Jessica Miller sharing in the successes, misfortunes, and minor but important goals that come with the territory. In particular, Petra Kranzfelder often filled the roles of peer advisor and sounding board for ideas both brilliant and ridiculous. The National Park service has been very generous in many ways, and specific thanks go to Brenda Moraska Lafrançois and Jay Glase, who provided early development and direction for this project. My colleagues Mark Edlund from the Science Museum of Minnesota and Toben Lafrançois from the Science Museum and Northland College have consistently offered excellent ecological advice on what the data mean, often acting as de facto advisors. Without support from Isle Royale National Park this project would not have been possible. In particular, the technical advice, equipment loans, and logistical assistance from Paul Brown, Rick Damstra, Joan Elias, and Mark Romanski were invaluable.
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