Theodorakis chapter on aquatic toxicology published

Finding evidence of evolutionary changes is always interesting to scientists. Sometimes, though, the reason for the changes are not always the best.

A selection of the book cover with Theodorakis' chapter. Courtesy of Cambridge Press.

Chris Theodorakis, associate professor of biological sciences at SIUE, recently had a chapter published on this topic. The chapter is titled “Evolutionary Toxicology“.

The chapter is part of “Molecular Approaches in Natural Resource Conservation and Management,” a peer reviewed book published by the Cambridge University Press in August according to Theodorakis.

The chapter was a collaboration with two other scientists, Lee Shugart of L.R. Shugart and Assoc. and John Bickham of Purdue University. Theodorakis said that the chapter is a review of information, some applicable theories and some case studies.

Theodorakis took part in one of the case studies reviewed. Theodorakis and other researchers looked at the effects of pollution on sunfish in Tennessee.

“We were looking at effects of a pulp mill on genetic diversity in sunfish in the Little Pigeon River in Tennessee,” said Theodorakis. “We found evidence of an increase in mutation rates and an alteration of gene flow as a result of the paper mill.”

Theodorakis. Photo courtesy of Theodorakis.

Theodorakis’ main research focus at SIUE is aquatic toxicology and conservation genetics. He became interested in the subject while at Texas Tech University when he took a course on genetic toxicology. Later, Theodorakis took a graduate seminar in conservation genetics.

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