Erin McCallum

I’m an environmental scientist with a background in ecotoxicology and behavioural ecology. My research programme broadly aims to understand the causes and consequences of anthropogenic stressors for aquatic wildlife. The goal of my research is to provide sound science to inform policy for conserving fish, aquatic habitats, and freshwater resources. Working both in the lab and field, I strive to understand how stressors, particularly pollutants, affect aquatic animals across multiple levels of biological organization. I’m especially interested in animal behaviour because it provides a valuable link between proximate or underlying mechanistic causes, and ultimate, evolutionary outcomes.

But, I'm interested in and have worked on lots of topics! In addition to my main focus, I'm also intrested in understanding the impacts of complex, dynamic pollutant mixtures on aquatic ecosystems (especially wastewater effluent); in the behaviour and management of aquatic invasive species; in how human activities impact animal migration behavior; and, how aggression shapes social or dominance structures in animal groups. I'm also an active science communicator and love writing about science for the general public.

I am the course leader and teacher for BI1448 Fish and Wildlife Management. This is a master's level course offered as part of the "Conservation and management of fish and wildlife" program here at SLU. In this course, I teach students about the sustainble harvest and management of animal populations.

I also teach shorter sections in BI1301 Applied Population Ecology and BI1415 Ecological Zoology.

Are you interested in a bachelors/kandidate thesis or a master's thesis? Contact me by email to see what research projects I have on the go and how you can get involved for your thesis work.

I am eager to work with students from diverse backgrounds, but working on your degree in some form of natural science will give you a good background knowledge for this type of research (e.g., environmental science, forestry, biology, chemistry, ecology etc.).

Open MSc / BSc projects:

Note! I often have ideas for projects I may not post here. Please feel free to reach out by email to discuss your ideas.

(MSc) - How does wastewater effluent affect aquatic invertebrate communities? Working with samples collected up- and downstream from wastewater treatment plants across Sweden, we will sort and identify aquatic invertebrates to genus and family levels to identify how wastewater inputs with nutrients and chemicals shape and change aquatic communities. 30 or 60 credits.

(MSc) - Are chemical pollutants transferred from water to land? We know that chemicals pollute aquatic environments, but can they also be transferred to land? We will measure the concentrations of pollutants in water, aquatic insects, and terrestrial predator spiders to determine to what extent contamination is transferred from water to land. Best suited for 60 credits.

(MSc) - Does exposure to a pharmaceutical affect fish behaviour across generations? We are starting a new project exposing fish to a common pharmaceutical pollutant over a very long timescale. We will assess how exposure affects behaviour (sociality, aggression, movement) and reproductive success (offspring reared) over multiple generations. 30 or 60 credits.

(MSc or Bachelors) - Literature review on advanced technologies for reducing pharmaceutical pollution. Advanced water treatment technologies (e.g., ozone or UV sterilization) are being used to remove chemical pollution from wastewater before it is returned to our rivers, lakes, and streams. But do these new technologies improve fish and habitat health? We will conduct a systematic review of published literature to determine what evidence exists how treatment technologies improve the health of aquatic animals, habitats, and ecosystems. 15 to 60 credits.

See more about my research and scicomm on my personal website

My Google Scholar profile has up-to-date links to all my publications.