Research
Interests
I am interested in the geological and ecological
evolution of lake ecosystems at various time scales. For the
past 14 years, I have been investigating the evolutionary ecology
and paleolimnological history of Lake Tanganyika, looking at
a wide variety of subjects from basin evolution to Holocene
hydrological and ecological history of the lake. I use fossil
invertebrates, primarily ostracode crustaceans and molluscs,
to understand patterns of ecosystem and community change through
time. I am interested in understanding how benthic invertebrate
communities change in response to lake conditions. Over the
past seven years, I have focused my attention on how humans
are affecting the lake's benthic communities, particularly
through the process of watershed deforestation and the introduction
of large quantities of sediment into certain parts of the lake.
Through this work I have become quite interested in the application
of our understanding of the lake's paleoecological record to
applied problems of conservation biology, and the design of
underwater parks and refuges for the lake's hundreds of endemic
fish and invertebrate species.
In addition to my work on Lake Tanganyika,
I have also been involved in paleolimnological research projects
in the US: the Great Salt Lake in Utah, and Summer Lake in
Oregon. In both of these cases, our primary objective was to
use the paleolimnological records to interpret paleoclimatic
histories of the Great Basin region.
Teaching
At the University of Arizona, I am responsible
for teaching a wide variety of courses, from the Introductory
Sedimentology/Stratigraphy course, to the Introduction to Oceanography
course, to the paleobiology component of an interdepartmental
course called Analysis of Biological Diversification.
Degrees
I have a BA from Middlebury College, and a
PhD from the University of California - Davis.
Personal
When I'm not at the university, I am an avid
hiker, Scuba diver, and skier, and I am the father of twin
hyperactive eight-year-old boys (like father, like sons).
Contact Information
Dr. Andy Cohen
The University of Arizona
Department of Geosciences
Gould-Simpson Building #77
1040 E 4th St., Room 326
Tucson, AZ 85721
USA
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