"Like most mathematicians, he takes the hopeful biologist to the edge of the pond, points out that a good swim will help his work, and then pushes him in and leaves him to drown."-charles elton
Aquatic Research Pond, July 2015
About Rachel
I am currently an Assistant Professor in Environmental Science at Mount Saint Mary’s University. Previously I was a CAS Diversity Post Doctoral Fellow at Oklahoma State University with Dr. Puni Jeyasingh. I work within small reservoirs, collecting water quality data and measuring the phyto and zooplankton communities in order to better quantify seasonal dynamics. I received a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology under the direction of Dr. Lawrence J. Weider at the University of Oklahoma. My working thesis involved using theory and experimentation to better understand how population structure influences community properties and stability.
In brief, I get excited over equations and graphs, while trying to keep myself grounded in real systems.
Publications
Sherman, R., Hartnett, R., Kiehnau, E., Weider, L., and Jeyasingh, P. 2021. Quantitative genetics of phosphorus content in the freshwater herbivore, Daphnia. Journal of Animal Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13419
Hartnett, R.N. 2019. Variation in life-history traits among Daphnia and its relationship to species-level responses to phosphorus limitation. Royal Society of Open Science. 6: 191024. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.191024
Other publications and educational resources
Hartnett, R. 2020. Cleaning Data with R and the Tidyverse in Swirl. Make Teaching with R in Undergraduate Biology Less Excruciating 2020, QUBES Educational Resources. doi:10.25334/SKPR-CB95
Hartnett, R. 2020. Using Swirl to Make TRUBLE. In McMahon, K, editor. Tested Studies for Laboratory Teaching. Volume 41. Proceedings of the 41st Conference of the Association for Biology Laboratory Education (ABLE). https://doi.org/10.37590/able.v41.abs34
Hartnett, R. and Hoefnagels, M. 2019. Collaborative concept mapping in Google Draw. Article 33 In McMahon, K, editor. Tested Studies for Laboratory Teaching. Volume 40. Proceedings of the 40th Conference of the Association for Biology Laboratory Education (ABLE). http://www.ableweb.org/volumes/vol-40/?art=33
Hartnett, R. (2019). Importing Data into R. Make Teaching with R in Undergraduate Biology Less Excruciating, QUBES Educational Resources. doi:10.25334/Q4W161
Hartnett, R. (2019). Sampling Distributions and Null Distributions: two swirl lessons in R. Make Teaching with R in Undergraduate Biology Less Excruciating, QUBES Educational Resources. doi:10.25334/Q4KJ04
Patten, M.A. and R. N. Hartnett. 2014. Residual variance is no cause for alarm. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 12:545-546. pdf
Research interests
Miro spies a Daphnia by Brittany Rae Benson
Rachel Hartnett, PhD by Brittany Rae Benson
Daphnia lumholtzi by Brittany Rae Benson
Daphnia in a jar by Brittany Rae Benson
Community stability
Currently organisms are experiencing change at an unprecedented rate. Therefore knowing what traits or functions enhance a community's ability to persist through time, resist environmental change, and be resilient post environmental events are vital to conservation efforts. Genetic variation, species diversity, species connectivity, and other aspects of community properties have been implicated in community persistence and stability.
Linking populations to their communities
Population ecologists tend to focus on a single species, and what elements (e.g. food abundance, predation) affect growth and reproduction. On the other end of the spectrum, community ecologists focus on how the ecosystem functions as a whole. Individual variation and population dynamics are often overlooked in community and ecosystem ecology. My research strives to unify population and community approaches in order to understand a population within its community. It aims to help predict changes in population demography by understanding mechanisms governing life-history dynamics.
Resting eggs
Resting eggs are produced by many zooplankton species under stressful environmental conditions and are protected by a tough chitinous casing. These resting eggs allow for dispersal between water bodies (e.g. Daphnia lumholtzi has been particularly effective using their resting eggs to invade new systems). They can also be used to resurrect individuals that were produced hundreds of years ago, allowing for a unique opportunity to study microevolution.
Species diversity
Biodiversity, commonly measured by species richness, is the cornerstone of ecological research. Another metric of biodiversity that may play a role in community function is species evenness. Species evenness measures the proportions of relative species abundance to community abundance. A meta-analysis of aquatic ecosystems has shown little to no correlation between species richness and species evenness, indicating that species evenness is an independent axis of biodiversity. Species evenness may play large roles in community properties such as persistence, resilience, and resistance in the face of environmental change.
Current Course Offering(s)
Introduction to Biology (BIOL 110). Fall 2021.
Previous Course Offerings and Available Materials
Experimental Design and Analysis in Biology.
Learning R with Swirl. Lessons that I have developed as well as other useful lessons be found here under the QUBES Open Educational Resources.
Textbook resources can be found here.
Introduction to Quantitative Biology, OU. Textbook resources can be found here.
Concepts in Biology, OU. Current information by Mariëlle Hoefnagels can be found here.
Limnology and Oceanography, UT Austin.
Introduction to Genetics II, UT Austin.
For students
my mentoring philosophy
I firmly believe that good mentoring takes empathy as well as objectivity. My main goals in mentoring students are to 1) assess and adjust to student needs, 2) provide information and resources to achieve learning goals, and 3) support individual students to help them get to where they want to go. Strong mentorship led to my choice to have a career in STEM, and their modeling as professionals and people was instrumental for me. I hope I can provide similar opportunities for others.
students can expect me:
To take different learning styles, personalities, educational backgrounds, etc. into account and actively work on personalizing my mentoring style to best meet an individual's needs.
To use inclusive teaching practices and to stay proactive about identifying and addressing my own biases.
To foster their career aspirations. At the end of the day, each student wants to end up with the skills and education to land THE job.
To reinforce their understanding of experimental design and statistics, as well as develop technical skills in data analysis.
I expect students:
To let me know when they need help.
To make time to meet for individualized attention.
To engage in problem solving under my guidance, rather than expecting me to lay out the answer for them.
To self-pace themselves--leaving room for feedback from me and other mentors.
student resources
For MSMU students, here are some potentially helpful resources:
I am getting acquainted with campus, so I will be sure add more as I find them!
For OSU students, here are some potentially helpful resources:
Wanted course resources? Check out my teaching section.
Interested in discovering your own implicit biases? Check out the quizzes by Project Implicit that Harvard created.
For a safe, confidential space to talk about campus-related problems, consider contacting the Office of the Ombuds. To report an incident, contact the Student Conduct Office.
Guides for students from the Office of Multicultural Affairs, & Student Disability Services.
