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Adria Elskus
Dr. Adria Elskus is an aquatic toxicologist with expertise in biochemical mechanisms of toxicant action. She has been a university professor, government scientist (USEPA, USGS) and environmental consultant, conducting aquatic toxicology research at Superfund sites, in freshwater and marine waterways, and in urban harbors containing a broad assortment of chemical contaminants, including metals, sewage effluent, organic toxicants, pesticides, petroleum, and combustion products. She studies physiological and biochemical responses of organisms to pollutant stress in the ecological context of their habitat, and relates these to population-level effects (reproductive function, population abundance, chemical resistance, early development, behavior).
Adria has an A.B. in Biochemistry from Mt. Holyoke College, a M.S. in Biological Oceanography from the Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, and a Ph.D. in Marine Biology from Boston University, conducting her dissertation work on flounder and killifish under Dr. John Stegeman at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Since joining USGS in 2004 her work has centered on the effects of pesticides, mercury and other contaminants on anadromous fish in Maine waterways, particularly endangered Atlantic salmon and includes studies of simulated dam removal effects on fish; the use of surrogate species to study salmon; behavioral and immune system effects of pollutants; multiple stressor effects on early life stage fish; ecosystem effects of fungicides; the development of non-lethal approaches to assess contaminant exposure and effects in endangered and threatened fish species; and most recently, assessing a NaOH-based method for treating ballast water in Great Lakes ships and its residual toxicity when the treated ballast water is released into receiving waters.
Adria is a past-president of NAC (2012-2013) and remains an active NAC member helping wherever needed.
Adria Elskus, PhD
Research Fishery Biologist/Toxicologist
US Geological Survey
Maine Field Office
5751 Murray Hall
University of Maine
Orono, ME 04469-5751
tel: 207-581-2579
fax: 207-581-2537
email