Dr. Jessica Brandt

Professor Brandt

Assistant Professor

Department of Natural Resources & the Environment
Center for Environmental Sciences & Engineering

Research Website

Office: University of Connecticut U-4087, 1376 Storrs Road, Storrs, CT 06269-4087 (Room #YNG 326)
Phone: 860-486-0139
Email: jessica.brandt@uconn.edu

Education

Professional Experience

Research Interests

Publications

Education

PhD 2018 Duke University; Environmental Health
MHS 2012 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Environmental Health Sciences
BA 2011 Johns Hopkins University; Public Health Studies

Professional Experience

2020 - Present Assistant Professor, University of Connecticut
2018 - 2019 U.S. Geological Survey, Postdoctoral Researcher

Research Interests

My research focuses on the fate, flux, and consequences of chemical stressors in aquatic ecosystems. There are three overarching questions that motivate my interest in ecosystem-scale toxicology:

  1. How do biotransported contaminants interact with recipient ecosystems? How will these interactions and the magnitude of subsidy effects change as aquatic habitats are altered?
  2. What roles do ecosystems and aquatic communities play in controlling contaminant distribution, retention, and toxicity risks?
  3. To what extent are contaminant legacies constraining fish conservation efforts?

    Publications

    • Vengosh, A; Cowan, EA; Coyte, RM; Kondash, AJ; Wang, Z; Brandt, JE; Dwyer, GS. 2019. Evidence for unmonitored coal ash spills in Sutton Lake, North Carolina: Implications for contamination of lake ecosystems. Sci. Tot. Environ. 686: 1090-1103.
    • Brandt, JE; Simonin, M; Di Giulio, RT; Bernhardt, ES. 2019. Beyond selenium: Coal combustion residuals lead to multielement enrichment in receiving lake food webs. Environ. Sci. Technol. 53 (8): 4119-4127, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.9b00324
    • Brandt, JE; Lauer, NE; Vengosh, A; Bernhardt, ES; Di Giulio, RT. 2018. Strontium isotope ratios in fish otoliths as biogenic tracers of coal combustion residual inputs to freshwater ecosystems. Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett. 5 (12), DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.8b00477
    • Yang, Y; Chen, B; Hower, J; Schindler, M; Winkler, C; Brandt, J; Di Giulio, R; Liu, M; Fu, Y; Zhang, L; Priya, S; Hochella, M. 2017. Discovery and ramifications of incidental Magneli phase generation and release from industrial coal burning. Nature Communications 8, DOI:10.1038/s41467-017-00276-2
    • Brandt, JE; Bernhardt, ES; Dwyer, GS; Di Giulio, RT. 2017. Selenium ecotoxicology in freshwater lakes receiving coal combustion residual effluents: A North Carolina example. Environ Sci & Technol. 51 (4): 2418–2426, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b05353