Treda Grayson

Bio

Treda Grayson is a doctoral candidate in the Environmental Science and Public Policy program.  She has experience in water quality monitoring and assessment, water quality criteria development and storm water enforcement and compliance as an Environmental Protection Specialist at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  She is an Environmental Leadership Senior Fellow, as well as the 2014-2016 President of the Atlantic Estuarine Research Society.  She has a B.S. degree in marine science from Coastal Carolina University and a M.S. degree in environmental sciences and policy from Johns Hopkins University.  She loves traveling, playing in mud, and spending time with family and friends.

Dissertation Summary

My dissertation examines the response patterns of benthic macroinvertebrates to stressors in Chesapeake Bay.  The pressures of increased population density, land development, and agricultural practices have resulted in a threatened Bay ecosystem that is in need of ongoing restoration and protection.  Benthic macroinvertebrates are widely used and accepted as reliable indicators of the estuarine biological environment, as they are integrators of biological and physical events in the sediments and the overlying water column.  My dissertation work draws on decades of previously collected data in the Chesapeake Bay region, which provides a sound mechanism to evaluate actual and potential stressors to benthic communities. I am utilizing the multitude of physical, chemical and biological Chesapeake Bay data to determine general and specific stressor-response patterns and environmental tolerance groups that can be used to provide resource managers with useful information to better manage, protect, and restore Chesapeake Bay.