Major
Environmental Science
Anticipated Graduation Year
2024
Access Type
Open Access
Abstract
Red swamp crayfish are invasive to the Chicago area, and they are known to live in sewage outfall waters in the North Shore Channel. Through calculating average bacterial load, I determined that red swamp crayfish living in sewage-polluted water carry higher amounts of bacteria than crayfish living in non-contaminated waters. This adds a new layer to their invasion in Chicago, with red swamp crayfish potentially serving as a vector for high concentrations of sewage-associated bacteria to enter the food chain.
Faculty Mentors & Instructors
Dr. Reuben Keller, School of Environmental Sustainability; Dr. Gregory Palmer, School of Environmental Sustainability; Betsi Burns, Northwestern University; Ashley Williams, DePaul University
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
The Bacterial Implications of Red Swamp Crayfish in Chicago's North Shore Channel
Red swamp crayfish are invasive to the Chicago area, and they are known to live in sewage outfall waters in the North Shore Channel. Through calculating average bacterial load, I determined that red swamp crayfish living in sewage-polluted water carry higher amounts of bacteria than crayfish living in non-contaminated waters. This adds a new layer to their invasion in Chicago, with red swamp crayfish potentially serving as a vector for high concentrations of sewage-associated bacteria to enter the food chain.