Arthur Stewart

Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Research

My research interests are predominately aquatic. I favor streams, ponds and lakes as habitats, and have a special fondness for eclectic empirical research to answer questions at the interfaces of adjacent disciplines, such as chemistry and ecology, biology and physics, and toxicology and population dynamics, within these habitats.

From stream and ecotoxicology studies conducted at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) on the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Reservation, I developed a deep appreciation for the importance of bringing basic-sciences perspectives and questions into the world of applied sciences. In my most recent aquatic project, I worked with ORNL scientists on a DOE-funded project to better understand greenhouse gas emissions from six hydropower reservoirs in the southeast. The central question in this case was simple: how do these kinds of power-producing systems compare to other technologies, with respect to greenhouse gas emissions and global warming potential?

More broadly, I’ve developed a keen interest in understanding the relationships between science, science education, and poetry.  To satisfy these interests, I am involved in all three of these areas. I work with internship students appointed through Oak Ridge Associated Universities to internship positions at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and I write, publish and study “science-flavored” poetry.

Publications

• Stewart, AJ, Bevelhimer, MS, Fortner AM, and Phillips, JR. 2014. CO₂ emissions greatly exceed CH₄ emissions during a summer synoptic survey of six hydropower reservoirs in Southeast USA. (Manuscript in revision).
• Stewart, AJ. 2015. From Where We Came. Celtic Cat Publishing, Knoxville, TN. (In press). ISBN 978-0-9905945-9-8.
• O’Connor, LM, Fidler, JL, Custer, E, Beckendorf-Edou, TL, Stewart, AJ and Mueller, MP. 2013. Breaking science news for encouraging scientific literacy in high school science students. ORN Journal of Educational Research 1(1):1-31.
• Stewart, AJ. 2013. The Ghost in the Word. Celtic Cat Publishing, Knoxville, TN. 74 pp. ISBN 978-0-9847836-9-4.
• Stewart, AJ, Smith, JG and Loar, JM. 2011. Long-term water quality changes in East Fork Poplar Creek, Tennessee: background, trends and potential biological consequences. Environmental Management 47:1021-1032.
• Loar, JM, Stewart, AJ and Smith, JG. 2011. Twenty-five years of ecological recovery of East Fork Poplar Creek: review of environmental problems and remedial actions. Environmental Management 47:1010-1020.
• Hill, WR, Smith, JG and Stewart, AJ. 2010. Light, nutrients, and herbivore growth in oligotrophic streams. Ecology 91(2):518-527.
• Haake, DM, Wilton, T, Krier, K, Stewart, AJ and Cormier, SM. 2010. Causal assessment of biological impairment in the Little Floyd River, Iowa, USA. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal 16(1):116-148.
• Stewart, AJ. 2010. Circle, Turtle, Ashes. Celtic Cat Publishing, Knoxville, TN. 94 pp. ISBN 978-0-9819238-4-0.
• Smith, JG, Beauchamp, JJ and Stewart, AJ. 2005. Alternative approach for establishing acceptable thresholds on macroinvertebrate community metrics. J. N. Am. Benthol. Soc. 24(2):428–440.
• Cicerone, DS, Stewart, AJ and Roh, Y. 1999. Diel cycles in calcite production and dissolution in a eutrophic basin. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 18(10):2169-2177.
• Harvey, BC and Stewart, AJ. 1991. Fish size and habitat depth relationships in headwater streams. Oecologia 87(3):336-342.
• Power, ME and Stewart, AJ. 1987. Disturbance and recovery of an algal assemblage following flooding in an Oklahoma stream. American Midland Naturalist 117(2):333-345.