Southgate Biologists Receive $1.4 Million NSF Grant to Study Cascade River Ecosystems

A team of Southgate University biologists has been awarded a $1.4 million grant from the National Science Foundation to study how agricultural and residential development along the Cascade River is affecting aquatic insect and fish populations. The three-year study will draw on decades of prior student research along the river that runs through campus.

The project is led by Dr. Naomi Fitch, associate professor of biology, alongside two colleagues in environmental science. The grant will fund equipment, graduate research assistantships, and paid summer research positions for up to a dozen undergraduates each year.

"The Cascade River has been our living laboratory for thirty years," Fitch said. "This grant lets us finally build a rigorous, long-term dataset instead of piecing things together year by year."

Findings from the study will be shared with regional water management agencies and could inform local land-use planning decisions. Fitch's team expects to publish its first results in 2027.