Heera Malik

I work as a Phycologist at Rhithron Associates, Inc. I am responsible for performing taxonomic identification of periphyton and phytoplankton samples, including diatoms and soft algae.

My research curiosity and interest in diatoms taxonomy, morphology and ecology, started during my Masters in 2010, while working on the effects of BP oil spill on algal communities in Choctawhatchee Bay, FL. After finishing my Masters, I joined Climate Change Institute at University of Maine as a doctoral student with an interest to learn more about diatom ecology and distribution patterns. I studied the effects of climate change on diatom communities in Arctic lakes and in a boreal lake in Maine, for my doctoral dissertation.

With a decade of experience in research, I have analyzed a variety of diatom/algae samples from different landscapes, and I am still intrigued about these tiny creatures. I look forward to continuing understand their ecology to develop better approaches for aquatic bio-assessment.