Inside the Pond Lab: Studying climate change through aquatic species at KBS

At Michigan State University’s W.K. Kellogg Biological Station, Dr. Alisha Shah and her team conduct hands-on fieldwork to better understand how climate change affects aquatic related organisms.

On June 3, 2025, members of the Shah Lab, including a postdoctoral associate, two graduate students, and an undergraduate assistant, collected dragonflies, fish, and newt species from the KBS experimental pond laboratories in Hickory Corners, Michigan. The photos in this series document the group’s efforts to observe and record physiological responses in ectotherms in a controlled outdoor setting. Their work, shared in this photo essay, contributes to a broader understanding of ecological resilience and change at KBS and for the world.

Dr. Alisha Shah of W.K. Kellogg Biological Station’s Shah Lab stands outside the pond laboratories in Hickory Corners, Mich., on June 3, 2025.

Dr. Alisha Shah and postdoctoral research associate Rosemary Martin wade in the KBS Pond Lab as they collect dragonfly larvae.

Postdoctoral research associate Rosemary Martin and Dr. Alisha Shah dip a female dragonfly for egg retrieval alongside Ph.D. student Stephanie Bristow and undergraduate student Phoebe Bosch at the KBS Pond Lab.

Postdoctoral research associate Rosemary Martin (top hand) gently dips a female dot-tailed whiteface dragonfly at the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station Pond Lab, gently releasing its eggs. Dr. Alisha Shah (bottom hand) and the Shah Lab at MSU focuses on ectotherm thermal biology, physiological ecology, and climate change.

Ph.D. student Peter Martin (left) and postdoctoral research associate Rosemary Martin of the Shah Lab pose for a portrait while surveying for aquatic species in the experimental Pond Lab at KBS.

The Shah Lab’s postdoctoral research associate Rosemary Martin holds an eastern red-spotted newt from inside the KBS Pond Lab.

Stephanie Bristow, Shah Lab Ph.D. student, measures and weighs fish species in the back room of the KBS Pond Lab facilities alongside Phoebe Bosch, Shah Lab undergraduate student.

Ph.D. student Stephanie Bristow of the Shah Lab holds a damselfly specimen up for observation inside the main building of the Pond Lab facilities at W.K. Kellogg Biological Station on June 3, 2025.

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Gavin Hutchings is the KBS 2025 external communications intern. He is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in photojournalism from Michigan State University.
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