Research Interests - Dr. Curt Allen

I am currently engaged in two long-term research studies, both of which  provide one and four-credit research opportunities  for  interested  students.

            One study  is ecological  in nature and   involves a survey of the fish fauna of Skippack Creek in Evansburg State Park. We are  interested in what fish species inhabit the creek, what type of habitat each species favors and especially  whether  the creek harbors any endangered species.  This project is especially good for  one credit  researchers who are field-oriented.

            The  second  study  involves functional anatomy.  Many  functions have been attributed to the gill rakers of fishes, but only one has ever been scientifically established; that they  act as filters in certain planktivorous species, removing microscopic food items from a stream of water that enters  the mouth and exits  through the gill openings.  Relatively few  fish are planktivorous,  yet  all  fish have gill rakers. What do they do in other species?  Are they also somehow involved in  feeding ?  Or do they have other functions, that better account for  their universality?  We are searching for the answer to these questions using species of freshwater stream fish from Skippack Creek in Evansburg State Park. Since the gill rakers of stream species have never been investigated  at a fine morphological  level, we are currently concentrating on studying the  ultrastructure of the rakers of several  related species at the light microscope and SEM  level.  In-depth anatomical and histological studies of the rakers make good four-credit research projects and several  ancillary aspects of these studies can be pursued  as  one-credit   projects individually, or in concert with other one-credit or  advanced four-credit research students.  For the one-credit projects, I would prefer to involve sophomore or junior students, who might then, if sufficiently  interested, continue on with four-credit projects in their junior or senior year.

            If you are interested in any of the studies I have described, please do not wait until the registration period, but contact me at your earliest convenience for further discussion.