Skip to main content

Accessibility menu

Skip to main content Skip to footer

Profile for Ross Vander Vorste

Ross Vander Vorste profile photo

Contact me

Ross Vander Vorste

Pronouns: He/His/Him
Assistant Professor
Biology University of Wisconsin-La Crosse

Ross Vander Vorste's office hours

Monday
2:15 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.
or by appointment
Tuesday
By appointment only
Wednesday
2:15 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.
or by appointment
Thursday
By appointment only
Friday
By appointment only

Ross Vander Vorste Pronouns: He/His/Him

Assistant Professor

Biology

Specialty area(s)

aquatic invertebrates, freshwater ecology, disturbance ecology, community ecology, conservation biology

Brief biography

My lab studies the effects of disturbances (natural and human-induced) on biological communities and freshwater ecosystems using field studies, laboratory experiments, and existing datasets. We have a strong research focus on invertebrates because they are incredibly diverse, found in many freshwater habitats, and are excellent indicators of environmental conditions.

If you are interested in joining the lab for undergraduate or graduate research, please contact me by email or phone.

Current courses at UWL

Freshwater Invertebrate Zoology (Bio 414/514) - includes lecture and lab

Ecology (Bio 307)

Organismal Biology (Bio 203)- includes lecture and lab

Capstone Seminar (Bio 491)

Education

PhD Ecology (2015) University of Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France

M.S. Biological Sciences (2010) South Dakota State University, Brookings, S.D.

B.S. Environmental Management (2006) South Dakota State University, Brookings, S.D.

Career

Research and publishing

Google Scholar Profile

ResearchGate Profile

Most Recent Papers:

Vander Vorste, R., R. Stubbington, V. Acuna, M.T. Bogan, N. Bonada, N. Cid, T. Datry, R. Storey, P. J. Wood, and A. Ruhi. 2021 Climatic aridity increases temporal nestedness of invertebrate communities in naturally drying rivers. Ecography 44:1-10.

Vander Vorste, R., M. Obedzinski, S. Nossaman-Pierce, S. Carlson, and T. Grantham. 2020. Refuges and ecological traps: extreme drought threatens persistence of an endangered fish in intermittent streams. Global Change Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15116.

Mermillod-Blondin, F., P. Marmonier, M. Tenaille, D.G., Lemoine, M. Lafont, R. Vander Vorste, L. Simon, and L. Volatier. 2020. Bottom-up processes control benthic macro-invertebrate communities and food web structure of fishless artificial wetlands. Aquatic Ecology.

Vander Vorste, R., R. Sarrajame, T. Datry. 2019. Intermittent rivers & ephemeral streams: a unique biome with important contributions to biodiversity and ecosystem services, Reference module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences. Elsevier. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.12054-8. 

von Schiller D., T. Datry, R. Corti, A. Foulquier, K. Tockner, …, Vander Vorste, R.,… 2019. Sediment Respiration Pulses in Intermittent Rivers and Ephemeral Streams. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 33: 1251-1263. doi: 10.1029/2019GB006276.

Vander Vorste, R., A.J. Timpano, C. Cappellin, B. Badgley, C. Zipper, and S. Schoenholtz. 2019. Microbial and macroinvertebrate communities, but not leaf decomposition, change along a mining-induced salinity gradient. Freshwater Biology 00:1–14.

Shumilova, O., D. Zak, T. Datry, A. Foulquier, R. Corti, D. von Schiller,  K. Tockner,…, R. Vander Vorste,….2019. A global analysis of leached nutrients and organic matter in IRES. Global Change Biology. doi: 10.1111/gcb.14537.

Marshall, J.C., V. Acuña, D.C. Allen, N. Bonada, A.J. Boulton, S.M. Carlson, C.N. Dahm, T. Datry, C. Leigh, P. Negus, J.S. Richardson, S. Sabater, A. L. Steward, R. Stubbington, K. Tockner, and R. Vander Vorste. 2018. Protecting US river health by maintaining the legal status of temporary waterways. Science 361(6405): 856-857.doi:10.1126/science.aav0839.

Datry, T., A. Foulquier, R. Corti, D. von Schiller, K. Tockner, …, R. Vander Vorste,… 2018. A global perspective of terrestrial plant material dynamics in non-perennial waterways. Nature Geoscience 11, 497–503.

Kudos

published

Ross Vander Vorste and Sarah Henkhaus, '24, both Biology; and Sara Strassman, Trout Unlimited; co-authored the article "Viability of Phytoplankton, Zooplankton, and Aquatic Macroinvertebrates in Dredged River Sediments of the Upper Mississippi River" in "River Research and Applications" published on Nov. 10 by Wiley.

Submitted on: Nov. 11

published

Ross Vander Vorste, Biology, co-authored the article "Unravelling large-scale patterns and drivers of biodiversity in dry rivers" in Nature Communications published on Aug. 22 by Nature. This collaborative effort assessed biodiversity in dry sediments collected from rivers across 19 countries on four continents.

Submitted on: Aug. 26

presented

Ross Vander Vorste, Biology, presented "Aquatic insect emergence in dynamic floodplain habitats of a large river ecosystem" at Society for Freshwater Science Annual Conference on June 6 in Philadelphia, PA.

Submitted on: July 25

published

Ross Vander Vorste, Biology, authored the article "Using Aquatic Macroinvertebrates in Stream Bioassessment" in QUBES Educational Resources published on Jan. 17 by River Field Studies Network.

Submitted on: Jan. 18

presented

Carissa Ganong, Missouri Western State University and Ross Vander Vorste, Biology, presented "Using Aquatic Macroinvertebrates in Stream Bioassessment" at River Field Studies Network River Rendevous on June 10 in Flagstaff, AZ. The River Rendezvous was 10-day professional development event that included a multi-day rafting trip down the San Juan River and field lessons with students from Northern Arizona University.

Submitted on: Sept. 5, 2023

Important links