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My research focuses on microbial ecology of aquatic ecosystems with emphasis
on bacterial ecology of streams. Present projects in my laboratory include:
comparison of bacterial communities among different streams, examination the
effects of microgravity on biofilms, evaluation of methods for
identification of aquatic bacteria, effects of pollution on bacterial
biodiversity, and use of molecular techniques in aquatic ecology. One of the
ultimate goals of my research is to integrate different fields of biology
(i.e., ecology, microbiology, molecular biology) to provide insight into the
function and structure of aquatic ecosystems. Two papers that talk in
general about my research interest are:
Leff, L. G. 1994. Stream bacterial ecology:a
neglected field? American Society for Microbiology News, 60:135-138. Leff, L. G. and M. J. Lemke. 1998. Ecology of aquatic bacterial populations: lessons from applied microbiology. Journal of the North American Benthological Society. 17:261- 271. I also have conducted research in freshwater environments on organic matter processing, invertebrate population ecology (molluscs), and vertebrate feeding behavior. Publications on recent research and other topics can be found at the publication link. I train MS and PhD students in Biological Sciences through the Ecology program and in Biomedical Sciences through the Cellular and Molecular Biology program.  
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This site was last updated 04/11/06