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Professor
Year Started at JMU: 1987
wigginba@jmu.edu
Contact Info

Research Description

My lab is investigating how streambank restoration practices in agricultural areas affect the community structure of benthic macroinvertebrates in streams. We collect samples from restored streams, identify the organisms, and determine diversity and abundance. We use GIS to measure characteristics of the surrounding landscape that affect water quality. Our goal is to understand the role that land use plays in water quality, and to determine how well the various types of restoration practices are working.

Courses
  • Biological Applications of Geographic Information Systems (BIO 457)
  • Ecology and Evolution Laboratory (BIO 250L)
  • Scientific Perspectives (ISCI 104)

Office Hours

Education
  • PhD in Environmental Microbiology, 1987, Cornell University
  • MS in Microbial Ecology, 1986, Cornell University
  • BS in Microbiology, 1978, Pennsylvania State University
Select Publications
  • Bowers-Sword, R. (MS), J. Doss (MS), and B. A. Wiggins. 2021. Turtles in Turmoil: Implications of Climate Change for the Green Sea Turtle. National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science.
  • Wilcox D*, Whitehurst M*, Atwood R*, Bsumek P, Wiggins B. 2020. Mercury pollution and cleanup in the South River, Virginia. Case stud environ. 4(1). doi:10.1525/cse.2020.962226. 
  • Trumbo, B., K. H. Nislow, J. Stallings, M. Hudy, E. P. Smith, D.-Y. Kim, B. A. Wiggins, and C. A. Dolloff. 2014. Ranking Site Vulnerability to Increasing Temperatures in Southern Appalachian Brook Trout Streams in Virginia: An Exposure-Sensitivity Approach. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 143: 173-187.
    *indicates student co-author

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