Teaching Interests
BSC 411/L/511/L Introduction to
Entomology
BSC 413/L/513/L Arachnida Biology
BSC 111 Principles of Biological Sciences
II
Research Interests
My research interests have
traditionally focused on sampling design, analysis, and
interpretation of ecosystem studies, influence of
external stimuli on the behavior and ecology of
arthropods, and environmental assessments using aquatic
macroinvertebrates as the target community. For the
past five years or so, my graduate students and I have
been investigating the use of EPA bioassessment
protocols and methodologies as tools to characterize
relative health of lotic systems.
My externally funded research efforts
during the past 10 years have included a diversity of
projects, ranging from environmental toxicology to
routine environmental assessments to construction of
computer simulation models. Funding agencies have
included Mississippi Department of Environmental
Quality, United States Environmental Protection Agency,
Mississippi Military Department, United States Corps of
Engineers, and Georgia-Pacific Corporation.
Completed and ongoing graduate
research projects, which I have directed during the past
five years, include characterizations of
macroinvertebrate communities in headwater streams of
Mississippi Army National Guard training sites. Other
projects have focused on mayflies or other aquatic
insect groups associated with these streams in south
Mississippi. Graduate student thesis research projects
of the recent past include works on the effects of
elevated chloride concentrations on mayfly survival, the
association of river discharge and temperature on the
emergence patterns of mayflies, stoneflies, and
caddisflies, observations on the occurrence and biology
of solitary wasps in southern Mississippi, use of
constructed wetlands to treat pulp mill effluent, impact
of pulp mill effluent on river habitats, and
distribution and abundance of congeners of dioxin and
furan in southern Mississippi.
Graduates of this laboratory have been placed with state
agencies such as the Museum of Natural Science in
Jackson, Miss., Office of Pollution Control, and
Department of Public Health. Others have been employed
by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, private industry, or
have joined faculties at other universities.
Representative Publications
F. G. Howell, J.
B. Gentry, and M. H. Smith, Eds. 1974. Mineral Cycling
in Southeastern Ecosystems. Technical Information
Center, U.S. Department of Commerce, Springfield,
Virginia.
Howell, F.G., K.S. Akbay, J.W. Wooten. "A Computer
Simulation Model of Waterhyacinth and Weevil
Interactions." Journal of Aquatic Plant Management 29
(1991): 15-20.
Howell, Fred G.
2001. Aquatic Biomonitoring: An Integrated Part of
Mississippi Military Department's Environmental
Program. The Bridge, 14: 16-18
http://www.army-itam.com/news/bridges/winter2001/page16.html
Howell, Fred G. 2002. Assessing
Biodiversity in Training Site Streams. The Bridge,
17: 20-21.
http://www.army-itam.com/news/bridges/winter2002/page20.html |
