Welcome to the Wetland Plant & Restoration Lab at ODU
Wetlands are incredibly valuable ecosystems! Worldwide, wetlands improve water quality, sequester and store atmospheric carbon, protect shorelines from erosion and storm surge, and provide crucial habitat for thousands of species of plants and animals. Unfortunately, wetlands are threatened worldwide and a large percentage of these systems have been lost. Our lab's research focuses on understanding how wetland ecosystems, particularly plants, respond to environmental change and stressors in a context that informs restoration, management, and conservation. Our work ranges from coastal marshes and mangroves to freshwater swamps at scales ranging from the organism (ecophysiology) to community/regional-level (community ecology).
The Wetland Plant & Restoration Lab is led by Assistant Professor Dr. Taylor M. Sloey in the Department of Biological Sciences at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia USA.
Wetlands are incredibly valuable ecosystems! Worldwide, wetlands improve water quality, sequester and store atmospheric carbon, protect shorelines from erosion and storm surge, and provide crucial habitat for thousands of species of plants and animals. Unfortunately, wetlands are threatened worldwide and a large percentage of these systems have been lost. Our lab's research focuses on understanding how wetland ecosystems, particularly plants, respond to environmental change and stressors in a context that informs restoration, management, and conservation. Our work ranges from coastal marshes and mangroves to freshwater swamps at scales ranging from the organism (ecophysiology) to community/regional-level (community ecology).
The Wetland Plant & Restoration Lab is led by Assistant Professor Dr. Taylor M. Sloey in the Department of Biological Sciences at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia USA.
Wetland Drivers &
Plant Performance We use a variety of techniques to measure plant performance in response to wetland drivers such as hydrology, soil physico-chemistry, and biota. |
Community Response to
Ecosystem Change We use field based studies at larger landscape scales to understand wetland community response to environmental drivers and change over time. |
Restoration &
Management Our lab's research is problem-focused and employs basic science to inform ecosystem management and improve restoration and conservation efforts. |
LAB NEWS:

Funding to establish Singapore's first long term mangrove monitoring system:
Our interdisciplinary research team (Yale-NUS, NUS, ODU) was recently awarded a Tier I seed grant to support the LUMPUR Project- Long-Term Urban Mangrove Protection, Understanding and Rehabilitation. The LUMPUR Project seeks to characterize Singapore’s remaining mangrove forests in terms of structure and function and identify barriers to natural mangrove regeneration on a species-specific level. This 2-year project will hire two full time research assistants beginning in October 2020.
Our interdisciplinary research team (Yale-NUS, NUS, ODU) was recently awarded a Tier I seed grant to support the LUMPUR Project- Long-Term Urban Mangrove Protection, Understanding and Rehabilitation. The LUMPUR Project seeks to characterize Singapore’s remaining mangrove forests in terms of structure and function and identify barriers to natural mangrove regeneration on a species-specific level. This 2-year project will hire two full time research assistants beginning in October 2020.
Channel News Asia - Carbon ConundrumChannel News Asia featured the work of Drs. Dan Friess (NUS), Erik Yando (ODU, NUS), and Taylor Sloey (ODU, Yale-NUS) in their documentary on carbon. This team is using field and laboratory techniques to quantify carbon stored and fluxes through Singapore's coastal mangrove forest and soils.
Watch the full documentary here: Catch us starting at 41:00 |