We are a lab group at Montclair State University in New Jersey. The goal of our research is to understand how anthropogenic factors alter ecological communities, given expected patterns of assembly, coexistence, and diversity from fundamental ecological theories. For the past few years, we have been investigating how anthropogenic stressors such as salinization, climate change, and urbanization affect freshwater environments. We also study if road salts increase the risk of heavy metal contamination in private drinking wells in New Jersey.