2025-2026 MW CASC Graduate Student
University of Minnesota-Duluth
Alia Benedict is a Ph.D. candidate with Dr. Tedy Ozersky at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Alia studies how seasonal variations in temperature, oxygen, and nutrients influence the phenology of lake plankton and fish in lakes that vary in trophic status and winter duration. This information, which can be used by winter limnologists, lake managers, and lake users, can ultimately help predict how communities will respond to changing winters, from zooplankton, to fish, to people.
Alia is from Ann Arbor, Michigan. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Biology from Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota and her master’s degree in Biology from the Technical University of Munich in Germany.
Research Topic: Changing Winters and Game Fish in Minnesota Lakes