Associate Professor
Dept of Biology

Dr. Sanders is an associate professor of Biology and has expertise in the ecology of planktonic organisms in marine and fresh waters. He teaches several courses with an ecological slant, including Freshwater Ecology and Tropical Marine Biology.

Dr. Sanders has received research funding from the National Science Foundation, the NOAA Sea Grant Program and the US EPA for a number of projects to study the bioavailability of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON), the role of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and DON in eutrophication, the feeding ecology and remineralization of nutrients by protists (algae and protozoa), and the effects of ultraviolet radiation on aquatic food webs. He also has interests in the ability of some protists to combine photosynthesis with predation on bacteria and has studied microorganisms in both polar regions. He is a member of the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, the International Society of Protistologists, and the American Society for Microbiology.