DR. MATT CHUMCHAL
RESEARCH INTERESTS

I am an aquatic ecologist specializing in mercury contamination of fish and other aquatic organisms. My students and I work in a variety of ecosystems including lakes, rivers, wetlands, and the Gulf of Mexico. Our goal is to develop a better understanding of the factors that contribute to mercury conamination of biota. We use a variety of fisheries and ecological techniques including otolith and stable isotope analysis to understand why some organsisms have elevated concentrations of mercury.

TCU has state of the art mercury analytical equiptment including a Milestone DMA-80 automated total mercury analyzer and a Brooks Rand CVAFS for methylmercury analysis. We have the equiptment and facilities to conduct field, mesocosm, and pond studies. Students interested in participating in research should email me at

Links to papers published by our lab can be found on my vita. We have compiled a mercury bibliography with over a 1000 references.