Christopher Rounds

PhD Candidate · Fisheries & Aquatic Biology · University of Minnesota

I am an aquatic ecologist in the Conservation Sciences Department at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, working in Gretchen Hansen's lab. My PhD research focuses on fishery bright spots. This consists of understanding where fish populations outperform expectations and what factors drive that unexpected resilience.

I also have worked part time at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources since 2024. My role at DNR is a Climate Change Policy and Planning Student Worker. Through this position I get to help with a variety of projects including managment plan development, public engagement and internal climate communication and training.

For my master's, I studied how environmental DNA (eDNA) can be used to detect aquatic invasive species, funded through the Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center.

Outside the lab, you'll find me cooking, ruining my knees on the soccer pitch, or exploring the outdoors with my small but rambunctious dog. Video games, sports (wolves back!) and reading also get a fair share of my evenings.