Natalie K. Karouna-Renier

USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
Beltsville Lab, c/o BARC East, Bldg. 308
10300 Baltimore Avenue
Beltsville, MD 20705

Telephone:   301-497-5724

Fax:   301-497-5624

Laboratory and field experiments to characterize the effects of environmental stressors and contaminants on wildlife.

Ph.D.    2002. Molecular Biology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

M.S.     1996. Toxicology, University of Maryland.

B.A.     1989.  Biology, Colgate University.

Ecotoxicogenomics; wildlife and aquatic toxicology; contaminants in wildlife, fish, and invertebrates; molecular biomarkers.

Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Outstanding Performance Award

U.S. Department of Interior, National Biological Survey Performance Award.

National Science Foundation Research Fellow in Japan

Adjunct Assistant Professor, Dept. of Biology, University of West Florida, Pensacola, FL.

Profiling of Mercury Response Genes in Bird Embryos as an Indicator of Species Sensitivity.

Assessment of Genotoxicity in Mercury-Exposed Fauna Using mtDNA.

Stable Lead Isotopes in Tissues of Experimentally-Exposed Nestling American Kestrels

Selected Publications/Products: 

Karouna-Renier N.K., Rao K. R., Lanza J. J., Davis D. A., Wilson P. A. 2007. Serum profiles of PCDDs and PCDFs, in individuals near the Escambia Wood Treating Company Superfund site in Pensacola, FL. Chemosphere, In Press.

Karouna-Renier, N. K., R. A. Snyder, J. G. Allison, M. E. Wagner, and K. R. Rao. 2007. An assessment of potential health risks posed by shellfish collected in estuarine waters near Pensacola, Florida. Environ. Pollut. 145 (2):474-488,

Casey R.E., Simon J.A., Atueyi S., Snodgrass J.W., Karouna-Renier N., Sparling D.W.  2007. Temporal trends of trace metals in sediment and invertebrates from stormwater management ponds.  Water Air and Soil Pollution. 178 (1-4): 69-77

Yang, W-J., J. Liu, X-J. Zhu, N. K. Karouna-Renier, and K. R. Rao. 2004. Molecular cloning and stress-induced expression of two HSP70 genes from the prawn,  Macrobrachium rosenbergii. Cell Stress & Chaperones. 9(3): 313–323.

Karouna-Renier, N. K. and J. P. Zehr. 2003. Short-term exposures to chronically toxic copper concentrations induce HSP70 protein in midge larvae (Chironomus tentans). Sci. Total Environ. 312:267-272.

Karouna-Renier, N. K., W. -J. Yang, and K. R. Rao. 2003. Cloning and characterization of a 70 kd heat shock cognate gene (HSC70) from two species of Chironomus. Insect Mol. Biol. 12(1):19-26.

Yoshimi, T., K. Minowa, N. K. Karouna-Renier, C. Watanabe, Y. Sugaya, and T. Miura, 2002. Activation of a stress-induced gene by insecticides in the midge Chironomus yoshimatsui. J. Biochem. Mol. Toxicol. 16: 10-17.

Karouna-Renier, N. K. and D. W. Sparling, 2001. Relationships between ambient geochemistry, watershed land-use and trace metal concentrations in aquatic invertebrates living in stormwater treatment ponds. Environ. Pollut. 112(2): 183-192.

Karouna-Renier, N. K. and J. P. Zehr, 1999. Ecological implications of molecular biomarkers: assaying sub-lethal stress in the midge Chironomus tentans using heat shock protein 70 (HSP-70) expression. Hydrobiologia 401:255-264.

Karouna-Renier, N. K. and D. W. Sparling, 1997. Toxicity of stormwater treatment pond sediments to Hyallela azteca (Amphipoda). Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 58:550-557.

Burns, D. A., N. K. Karouna, and P. S. Murdoch, 1997, Effects of forest harvesting on nitrogencycling processes in headwaters of the Neversink River, New York. U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet, FS-243-96.

Sparling, D. W., M. Gustafson, P. Klein, and N. Karouna-Renier, 1997. Toxicity of white phosphorous to waterfowl: acute exposure in mallards. J. Wildlife Diseases. 33:187-197.

Karouna, N. K. and R. L. Fuller, 1992. Influence of four grazers on the periphyton community associated with clay tiles and leaves. Hydrobiologia 245: 53-62.