Research Topics

ecotoxicology, soil ecology

Sharon Pochron runs the Sustainability Studies Earthworm Ecotoxicology Lab where she and her students investigate the role of environmental toxins, like acid rain, Roundup, and fertilizer on earthworm biomass and survivorship. Based in the Life Sciences Greenhouse, this research involves undergraduates at every level: from planning, to data collection and analysis, cumulating in publication.

Her ecotoxicology students take part in the EarthStock Keynote events and URECA. Many of her students have papers in review in scientific journals. Pochron congratulates winners of the annual Earthworm Ecotoxicology Laboratory Award for their high-quality and dedicated research. Anna Flores won this award in 2013, and Kerri Mahoney won it in 2014. Pochron also congratulates her student Joy Pawirosetiko, who was named URECA Researcher of the month in May 2014.

Pochron received her Bachelors from Franklin and Marshall College in both anthropology and biology. She received her Doctorate from University of New Mexico in anthropology and biology. She specialized in baboon foraging behavior and statistics.

As a post-doc for Patricia Wright, Pochron published more than 20 peer-reviewed papers involving the behavioral ecology of lemurs, tarsiers and baboons. She also studied the levels of heavy metal concentrations in local sea life with Jeffrey Levinton. In her increasingly rare spare time, Pochron writes about science and animals for Highlights, Student Science, and Muse Magazine.

Pochron teaches courses involving biology and anthropology, including conservation genetics, demography, epidemiology and ecology.