Biology Professor David M. Lodge is internationally recognized expert on the topic of invasive species and how accidental introduction of foreign species can upset whole ecosystems in areas where they take hold and propagate.

Lodge was selected as the first chairman of the national Invasive Species Advisory Committee. Recently, he was the lead author of a new Ecological Society of America (ESA) paper entitled, “Biological Invasions: Recommendations for U.S. Policy and Management.”

The paper warns that global trade and travel makes the United States particularly vulnerable for the spread of non-native species and that the process is irreversible. Lodge has long warned that the introductions of foreign species has been accelerating since the 1980's and that once a new species becomes established in a new area the consequences can be far-ranging. The ESA paper said an urgent need exists for more effective means of prevention, eradication, and control of invasive species.

Current research in Lodge's laboratory focuses on conservation biology, especially as it relates to current global changes. He was recently named director of the Notre Dame Center for Aquatic Conservation.

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Lodge to speak March 7, 2007 before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.

ND Press Release: New grant will help address invasive species problems in Great Lakes 8/30/06

The Nature Conservancy press release

The Center for Aquatic Conservation ND press release, 4/06