Camryn Middlebrooks

What’s the work that you do?

I am a PhD student studying mercury toxicology in the high Arctic. I research how mercury moves through food webs from insects to birds to foxes on the Pituffik Peninsula, Greenland. This work is important due to mercury being a potent neurotoxin that can cause a variety of neurotoxic and teratogenic symptoms in most vertebrate species.

What keeps you going?

I have a particular fascination with wildlife health and understanding how contaminants impact ecosystems (even ones that seem remote). The earths polar environments are crucial for supporting unique, cold-adapted species but are increasingly vulnerable to human caused threats. It is my passion to conduct this research so I can help understand and mitigate these issues.

What’s your message to the world?

What happens to mercury in the environment matters—for ecosystems, wildlife, and people.