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Matt Chumchal

Matt Chumchal, Ph.D.

Professor and Director of the Pre-Health Professions Institute

817-257-6440

Program Affiliations

Davis CollegeBiologyTCU Pre-Health Professions Institute
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Education

BS, Biology, Southwestern University, 2001

MS, Biology, Texas Christian University, 2003

PhD, Zoology, University of Oklahoma, 2007

Areas of Focus

  • Mercury contamination of the environment
  • Food web ecology
  • Small pond ecology
  • Contaminant trophic transfer and biomagnification

Courses

  • Human Health and Global Change Seminar (BIOL 40001/60910)
  • Ecology and the Environment (BIOL 30403)
  • Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy (BIOL 30404)
  • Pre-Health Professional Development (SCIE 20602)
I am an ecologist interested in the interactions between ecological and human systems.  For the past fifteen year, my research has primarily focused on mercury contamination in the environment.  Recent areas of interest include the trophic transfer of mercury in food webs and factors that lead to spatial variation in the mercury contamination of organisms at a variety of scales.  I have used both experimental and field survey approaches to study mercury contamination in wetlands, lakes, rivers, estuaries and the Gulf of Mexico. I am highly collaborative and work with faculty at TCU and other universities. At TCU, I have had a longstanding collaboration with Dr. Ray Drenner, and we collaborate on research projects and serve as co-advisors of undergraduate and graduate students that work in our lab on mercury contamination of the environment.  Please visit our Aquatic Ecology Lab website: https://aquaticecologylab.tcu.edu/ 

  • Hannappel MP, Chumchal MM, Drenner RW, Kennedy JH, Barst BD, Castellini JM, Nolan AR, Willoughby FM, Trauffler LP., Effect of body size on methyl mercury concentrations in shoreline spiders: Implications for their use as sentinels., Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 40:1149-1154., .
  • Becker D, Speer K, Korstian J, Volokhov D, Droke H, Brown A, Baijnauth C, Padgett-Stewart T, Broders H, Plowright R, Rainwater T, Fenton B, Simmons N, Chumchal M., Disentangling interactions between mercury, immunity, and infection in a Neotropical bat community., Journal of Applied Ecology 58:879-889., .
  • Burnham KK, Meyer FK, Burnham JL, Chumchal MM, Johnson JA, Mercury contamination of seabird and sea duck eggs from high Arctic Greenland., Polar Biology 44:1195-1202, .
  • Hannappel MP, Chumchal MM, Drenner RW, Kennedy J, Barst BD, Castellini JM., Mud dauber nests as sources of spiders in mercury monitoring studies., Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 40: 1335-1340., .
  • Drinkwater R, Goodwin A, Cush J, Korstian JM, Chumchal MM, Gerardo Herrera L, Valdez M, Otálora-Ardila A, Flores-Martinez JJ, Clare EL., Molecular diet analysis of the marine fish-eating bat, Myotis vivesi, and potential mercury exposure., Canadian Journal of Zoology 99: 752-759., .
  • Ortega-Rodriguez, C.L., M.M. Chumchal, R.W. Drenner, J.H. Kennedy, W.H. Nowlin, B.D. Barst, D. K. Polk, M.N. Hall , E.B. Williams, K.C. Lauck, A. Santa-Rios, and N. Basu. 2019. Relationship between methyl mercury contamination and proportion of aquatic and terrestrial prey in diets of shoreline spiders. Environmental Toxicology Chemistry, 38: 2503-2508
  • Gerstle, C.T., R.W. Drenner, M. Chumchal. 2019. Spatial patterns of mercury contamination and associated risk to piscivorous wading birds of the south central United States, Environmental Toxicology Chemistry, 38: 160-166. ***Editor’s Spotlight Feature Article
  • Korstian, J.M., M. Chumchal, V.J. Bennett, A.M. Hale. 2018. Mercury contamination in bats from the central United States, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 37:160-165. ***Editor’s Spotlight Feature Article
  • Chumchal, M.M., R.W. Drenner, M.N. Hall, D.K. Polk, E.B. Williams*, C.L. Ortega-Rodriguez*, J.H. Kennedy. 2018. Seasonality of dipteran-mediated methyl mercury flux from ponds, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 37: 1846-1851. ***Selected by the Editor for Inclusion in a Virtual Issue on ET&C’s Website Celebrating the Minimata Convention on Mercury
  • Becker, D., M. Chumchal, H. Broders, J. Korstian, T. Rainwater, S. Platt, N. Simmons, M. Fenton. 2018. Mercury bioaccumulation in bats reflects phylogeny and dietary connectivity to aquatic food webs, Environmental Pollution, 233:1076-1085.

  • Chumchal, M.M., R.W. Drenner, K. Adams. 2019. Spatial patterns of mercury contamination of recreationally-caught fish in the south central United States: Interrelationships between mercury deposition, fish trophic position and fish size, National Atmospheric Deposition Program. Boulder Colorado.
  • Gerstle, C.T., R.W. Drenner, M. Chumchal. 2019. Spatial patterns of mercury contamination and associated risk to piscivorous wading birds of the south central United States. 14th International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant. Krakow, Poland.
  • Hannappel MH, RW Drenner, MM Chumchal, JH Kennedy, A Nolan**. 2019. The Effect of Body Size on Mercury Concentrations of Shoreline Spiders. 14th International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant. Krakow, Poland.
  • Hannappel, M., R.W. Drenner, M. Chumchal, J. Kennedy, A. Khan, G. Wallace. 2019. Mud Dauber Nests as sources of spiders in mercury monitoring studies. 14th International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant. Krakow, Poland.
  • Thalhuber, T.J., R.W. Drenner, M.M. Chumchal, C.L. Ortega-Rodriguez*, J.H. Kennedy, S.L. Speir, W.G. Cocke, M.E. Lewis, H.J. Whitt, W. Zudock, and M. Willoughby**. 2019. Methylmercury contamination and diet of nestling Red-winged Blackbirds. 14th International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant. Krakow, Poland.

Honors

  • TCU John V. Roach Honor’s College Professor of the Year Finalist, 2017
  • Wassenich Award for Mentoring in the TCU Community Nominee, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2019

Awards

  • High-Ranking Reviewer for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Recognition (top 5% of more than 600 reviewers based on quantity and quality of reviews), 2019
  • Outstanding Fisheries Educator of the Year, Texas Chapter of the American Fisheries Society, 2017
  • TCU Student Government Association, College of Science and Engineering Faculty Member of the Year, 2016 & 2017

Grants

  • Joint Admission Medical Program, TCU Pre-Medicine Discovery Camp, $6,000
  • Member, Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
  • Member, Society for Freshwater Science
  • Member, National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions
  • Member, Texas Association of Advisors for the Health Professions
  • Editorial Board of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry

https://aquaticecologylab.tcu.edu/

 

Last Updated: August 10, 2026

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