Dr. Kolok: Confused fish cause for concern

Fish in the Elkhorn River are confused about their sex.









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Alan Kolok, Ph.D.
Females are becoming defeminized and males are becoming more female. What is it about this Nebraska river that causes the fish to undergo a sex change every spring and summer? That’s what Alan Kolok, Ph.D., wants to know.

“Like the canary in the coal mine, fish are the sentinels for our drinking water,” said Dr. Kolok, interim director of the Center for Environmental Health and Toxicology in UNMC’s College of Public Health. “What happens to the fish is a cause of concern.”

A physiological ecologist and aquatic toxicologist, his research focuses on fish in contaminated environments and the impact of agrichemical contaminants on fish.

Read more about Dr. Kolok’s research in the latest edition of UNMC Connect — UNMC’s alumni magazine.