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Expert has published on, and is currently researching, the chemical, physical, and biological factors that control the duration, frequency, and intensity of fouling. Most of this work is related to fouling in domestic and industrial pipelines and is based on laboratory and field investigations. He has also published extensively on the biology and ecological impact of zebra mussels in the Great Lakes.

Expert has co-authored a book on monitoring and control of zebra mussels using chemical, physical, mechanical, and biological methods. They examine over 60 different mitigation strategies. The book is based on about 75% of their own experiences and 25% on others, including European experiences. Expert has personally examined and recommended control strategies in about 12 different industries, including nuclear and thermal generating power stations, water treatment plants, breweries, cement manufactures, pulp and paper, paper products, steel, chemical, petroleum, food processing, large engine manufactures, and others.

Expert is an authority on freshwater mollusks, which includes not only the zebra mussel but other shelled animals as well, such as Asiatian clams, faucet snails, and numerous other snails. He is also an authority on other freshwater macroinvertebrates, including crustaceans and insects. None of these has attained the notoriety of the zebra mussel, but are nevertheless nuisance organisms in many raw water supplies. Expert has been researching freshwater invertebrates for over 30 years and as a university professor, who has supervised over 21 graduate students (PhD and MSc), he has an extensive historical database to rely on.

Expert's personal research has focused primarily on freshwater bivalves and he has published extensively on their biology, taxonomy, and ecology. He is the Canadian authority on rare and endangered mollusks in Canadian surface waters. He was the first to demonstrate their usefulness as indicator organisms in acidifying surface waters. Freshwater mussels are a valuable commercial product in the pearl industry and they are a multimillion dollar industry in large rivers like the Mississippi River.


Expert and his graduate students have developed indices for assessing water quality based on the benthic (bottom dwelling) communities of invertebrates. Their Ecological Community Analyses identifies the physical and chemical factors in the environment that benthic organisms respond to and hence dominate the benthic community. In the past 10 years his research has focused particularly on indicator organisms and the subtle changes that occur in their life history and demographic features in stressed environments (e.g. acidifying, trace and heavy metals, organic contaminants). Expert is currently looking at the zebra mussel as a biomonitor.

Expert is an authority on the use of benthic communities in assessing impacts of pulp and paper effluents, small hydro dams, acid mine wastes, and other impact effluents. He is an external consultant to provincial ministries on evaluating impact assessments performed by various agencies and the feasibility of habitat restoration after impacts. These assessments are based on benthos, fish, and wildlife. Expert has expertise in all of these although his primary focus is on benthos.


Expert has researched impacts of lake and stream acidification on benthic communities for 10 years and he is an authority on the subtle changes that occur as lakes and streams acidify. His graduate students and he were the first to demonstrate the disappearance of some mollusks due specifically to anthropogenic acidification of surface waters. They were also the first to demonstrate the disappearance of certain common and ubiquitous crustaceans (e.g. freshwater shrimp) as indicators of lake acidification.


Expert has published on toxicities of numerous inorganic contaminants, including cadmium, aluminum, hydrogen ions, and alum, based on acute toxicity bioassays. He has also published on bioaccumulation of metals, particularly cadmium, in relation to environmental levels. He routinely performs bioassays to determine LC50, LT50, and incipient lethal levels of effluents, metals, and a variety of chemicals, particularly those for control of zebra mussels. His research was the first to report the levels of sodium hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide, and molluscicide needed to control zebra mussels based on laboratory bioassays.


Expert has developed technology for examining benthic invertebrate communities. This includes methods for sampling (e.g. T-samplers), sorting (e.g. nested and floating sieves), and analyses (e.g. ecological community analyses). He is a world authority on Sphaeriidae (fingernail clams related to Asiatic clams) and is in the process of publishing a book on their biology, taxonomy, and ecology. He has written taxonomic keys for freshwater mollusks of the Great Lakes and for algae, macrophytes, zooplankton, and macroinvertebrates of the Speed River watershed.