Tuchman's research focuses on human impacts to
aquatic ecosystems with three main lines of research: effects of
invasive species on coastal ecosystems, effects of
Greenhouse gases on stream ecosystem food webs, and the effects of contaminants and pharmaceuticals on streams and lakes. She is currently examining the impacts of invasive species,
Typha x glauca (hybrid cattail) and
Phragmites australis (common reed) in the Great lakes coastal wetlands. Her team is now experimenting with economic and
sustainable harvesting methods to remove the invasive plant species and use them as a biomass, as the cattail is high in cellulose-carbon- great for burning. In 1988 she became an instructor in the biology department at
Loyola University Chicago. Over 30 years of research, Tuchman has been awarded over $4.5 million in federal grants, she has authored or co-authored over 50 manuscripts and book chapters, and mentored or co-mentored over 100 undergraduate and graduate students in her lab. In 2002 she served as a program officer for the Ecosystem Studies Program at the
National Science Foundation (NSF) to overseeing a $13 million budget and two programs, Ecosystem Studies and Coupled Natural and Human Systems. After serving at the NSF, she returned to Loyola as Associate Provost for Research and Centers. This position gave her headway for the discussion and proposing of the idea to make a more energy efficient and sustainable campus and ultimately establish the Institute of Environmental Sustainability. Tuchman has been a leader in the efforts to re-imagine Loyola's campus as green certified, as well as incorporating environmental education in the core curriculum for all undergraduate students. In 2016, Loyola University Chicago was named one of the seven greenest universities in the nation according to
Sierra Magazine. The Institute of Environmental Sustainability at Loyola has hosted an annual Climate Change Conference since 2015. Tuchman believes that Jesuit universities can play an important role in the development of incorporating environmental education into higher education across the board because climate change is tied to issues of social justice. == Selected publications ==