Faculty Listed by Campus
umcp
Isabella Alcaniz (*currently not accepting students)
ialcaniz@umd.edu
web site
Dr. Isabella Alcañiz is an Associate Professor in the Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland (UMD). Her research on environmental and climate politics, international financial mechanisms for climate change, social network analysis, the state in the global south, and Latin American politics has been published in the British Journal of Political Science, World Politics, Water Policy, Environmental Science & Policy, and elsewhere. In 2016, she published her book Environmental and Nuclear Networks in the Global South: How Skills Shape International Cooperation, with Cambridge University Press.
Andrew Baldwin
baldwin@umd.edu
web site
Wetland ecology; plant community dynamics of coastal marshes and mangroves; disturbance and regeneration ecology of wetland vegetation; wetland seed banks; influence of sea level rise on coastal wetlands; community and ecosystem processes of created and restored wetlands; nutrient effects on wetland plant communities
Neil V. Blough (*currently not accepting students)
neilb@umd.edu
web site
Methods for detecting and identifying free radicals in condensed phases; impact of (photo)oxidative reactions on the transformation and fate of organic & inorganic compounds in natural waters and biological systems
Kaye L. Brubaker
klbrubak@umd.edu
web site
Physical hydrology; numerical modeling; stream and estuary water-quality modeling; water vapor transport; hydroclimatology; land-atmosphere interactions
Timothy Canty
tcanty@umd.edu
web site My primary research focuses on air quality science and policy, stratospheric ozone, and climate change. My team uses observations from satellites, balloons, aircraft and ground based instruments to test our understanding of atmospheric composition represented in photochemical models. This information is used by policy makers to ensure that the best available science informs the development of air quality regulations. We’re also investigating how carbon capture sequestration technology may also improve air quality. In recent years, I’ve had the opportunity to expand my collaborations to include epidemiologists studying the impact of air pollution exposure on fetal development and birth outcomes. I’ve also begun working with faculty in UMD’s Smith School of Business to investigate climate finance risk. This has led to the creation of a new executive education program and an MS in climate finance risk. Our work is funded through NASA, DOE, MDE, and NIH.
James Carton
carton@umd.edu
web site
Exponential growth in the power of computers and richness of observational coverage is revealing how the ocean and sea ice systems exchange heat, mass, and momentum with the atmosphere to produce weather and climate. These same tools are just beginning to explore how ocean circulation and the biological processes that carry out half of the planet's photosynthesis are able to sequester 20-30% of the excess carbon dioxide that humans release into the atmosphere each year. The ocean's growing contributions to the global economy; including fisheries, recreation, and waste disposal; are adding to the stresses on these systems with unanticipated consequences. The ocean climate lab exploits the power of these new computational and observational tools to explore the science of ocean/sea ice variability, interactions with atmosphere and land, and how human activities are changing the ocean/sea ice systems.
Rita Colwell
rcolwell@umd.edu
web site
Research interests focused on global infectious diseases, water, and health. Currently developing an international network to address climate change and infectious diseases and water issues, including safe drinking water for both the developed and developing world.
Other interests include K-12 science and mathematics education, graduate science and engineering education and the increased participation of women and minorities in science and engineering
Allen P. Davis (*currently not accepting students)
apdavis@umd.edu
web site
Environmental chemistry; aquatic and interfacial environmental chemistry as related to water/ wastewater treatment processes and in natural aquatic/soil systems
William Fagan
bfagan@glue.umd.edu
web site
Meshing field research with theoretical models to address critical questions in community ecology and conservation biology; ecological "edge effects" and spatial dynamics; ecoinformatics, biodiversity databases, and conservation planning
Oliver J. Hao
ojh1@umd.edu
web site
Wet air oxidation of hazardous wastes; cometabolism of hazardous organics; nutrient removal; biological processes control; biological nitrate; sulfate chromium and selenium reduction
Reginal M. Harrell (currently not taking on students)
rharrell@umd.edu
web site
Environmental and bioethics; conservation and restoration ecology; breeding genetics and hybridization; stress physiology of vertebrates
Robert L. Hill
rlh@umd.edu
web site
Tillage effect on soil hydraulic properties and agrichemical losses; development of nutrient management planning and environmental risk assessment software
Anwar Huq
huq@umd.edu
web site
Transmission of aquatic bacterial pathogens, their molecular ecology and direct detection, using remote sensing and aerospace technology; development and optimization of rapid detection of aquatic pathogens, using molecular and immunological methods, and application of these methods in the field
Patrick Kangas
pkangas@umd.edu
web site
Ecological engineering; natural resource management; tropical ecosystems
Sujay Kaushal
skaushal@umd.edu
web site
Biogeochemistry, fate and transport of pollutants, limnology, microbial ecology, organic geochemistry and environmental history
Michael S. Kearney
kearneym@umd.edu
web site
Quaternary geomorphology; processes and rates of marsh loss; barrier island dynamics; applications of remote sensing to the study of coastal processes.
Stephanie Lansing
slansing@umd.edu
web site
Anaerobic digestion; ecological waste treatment systems; treatment wetlands; nutrient cycling; energy analysis; ecological modeling
Andrew M. Lazur
lazur@umd.edu
web site
Food and baitfish culture; integration of aquaculture with agriculture for nutrient reduction; effluent and water quality management; marketing and economic evaluation of alternative aquaculture species; fish restoration
Paul T. Leisnham
leisnham@umd.edu
web site
The ecology of native and invasive mosquitoes in water-filled containers, wetlands, and drainage systems; species that are affected both by human disruption (e.g., climate change, land use change, and globalization) and that present social, economic and health risks.
Karen R. Lips
klips@umd.edu
web site
Conservation and ecology of amphibians and reptiles, with interest at multiple scales - including population, community and ecosystems - especially as they are affected by emerging infectious disease and global change
Marla McIntosh
mmcintos@umd.edu
web site
Sustainable forestry; genetics of hyperaccumulation of Cd in Thlaspi caerulescens; pytomedicinals; genetic diversity
Jennifer L. Mullinax (Murrow)
wildlife@umd.edu
web site
Applied spatial wildlife ecology, with emphasis on habitat modeling, habitat use and selection, and animal movements in suburban and urban ecosystems; conflict resolution and conservation planning in natural resources
Brian Needelman
bneed@umd.edu
web site
Applying the concepts and tools of pedology to solve environmental problem; pollutant fate and transport; improving management and phosphorus fate and transport; carbon sequestration in tidal marshes; spatial and geospatial analyses; soil mapping and applications of soil survey databases
Maile Neel
mneel@umd.edu
web site
Understanding patterns of biological diversity as well as the relationships between these patterns and the ecological and evolutionary processes that have created them; applying this understanding to developing effective conservation approaches and to predict effects of changing patterns and processes
Judd O. Nelson
judd@umd.edu
web site
Insecticide toxicology; physiology; environmental toxicology
Edward Orlando
eorlando@umd.edu
web site
Integration of molecular, endocrinological, and morphological endpoints to investigate the environment - genome interaction and its effect on development and reproduction; how environmental factors affect the development of sex specific characteristics and brain - pituitary - gonadal axis regulation of reproduction in fishes
Kennedy Paynter (currently not accepting students)
paynter@umd.edu
web site
Comparative biochemistry and physiology of estuarine animals, especially bivalves; oyster disease biochemistry; biology and ecology of the eastern oyster
Karen L. Prestegaard
kpresto@umd.edu
web site
Sediment transport and depositional processes; mechanisms of streamflow generation and their variations with watershed scale, geology and land use; hydrology of coastal and riparian wetlands
Martin Rabenhorst
mrabenho@umd.edu
web site
Genesis, morphology and classification of hydromorphic soils, particularly non-tidal wetlands and coastal marshes; pedogenesis and resource inventory of subaqueous soils
Marjorie Reaka
mkudla@umd.edu
web site
Marine ecology; coral reef ecology; bioerosion of coral reefs; ecology and behavior of mantis shrimp; evolutionary ecology of life history patterns in crustacea
Allison Reilly (*currently not accepting students)
areilly2@umd.edu
web site
Dr. Reilly is a civil engineer specializing in risk and resilience of infrastructure systems. She is particularly interested in characterizing the interplay between the resilience of infrastructure and individual decision-making. Recent projects include examination of investment decisions by managers of interdependent infrastructure systems and the movement of hazardous materials under threat of terrorism. Other interests include: hazard risk assessments; decision-making, and infrastructure system performance and protection
Amir Sapkota
amirsap@umd.edu
web site
Exposure assessment and environmental epidemiology; understanding human exposures to chemical agents in the environment and how this exposure may vary across space and time, as well as between different population groups using personal air monitoring as well as urinary and serum based biomarkers of exposure; identification of specific subpopulations that are at increased risk of developing diseases
Amy R. Sapkota
ars@umd.edu
web site
Microbial environmental exposure assessment, with a focus on evaluating the complex relationships between the environment, food and water production systems, and human infectious diseases
Kevin Sellner
sellnerk@si.edu
web site
Plankton ecology, cyanobacteria
Adel Shirmohammadi
ashirmo@umd.edu
web site
Bioenvironmental and water resources engineering; water quality/transport modeling; nonpoint source pollution assessment using an integrated watershed approach
L. Jen Shaffer (*currently not accepting students)
lshaffe1@umd.edu
web site
Ethnoecology/Local Environmental Knowledge; social-ecological systems; conservation; livelihoods; food and water security; adaptation to environmental change; resilience; vulnerability; historical ecology; wildlife conflict & co-existence
Joseph Sullivan
jsull@umd.edu
web site
The responses of plants to various forms of environmental stress - both natural and anthropogenic; physiological mechanisms that enable plants to exist in a wide range of environmental conditions; how human activities impact plant, agricultural or ecosystem productivity
R. Dwi Susanto
dwisusa@umd.edu
web site
Quantitative study of oceanography in the tropical Indo-Pacific region using in situ observation and remote sensing approaches, including the Indonesian throughflow (ITF) monitoring; Upper ocean circulation and processes (ocean currents, upwelling, tidal mixing, air-sea interactions, internal waves, marine heat waves) and their impacts on marine primary productivity; Ocean renewable energy
Daniel E. Terlizzi
dterlizz@umd.edu
web site
Plant aquaculture; phycology (Sea Grant Extension Service, NOAA)
David Rogers Tilley
dtilley@umd.edu
web site
Ecological engineering; wetland assessment with hyperspectral radiometry; ecosystem filtration of air pollutants; net energy analysis of bio-fuels; environmental accounting and emergy analysis
Alba Torrents
alba@eng.umd.edu
web site
Chemical transformations and sorption of organic pollutants; environmental fate of toxic chemicals; applications of spectroscopic techniques to env. systems
Kate Tully
kltully@umd.edu
web site
Research interests: agroecology; nutrient and carbon cycling in plant-soil-water systems; soil health, environmental impacts of agriculture; sustainable agricultural systems; impacts of agriculture on Chesapeake Bay water quality; impacts of sea-level rise and saltwater intrusion on coastal farmlands.
Raymond R. Weil (*currently not accepting students)
rweil@umd.edu
web site
Soil ecology; plant-soil relationships; soil fertility; soil quality; environmental impacts of agricultural systems; nutrient and carbon cycling; cover crops in sustainable cropping systems; soil management.
Gerald Wilkinson
wilkinso@umd.edu
web site
Dr. Wilkinson conducts research on the evolution of social behavior, with emphasis on how genetic mechanisms may influence the outcome of evolution. Recent research in the lab addresses several controversial topics in animal behavior: sexual selection, genomic conflict, cooperation and communication. Stalk-eyed flies are being used as a model system for studying the evolution of sexually selected traits. Our recent empirical and theoretical results have surprisingly implicated meiotic drive as a potent evolutionary agent which can catalyze sexual selection. Using quantitative trait locus studies we confirmed the prediction that sex-linked genes that influence a sexually selected trait are linked to genes causing sex chromosome meiotic drive. By hybridizing genomic DNA to custom Agilent microarrays we discovered that stalk-eyed flies contain a neo-X chromosome and that genes have moved both onto and off of this chromosome. We have recently assembled the genome for a stalk-eyed fly and are currently using RNA-seq to infer gene duplication events and expression change across tissues and sexes for over a dozen different species of flies. Bats in the neotropics and in the US are also being studied in the lab and field to understand how communication mediates cooperation and social learning.
L. Curry Woods III
curry@umd.edu
web site
Aquaculture; evaluation of fish gamete quality; cryopreservation of fish sperm; physiological responsiveness of fish to stress; selective breeding of striped bass.
Stephanie Yarwood (*currently not accepting students)
syarwood@umd.edu
Microbial interactions and functioning in soils, with the overall goal of understanding environmental factors that affect microbial community composition and how microbial community structure in turn affects ecosystem function; examination of how subsurface microbial communities change during soil formation and how microbial communities vary due to anthropogenic disturbance.
Lance T. Yonkos
lyonkos@umd.edu
web site
Point and non-point source pollution effects on the health of aquatic biota particularly in Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries; endocrine disruption as a consequence of environmental exposure to complex contaminant mixtures.