Faculty Listed by Foundation
Environment & Society
Isabella Alcaniz (*currently not accepting students)
ialcaniz@umd.edu
web site
Environmental and climate politics, international financial mechanisms for climate change, social network analysis, the state in the global south, and Latin American politics
Lee Blaney
blaney@umbc.edu
web site
Fate and transport of emerging contaminants in natural and engineered systems; environmental detection of pharmaceuticals or treatment processes aimed at removing pharmaceuticals from drinking water/wastewater matrices
Walter R. Boynton (*currently not accepting students)
boynton@umces.edu
web site
Estuarine whole systems ecology, nutrient budgets, eutrophication, sediment nutrient dynamics, environmental policy
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
Mark S. Castro
mcastro@umces.edu
web site
Atmosphere-biosphere interactions, greenhouse gas fluxes, global environmental changes, effects of atmospheric deposition and human activities on nutrient dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems, the composition of the atmosphere
Mark Cochrane (*currently not accepting students)
mark.cochrane@umces.edu
web site
Understanding spatial patterns, interactions and synergisms between the multiple physical and biological factors that affect ecosystems; climate change, human dimensions of land-cover change and the potential for sustainable development; the drivers and effects of disturbance regime changes resulting from various forms of forest degradation, including fire, fragmentation and logging as well as the mitigating effects of forest and land management.
Shiladitya DasSarma
sdassarma@som.umaryland.edu
web site
I have spent many years studying the evolutionary biology of microorganisms growing in extreme environments and the effects of environmental stressors on cells. My research ranges from microbial genomics to the impacts of saline waters in climate change to vaccine development against tropical diseases. My interests include climate education, having co-authored a Climate Introduction and A Roadmap for Responding to Climate Change. I received MIT’s MacVicar Award for climate leadership and I serve as UMB’s Representative to the MEES Program.
Eric Davidson (*currently not accepting students)
edavidson@umces.edu
web site
Biogeochemistry and nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems, including the effects of management, land use change, and climatic change on soil C and N stocks, trace gas emissions from soils, and leaching of plant nutrients to streams and groundwater. Current study areas include the Brazilian Amazon Basin and Cerrado region and the forests of New England.
Cathlyn D. Davis (Stylinski) (*currently not accepting students)
Cathlyn.Davis@umces.edu
web site
Environmental science education and scientific inquiry in precollege classrooms; remote sensing and plant ecophysiology
William Dennison
dennison@umces.edu
web site
Coastal ecosystem ecology; ecophysiology of marine plants; bioindicators in nearshore environments; assessing ecosystem health
Katharina Engelhardt (*currently not accepting students)
kengelhardt@umces.edu
web site
Effects of species richness on wetland ecosystem functioning and services; community ecology and ecosystem ecology
J. Edward Gates
egates@umces.edu
web site
Wildlife, habitat and landscape ecology; habitat fragmentation and alteration, connectivity, edge effects and boundary dynamics; habitat suitability for vertebrate species
Reginal M. Harrell (*currently not accepting students)
rharrell@umd.edu
web site
Environmental and bioethics; conservation and restoration ecology; breeding genetics and hybridization; stress physiology of vertebrates
Lora A. Harris
harris@umces.edu
web site
Systems ecology; theoretical ecology; primary producers from phytoplankton to macrophytes; ecosystem modeling
Maggie Holland
mholland@umbc.edu
web site
My scholarly interests rest, at a most fundamental level, on the intersections between rural livelihoods, land use dynamics, governance, and conservation strategies. To date, the majority of my research has situated itself in Latin America, with an added layer of focus on forests. Since 2017, I have engaged in research with colleagues in Mozambique, focused both on protected areas and community engagement, as well as a newer line of work on urban agriculture and green spaces. I collaborate actively with economists, geographers, conservation biologists, as well as conservation and development practitioners. The common thread in this interdisciplinary effort is a commitment to developing research that not only contributes to academic discourse, but also is relevant and practical, informing a specific policy or management dialogue.
Ali B. Ishaque
abishaque@umes.edu
web site
Environmental chemical stressors (organic, inorganic and microplastics). Fatty acid markers, stable isotope ratios and mercury concentrations to understand trophic relationships and how food web changes in relation to environmental factors and climate variability.
Paul T. Leisnham
leisnham@umd.edu
web site
Population and Community ecology; Invasion ecology; Vector ecology; Entomology; Coupled Human-Natural Systems; Socio-Ecology
Dong Liang
dliang@umces.edu
web site
Spatial statistics, spatiotemporal models, bayesian methods; remote sensing applications to environment and health
Slava Lyubchich
lyubchich@umces.edu
web site
Time series analysis, forecasting, applied statistics, non-parametric inference, bootstrap, environmental modeling, random networks
Andrew J. Miller (*currently not accepting students)
miller@umbc.edu
web site
Surface-water hydrology and fluvial geomorphology; interaction between flow patterns and boundary conditions imposed by geometry; effects of human activities on watershed hydrology and river channels
Carys Mitchelmore
mitchelm@umces.edu
web site
Investigating molecular, biochemical and cellular responses of aquatic organisms to inorganic and organic pollutants; determining species-specificity; biochemical pathways and toxic effects; applying and developing novel biomarkers to existing and emerging environmental problems
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
Judith O'Neil (*currently not accepting students)
joneil@umces.edu
web site
Harmful Algal Bloom dynamics; plankton nutrient and trophodynamics; Cyanobacteria ecophysiology
Margaret Palmer (*currently not accepting students)
palmer@umces.edu
web site
Stream community and ecosystems ecology; restoration ecology; stream ecosystem structure and function; influence of land use, hydrology and geomorphology on health of running-water ecosystems
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
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
Eric Schott
schott@umces.edu
web site
The Schott lab research focuses on understanding aquatic health in two main areas: the discovery and tracking of estuarine pathogens in the blue crab and other shellfish and the health of urban estuaries for living resources and people. Dr. Schott collaborates with numerous researchers and stakeholders, applying molecular methods to study the health of fisheries and describe the biodiversity of Baltimore Harbor.
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
Christopher Swan (*currently not accepting students)
cmswan@umbc.edu
web site
Steam community and ecosystem ecology; riparian biodiversity and stream processes; urban riparian-steam ecology
Stephen Tomasetti
sjtomasetti@umes.edu
web site
Global change ecology with emphasis on warming, deoxygenation, and acidification; Shellfishes and biogenic habitats; Resilience and climate-adapted habitat restoration; Aquaculture and sustainable coastal food systems; Socio-ecological systems
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 environmental 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.
Yan Waguespack
yywaguespack@umes.edu
web site
Lethal and sublethal responses of early life-stages of winter flounder to habitat contamination in their natal estuaries; sublethal physiological effects of heavy metal on ecologically key marine and aquatic organisms by using 31P NMR, AAS and ICP-AES; characterization of high molecular weight mucin-like glycoconjugates from fish models; heavy metal and polyaromatic hydrocarbon investigations on sediment along Maryland coastal bay, and heavy metal contaminants' effect on SAV plant along Maryland coastal bay; phyto remediation of TNT, DNT and other contaminants
Lisa Wainger
wainger@umces.edu
web site
Risk analysis and decision support tools for prioritizing natural resource management options; invasive species risk assessment; wetland restoration prioritization; ecological and economic indicators for communicating relative costs and benefits of natural resource change
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.
Claire Welty
weltyc@umbc.edu
web site
Transport processes in aquifers; mathematical modeling of groundwater flow and transport in porous and fractured media; application of stochastic methods to interpreting groundwater problems; design and analysis of field-scale hydraulic and tracer tests
Michael Wilberg
wilberg@umces.edu
web site
Stock assessment; dynamics of exploited populations; harvest policy development and application; statistical model selection and averaging
Meng Xia
mxia@umes.edu
web site
Numerical modeling of estuarine and coastal ocean, such as hydrodynamic modeling and plume dynamics; water quality modeling and bio-physical interaction; wave-current coupling and nearshore circulation
Xin Zhang
xzhang@al.umces.edu
web site
Environmental science and policy, coupled human and natural systems, biogeochemical cycles of carbon and nitrogen, earth system modeling, atmospheric-biosphere interactions.