MEES IN THE NEWS

MAY 2025 - environmental health month

NEWS ARCHIVE

MEES RESEARCH CENTER

2025 MEES PROGRAM & MEMORIAL AWARD WINNERS

2025 DEBORAH MORRIN-NORDLUND TRAVEL AWARD | 2025 REID EVANS MENZER MEMORIAL AWARD

May 18, 2025 - Congratulations to Madison Sholes (advisor: Dr. Michael Wilberg), Qianru Liao (advisor: Dr. William Fagan), and Catherine Fitzgerald (advisor(s): Dr. James Pierson, Dr. Louis Plough (co-advisor)) who are the newest recipients of the highly competitive Deborah Morrin-Nordlund Travel Award, and Kayland Huckaby (advisor: Dr. Paulinus Chigbu) and Pengzheng Yong (advisor: Dr. Shaojun Du) and Matthew Kusche (advisor: Dr. Madan Kharel) who also earned the prestigious Reid Evans Menzer Memorial Award! This is a well earned recognition of all your hard work. The MEES program is very proud of you!

Fisheries Management & Ecology: a study on the spatial distribution Patters of sea stars in the chesapeake bay

tunde adebola (M.S. ‘11, Ph.D. ‘17)

Tunda Adebola (‘11, M.S.) is a fish ecologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Hampton University and also holds an appointment as Associate Professor at Liberty University.   Under the advisement of Dr. Paulinus Chigbu, Tunde earned his Master’s degree in MEES at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in 2011, and later earned his doctoral degree in Environmental Science and Public Policy from George Mason University in 2017.   Dr. Adebola’s research interests range from fisheries ecology to fish breeding and aquaculture. He is currently researching the use of AI technologies in fisheries science and management in an effort to understand anthropogenic impacts in ecological systems and how we can develop sustainable food production systems as a safeguard against global climate change and an ever-increasing human population.   Prior to joining the MEES program, Tune obtained a Bachelor of Science in Fisheries from Lagos State University, Nigeria in 2003.  Tunde’s interest in fisheries began as a child, where he remembers enjoying watching fish swimming in a stream not far from his home in Nigeria.  At the age of six, Tunde recalls watching a television documentary on aquaculture which introduced him to how raising fish could help provide a reliable renewable source of protein to impoverished communities.  As Tunde further explored studying fisheries in college,  Tunde realized the fishing industry’s potential to alleviate poverty through creating jobs and being a more economical option since raising fish and producing fish required less feed compared to raising and producing meat from other livestock.  Tunde immediately began raising fish on his own and worked at a Nigerian fish farm, and performed a year-long undergraduate research project on trace metals in a form of swimming crab, Callinectes pallidas, in Ologe Lagoon in Lagos State Nigeria.  The results showed concentrations of cadmium, mercury, lead and other trace metals in the tissues and exoskeletons of the crabs.  Over time concentrations of  these metals were also found in precipitation and subsequent dilution of the lagoon’s water. This experience helped Tunde realize Nigeria’s need for a well trained fisheries workforce and adequately equipped scientists to mitigate the shortfall in fish production and meet the demand for fisheries products using conservative and environmentally responsible methods.  This drew him to the Chesapeake Bay noting recent developments in an ecosystem based fisheries management utilizing aquaculture and biotechnology to bridge the gap between the biology of natural aquatic resources and the economies of fishing and food security.  Tunde joined the MEES Master’s graduate program and earned a Master of Science in MEES from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in 2011,   Under the advisement of Dr. Paulinus Chigbu, Tunda’s thesis research focused on the important role predatory invertebrates such as sea stars, a keystone species,  play in marine ecosystems.  Tunde’s thesis analyzed the trophic interactions between the Atlantic sea scallop (Plastopecten magellanicus) and the sea star (Astropecten americanus). Predatory invertebrates like the sea star play an important role in marine ecosystems.  The sea star can exist as predators, herbivores and even scavengers  In periods of food shortages, sea stars can survive several months without food and exhibit a flexibility in their diet with prey switching being observed and reported in several cases.  Tunde’s thesis aimed to further investigate the spatial and temporal patterns in the diet of the sea star in the Northwest Atlantic due to their impact on economically important mollusks, clams, scallops and oysters, and since they prey on these other species, sea stars can become overpopulated and disrupt the ecosystem.  Conversely, sea stars can also help create space for other organisms to thrive, increasing overall biodiversity.  Tunde’s research aimed to further understand their role as keystone species in maintaining healthy marine ecosystems.  After earning his MEES Master’s degree, Tunde pursued his doctoral education at George Mason University where he obtained his PhD in Environmental Science and Public Policy.   He developed an Ecopath with Ecosim model and with this model examined ecosystem consequences of spatial redistribution of fishing effort in nearshore waters of the Nigerian coastal system. Tunde has since published several papers in ecosystem and spatial ecology and currently works as an Assistant Professor of Biology at Hampton University where he also previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher (MMHI), and research professor (Marine and Env Sci). He lives in the Hampton Roads with his wife and three children. For more information on Dr. Adebola, please click here.

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Dr. XIN ZHANG

2024 USM Board of Regents award for outstanding research in sustainability & nutrient management in global agriculture

Dr. Xin Zhang is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, a current MEES Faculty member and the chair of the MEES Environment & Society foundation committee. The goal of Dr. Zhang’s current research is to evaluate how socioeconomic and biogeochemical processes affect the global nutrient cycle and the sustainability of agricultural production and, in turn, provide policy input on mitigating nutrient pollution while meeting global food and biofuel demands. Recently, Dr. Zhang was awarded the 2024 USM Excellence in Scholarship or Research Award, the highest honor that the University System of Maryland Board of Regents bestows to recognize exemplary faculty achievement.  In the USM announcement, Dr. Zhang’s highly cited research in sustainability and nutrient management helps environmental scientists examine agricultural, energy, and food systems as key factors in our ability to respond to climate change, create water security, and improve nutrient management. In the May 2024 Cumberland Times-News article about the award, UMCES Professor, and a long-time MEES Faculty member, who served as UMCES interim President,  Dr. William Dennison admires Dr. Zhang’s “outstanding ability to: provide clarity in messy-socio-environmental systems”, “develop rigorous methodologies to assess environmental, social and economic status” and effective communication as some of the many attributes that make Dr. Zhang “one of the most influential and important researchers that I have encountered in my long career in environmental science.”  Dr. Zhang received a B.S. in Environmental Science and a B.S. in Computer Science from Ocean University of China (OUC), an M.A. in Environmental Science from Peking University (2007), and a Ph.D. from Yale University (2012). In addition, she has completed internships and projects at various national and international organizations, including the United Nations and China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection. Dr. Zhang, who mentors many MEES students, has secured more than $11M in research funding, published 36 peer-reviewed articles and initiated two transdisciplinary-and transnational-research networks. The key goal of Dr. Zhang’s research is to unravel the complex dynamics between human and natural systems, guiding policies and actions toward sustainability using data-driven and transdisciplinary approaches. We at the MEES Graduate Program are so very proud of our faculty whose exemplary skills, leadership, creativity, and mentoring have been recognized! For more on Dr. Zhang, please click here. 

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MEES RESEARCH CENTER

Biogeochemical Modeling: Controls on oxygen variability and depletion in the patuxtent river estuary

AMIR REZA AZARNIVAND (‘22, Ph.D)

Amir Reza Azarnivand (‘22, Ph.D.) is a third year MEES doctoral student at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science in Cambridge, Maryland. Advised by Dr. Jeremy Testa, Amir’s doctoral research focuses on developing and applying coupled hydrodynamic-biogeochemical models that simulate the dynamics of the Chesapeake Bay estuary and its tributaries.  Prior to joining the MEES program, Amir desired to develop practical tools to address pressing environmental issues in his home country of Iran.  Amir sought to gain a deeper understanding of these physical processes particularly in marine environments and aimed to explore how scientific theories are applicable in real-life situations and regarded engineers as the ones holding the key.  With a passion for math and physics, Amir joined the civil engineering program at the University of Tehran, the country’s oldest and most prestigious university.   After being among the top 1 percent of participants in the national university entrance exam, Amir  went on to earn both his bachelor’s of science and masters in civil engineering in 2016 and 2019 respectively.  Amir's Master’s thesis project, under the advisement of Dr. Masoud Sadrinasab, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Environment at the College of Engineering, sought to evaluate the impacts of climate change on the Persian Gulf.  This resulted in a submitted paper on water circulation patterns in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.  This approach was in an effort to formulate a conclusive sustainable management strategy:. COHERENS (Coupled Hydrodynamical Ecological model for Regional Shelf Seas), a Linux-based modeling system written in FORTRAN for shallow waters, was employed to simulate water circulation patterns and SDSM (Statistical DownScaling Model) was operated to downscale climate data. Amir believed that this experience helped demonstrate the important role of marine and coastal engineers in addressing Earth's sustainability. .After graduating with his Master’s,  Amir continued working at the University of Tehran and joined Dr.Nasseri’s lab  as a research assistant assisting with various hydrological research projects concerning climate change and backward hydrology.  Since joining the MEES doctoral program, Amir’s doctoral research aims to utilize biogeochemical modeling to simulate the dynamics of the Patuxent River, focusing on the diel cycling hypoxia and its relative role on nutrient load and climate change. For more information on Amir, please click here. 

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