Graduate Programs

The specialization in Soil and Watershed Sciences graduate program prepares students to address challenging environmental issues that involve the soil resource at field, landscape and watershed scales.

Soils are the most complex and ecologically significant biogeochemical systems on Earth. Soil processes and the soil resource are critical to all terrestrial ecosystems from prairies to the Alaskan tundra, to wetlands, to our cities, to forests to biofuel farms. Soil Science is at the center of the study of what the National Science Foundation terms the Critical Zone - the confluence of atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere near the surface of the Earth.

Soil Science Faculty

	Frank Coale, Professor Agricultural Nutrient Management, Soil Fertility, Agroecology fjcoale@umd.edu
	Gary Felton, Associate Professor Extension Water Quality Specialist gfelton@umd.edu
	Bob Hill, Professor Soil Physics, Soil & Water Management rlh@umd.edu
	Bruce James, Professor Soil Chemistry and Affiliate in Geology Director, Environmental Science and Policy Program. Director, Environmental Studies Program of College Park Scholars brjames@umd.edu
	Brian Needelman, Assistant Professor Soil Science (Pedology), Water Quality, Carbon Sequestration bneed@umd.edu
	Mitchell Pavao-Zuckerman, Assistant Professor Urban Ecosystem Ecology, Ecosystem Services, Social-Ecological Systems, Soil Ecology mpzucker@umd.edu
	Wendy Ann Peer, Assistant Professor wapeer@umd.edu
	Martin Rabenhorst, Professor Pedology, Soils of Wetland Ecosystems, Subaqueous Soils mrabenho@umd.edu
	Ray Weil, Professor Soil Science, Nutrient Cycling, Sustainable Agriculture Systems rweil@umd.edu
	Stephanie Yarwood, Assistant Professor Environmental Microbiology syarwood@umd.edu

The specialization in Ecological Technology Design prepares students to integrate natural systems with the built environment to solve environmental problems while achieving economic, ecological and social sustainability. The science and application of using natural systems, processes and organisms to address environmental issues has evolved during the last few decades to a mature level whereby there are strong employment opportunities for graduates that are educated jointly in ecology and technology.

Ecological Technology Design Faculty

	Andrew Baldwin, Professor Plant Ecology of Natural, Restored, and Treatment Wetlands, Ecological Engineering baldwin@umd.edu
	Gary Felton, Associate Professor Extension Water Quality Specialist gfelton@umd.edu
	Reginal M. Harrell, Professor Environmental and Biological Ethics, Physiological Genetics, Stress in Animals, Aquaculture and Phytoremediation, Restoration Ecology rharrell@umd.edu
	Pat Kangas, Associate Professor Ecological Design, Ecological Engineering, Tropical Ecology and Sustainability pkangas@umd.edu
	Stephanie Lansing, Assistant Professor Renewable Energy and Ecological Waste Treatment slansing@umd.edu
	Masoud Negahban-Azar, Assistant Professor Urban Water Resource Management, Graywater and Wastewater Recycling, Natural Treatment Systems, Water-Energy-Food Nexus mnazar@umd.edu
	Mitchell Pavao-Zuckerman, Assistant Professor Urban Ecosystem Ecology, Ecosystem Services, Social-Ecological Systems, Soil Ecology mpzucker@umd.edu
	David Ross, Professor Extension Horticultural Engineering, Water and Nutrient Management, Greenhouse Environment dsross@umd.edu
	David Tilley, Associate Professor Ecological Engineering, Wetland Health Assessment, Energy-based Environmental Accounting dtilley@umd.edu

The specialization in Wetland Science addresses the keen awareness among the Environmental community that wetlands represent a critical and understudied component of many larger ecosystems. Hydrophytic vegetation, hydric soils and wetland hydrology all contribute to make wetlands the significant and highly complex ecosystems that they are.

In addition to the more obvious recreational and aesthetic contributions of wetlands, they provide fish and wildlife habitat, protect and enhance water quality through biogeochemical processes, increase flood protection through flood water storage mechanisms, and afford protection against shoreline erosion. Wetlands have rapidly gained public attention over the last two decades as they have been brought into the limelight by state and federal regulations and through the attention given such large scale environmental issues as hurricane Katrina.

Wetland Science Faculty

	Andrew Baldwin, Professor Plant Ecology of Natural, Restored, and Treatment Wetlands, Ecological Engineering baldwin@umd.edu
	Reginal M. Harrell, Professor Environmental and Biological Ethics, Physiological Genetics, Stress in Animals, Aquaculture and Phytoremediation, Restoration Ecology rharrell@umd.edu
	Patrick Kangas, Associate Professor Ecological Design, Ecological Engineering, Tropical Ecology and Sustainability pkangas@umd.edu
	Michael Kearney, Professor Coastal Environments and Oceanography kearneym@umd.edu
	Bahram Momen, Associate Professor Ecosystem Ecology, BioStatistics bmomen@umd.edu
	Brian Needelman, Associate Professor Soil Science (Pedology), Water Quality, Carbon Sequestration bneed@umd.edu
	Wendy Ann Peer, Assistant Professor wapeer@umd.edu
	Martin Rabenhorst, Professor Pedology, Soils of Wetland Ecosystems, Subaqueous Soils mrabenho@umd.edu
	David Tilley, Associate Professor Ecological Engineering, Wetland Health Assessment, Energy-based Environmental Accounting dtilley@umd.edu

The specialization in Ecosystem Health and Natural Resource Management (EHNRM) examines the complex interactions between ecosystem functioning, ecological health, and sustainability from a primarily ecological context.

This program recognizes the shared need within Environmental Science and Human Health communities for an improved understanding of how environmental factors and ecosystem functions affect ecological communities. Integrity of these communities is critical to the continued availability of natural resources and ecosystem services on which we depend. Comprehension of how human activities affect ecosystem functioning allows development of effective “knowledge-based” policy and management tools to mitigate environmental decline and promote sustainable growth and development. 

Ecosystem Health & Natural Resource Management Faculty

	William Bowerman, Professor and Department Chair Bald Eagle Ecology, Environmental Pollutants wbowerma@umd.edu
	Daniel Fisher, Senior Research Scientist Aquatic Toxicology dfisher2@umd.edu
	Reginal Harrell, Professor Environmental and Biological Ethics, Physiological Genetics, Stress in Animals, Aquaculture and Phytoremediation, Restoration Ecology rharrell@umd.edu
	Michael Kearney, Professor Coastal Environments and Oceanography kearneym@umd.edu
	Paul Leisnham, Assistant Professor Mosquito Ecology, Global Environmental Change Biology, Human and Ecosystem Health leisnham@umd.edu
	Jennifer L. Murrow, Assistant Professor Habitat and Demographic Analysis of Wildlife wildlife@umd.edu
	Wendy Ann Peer, Assistant Professor wapeer@umd.edu
	Bob Tjaden, Professor Environmental and Natural Resource Management and Policy rtjaden@umd.edu
	Lance Yonkos, Assistant Professor Ecotoxicology lyonkos@umd.edu