Dr. Kent Barnes
Associate Professor Geography and Environmental Planning
Linthicum 006
410-704-3462
kbarnes@towson.edu
Dr. Barnes’ research and teaching interests are human responses and adjustments to environmental hazards, environmental assessment and impact analysis, land-use, and water resources issues and management. His recent projects include micro-zoning and mapping residential radon hazard, using satellite derived impervious surface data as environmental indicators, and developing sets of indicators/metrics to characterize and map the nature of "urban sprawl" within the Chesapeake Bay watershed and adjacent areas. In addition to the Geography Department, he is affiliated with the Center For Geographic Information Sciences (CGIS) within the College of Liberal Arts and the Environmental Science and Studies program within the College of Science and Mathematics.
Dr. Ryan Casey
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
514C Smith Hall
410-704-3051
racasey@towson.edu
My research involves quantifying biogeochemical processes at the interface between terrestrial and aquatic systems. Currently I am focusing on plant and microbial transformations of nitrogen and phosphorus in natural and constructed wetlands. Nutrients are the most widespread form of non-point source pollution in the United States. Efforts to control their movement into aquatic systems are necessary to meet nutrient reduction criteria that have already been adopted for water bodies such as the Chesapeake Bay. One of my projects involves quantifying the efficiency of a constructed wetland for nitrogen retention. The wetland is situated on a golf course and receives runoff containing nitrate. Our goal is to assess the capacity of this type of wetland for nitrogen removal and determine the mechanisms by which removal occurs. Another project involves quantifying nitrogen transformation processes in natural wetlands. Denitrification is the process by which microbes convert nitrate to dinitrogen gas. Previously, I was involved in research showing that denitrification could be localized in specific parts of the soil profile. I am continuing this research in tidal wetlands around the Chesapeake Bay. An improved understanding of nitrogen transformations near the Bay can facilitate predictions of nitrogen movement through the Bay region. Additional research in my lab involves evaluating trace metal contamination in suburban storm water retention ponds. We are currently evaluating the trace metal concentrations in sediments and biota of retention ponds to understand whether processes such as roadway runoff are resulting in elevated levels of trace metals that could decrease the value of these ponds as habitat for organisms such as amphibians, which are often found there.
Dr. Brian Fath
Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences
273 Smith Hall
(410) 704-2535
bfath@towson.edu
personal web site
My research broadly focuses on sustainability, which I address using three different approaches: network environ analysis, integrated environmental assessment, and information theory. Sustainability is a critically important area that encompasses a broad range of research interests including ecosystem services, biodiversity, natural resources, human cultures, and specific environments. I use network analysis to investigate thermodynamic sustainability indicators. These indicators are often referred to as ecosystem goal functions because they determine holistic properties of the ecosystem such as energy or exergy flow, biomass production, and respiration. These metrics help understand the overall behavior and health of that system and its response due to perturbations. Integrated environmental assessment is an application of multidisciplinary methods to human systems to address specific place-based issues. I have used IEA to study the watershed quality of a major metropolitan reservoir and am interested in further applying this process to local and international issues. Recently, I have begun looking at using information theory, particularly, Fisher Information, as a potential sustainability metric.
Dr. Jon Filer
Assistant Professor of Physics, Astronomy and Geosciences
Smith Hall 412B
(410) 704-2116
jfiler@towson.edu
personal web site
One area of research interest is in the hydrogeology of small watersheds. In developed areas, rainfall/runoff relationships are altered, resulting in enhanced runoff and channel destabilization and erosion. Water quality deteriorates also. These effects can be quantified, and the effectiveness of remediation strategies evaluated through examination and monitoring of channel morphology and sediments, as well as gauging of stream discharge and sampling of water chemistry. Coastal geology is a second area of interest, including shoreline erosion in the face of rising sea levels, as well as the distribution of sediment in near shore environments. The Geosciences program at Towson University is well equipped with the types of sampling and monitoring instruments needed to conduct these types of studies.
Dr. Donald Forester
Professor of Biological Sciences
255 Smith Hall
410-704-2385
dforster@towson.edu
personal web site:
My research focuses on both basic and applied studies. I am interested in animal movements and habitat utilization (particularly of amphibians and reptiles). Presently I am using radio-telemetry to monitor box turtles, bog turtles, and spotted turtles, as well as American toads. In addition I am involved in a number of faunal surveys and long-term monitoring projects, which use amphibians as bioindicators.
Dr. Susan E. Gresens
Associate Professor of Biology
Smith Hall 223
(410) 704-4368
sgresens@towson.edu
personal web site
Dr. Gresens is interested in the ecology of freshwater systems, particularly streams. Her research focuses on communities of macroinvertebrates and attached algae; the ecology of midge larvae (Diptera: Chironomidae) is her specialty. Midge larvae occur in a wide range of aquatic habitats, exhibit high species diversity, and are often very numerous. The potential importance of midges as primary consumers, which transform algal and detrital material, and transfer it to higher trophic levels has been largely overlooked, due to their small size. Her previous research has demonstrated interactive effects of food quality and thermal regime on feeding and growth of larvae. Current research in her laboratory is defining spatial patterns in the composition of stream invertebrate communities, in response to watershed urbanization. Her goals are to develop a mechanistic understanding of the causes of low biological diversity in urban streams, and to determine the value of midge larvae as ecological indicators within urban areas.
Assistant Professor of Biology
Smith Hall 315
(410) 704-2926
shaines@towson.edu
personal website
My research focuses on aspects of environmental education and the use of the environment as an integrated context for learning across all major academic disciplines. I am interested in professional development for both preservice and inservice teachers in the area of environmental education, and in providing teachers with the necessary content and pedagogical methods to effectively teach scientific concepts to their students. A major focus of my work also centers on developing outdoor classrooms on school grounds that can be used to effectively teach a variety of subject areas in a more student-centered, inquiry based manner.
Dr. James C. Hull
Professor of Biological Sciences
Smith Hall 215C
(410) 704-4117
jhull@towson.edu
personal web site
Dr. Hull’s interests are in the interactions between plants and their physical-chemical environment. His research utilizes physiological techniques such as photosynthetic measurements or plant water potentials to assess plant responses to environment. Typical problems addressed in his laboratory are those associated with transient light beneath forest canopies, plant distribution along water availability gradients, and nutrient limitations to growth. A current emphasis in his laboratory is on an invasive plant, mile-a-minute weed (Polygonum perfoliatum). Most studies are oriented towards field situations in local habitats.
Dr. Steven Lev
Assistant
Professor of Physics, Astronomy and Geosciences
412C Smith Hall
slev@towson.edu
personal web site
My research interests are focused in the area of low temperature geochemistry. Trace elements and isotopes can be used in low temperature systems to fingerprint water-rock or water-soil interactions. The ability to identify a process with a geochemical fingerprint is a powerful tool that can be used to refine our ideas about the fate and transport of trace elements in near surface environments. Currently, I am working on several projects including an effort to evaluate the flux of soil derived toxic trace metals to the Chesapeake Bay. I am also interested in the application of chemical fingerprinting in hydrologic and biologic systems. Work of this type requires the use of special facilities and instrumentation (e.g. ICP-MS) available in the Towson University Geochemistry Laboratory and the Towson Materials Research Laboratory.
Dr.
Jay A. Nelson
Smith Hall 257
(410) 704-3945
jnelson@towson.edu
personal web site
Dr. Nelson’s research broadly focuses
on trying to understand how the environment controls life processes and
how living organisms have evolved to respond to environmental pressures
in two systems: 1) The main
focus of my research is the nutritional physiological ecology of
Loricariid catfish. Evidence
suggests that loricariid catfishes of the genus Panaque are capable of
utilizing wood in their diet. I am studying the ability of Panaque to
degrade carbon polymers like cellulose and hemi-cellulose. I am also
investigating the enzymes produced by the microflora of Panaque guts. In
collaboration with Dr. Don Stewart of the SUNY College of Environmental
Sciences and Forestry and Bill Patterson of Syracuse University, I am
trying to take this research to South America so that we may better
understand the unique biology of Panaque in situ. 2) I am also collaborating with colleagues in Canada to
investigate factors that contribute to locomotor performance in Atlantic
cod. I have already shown
that exercise physiology in these fish varies on an individual and
population level and that environment (salinity and temperature) are
important limiting factors. We
are currently trying to better understand the inter-relationships of
various locomotor types in cod, their relationship to predatory ability,
and how other physiological factors like nutritional state influence
locomotor capacity and physiology. 3) I am in the planning stages of
starting a research project on the locomotor capacity of local fishes.
This may take the form of collaboration with Dr. Joel Snodgrass of this
department studying the effects of human developments on local stream
fish populations.
Dr. Martin Roberge
Assistant Professor Geography
36 Linthicum Hall
(410) 704-5011
mroberge@towson.edu
personal web site
My research efforts focus on the interaction between human society and its physical environment. I use methods from the fields of Geomorphology, Geographic Information Science, and Remote Sensing to primarily study our impact on urban streams and watersheds. Some of my past projects have investigated how the proliferation of channel structures has affected a major river in Phoenix, AZ. I am currently studying patterns of urban development in the Chesapeake Bay watershed; the effects of historical soil erosion in Baltimore county; and the causes and effects of trail erosion in the Baltimore metropolitan region.
Dr. Eric Scully
Professor of Biological Sciences
261 Smith Hall
(410)-704-3012
escully@towson.edu
personal web site:
My primary research interests are the population biology of invertebrates, especially crustaceans, and the population level consequences of individual behavior. My current research interests include: (1) Effects of chronic exposure to heavy metals on life history patterns of terrestrial isopods living in serpentine areas; (2) The dynamics of aggregation formation in terrestrial isopods. I am also engaged in collaborative research project on vitro studies of disease and bleaching in corals with Gary K. Ostrander, Johns Hopkins University). I am willing to advise students in a variety of research areas. For example, one of my current students is investigating a model in theoretical systems ecology.
Dr. Richard Seigel
Professor and Chair of Biological Sciences
Smith Hall, 345
(410) 704-3012
rseigel@towson.edu
personal web site:
My basic research philosophy is that one cannot be a good conservation biologist without first being a strong population ecologist, and, conversely, that an interest in conservation biology is a required interest of anyone calling themselves a population ecologist. Thus, research in my lab is oriented in two main directions; studies on the evolutionary ecology of amphibians and reptiles (using both field and experimental approaches) and studies on the conservation biology of amphibians and reptiles, which is almost exclusively field-oriented. My selection and recruitment of graduate students follows these approaches; of the 16 students I have mentored to date, eight have focused on evolutionary ecology and eight on conservation biology. Naturally, students are strongly encouraged to work outside of their specific area of expertise and to collaborate with myself or with their fellow students.
Dr. Colleen
Schehl Sinclair
Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences
Smith Hall A215
410-704-3124
csinclair@towson.edu
personal web site:
My research involves the study of genetic diversity
in populations of invertebrates and vertebrates. Current projects include
the evaluation of population diversity in non-biting midges (Cricotopus
sp.) from Baltimore streams (collaboration with Dr. Susan Gresens) and an
analysis of the genetic structure of terrestrial snail populations on
Plummers Island in the Potomac River. Projects in my laboratory allow
students to gain experience in the field through sample collection and in
the laboratory with the use of molecular techniques including polymerase
chain reaction, electrophoresis, sequencing and microsatellite analysis.
Dr. Joel W. Snodgrass
Associate Professor of Biological Sciences
Smith Hall 302
(410) 704-5033
jsnodgrass@towson.edu
personal web site:
Dr. Snodgrass is interested in the dynamics of aquatic vertebrate populations, particularly over larger temporal and spatial scales, and the effects of human landscape alteration on their dynamics and evolution. His past research has focused on the roles of hydrological variability and aquatic habitat patch dynamics in determining the distribution of amphibians and fishes in southeastern streams and wetlands. Dr. Snodgrass also is interested in the application of community ecology theory to the development of biological monitoring programs focus on amphibians and fishes, and the use of stochastic simulation models in directing land planning activities. Recently he has collaborated with ecotoxicologist and ornithologist to investigate the role of wetland fish population dynamics in controlling mercury-poisoning risk among fish-eating birds.
Assistant Professor of Biology
Smith Hall 489A
(410) 702-2623
jwatts@towson.edu
personal web site:
Primarily my research uses molecular genetic tools to look at different
environmental microbiology questions. A main focus is the identification
of anaerobic PCB dechlorinating bacteria in polluted sediments, such as
Baltimore Harbor. Using specific PCR methods we are now able to determine
the ecology and distribution of these microorganisms in the environment.
This will yield important information for bioremediation field studies.
Other ongoing research includes identification of psychrophillic PCB
degrading bacteria in Antarctic sediments in collaboration with Dr. Nicole
Webster (AIMS).
Dr. Larry Wimmers
Assistant Professor of Biology
483 Smith Hall
(410) 704-2766
lwimmers@towson.edu
personal web site
Dr. Wimmers' laboratory employs a combination of molecular genetic and classical physiological tools to address three aspects of plant function. He has long-term interests in the response of plants to salt stress and the mechanisms of phloem translocation. His approach to the salt stress response has been to identify genes induced by sub-lethal levels of salt stress, and to test their role in salt-stress resistance by altering their expression in transgenic plants. His studies of phloem translocation have concentrated on the mechanism of phloem loading, and the control of that process. Recently he has also investigated factors affecting the ability of plants to accumulate heavy metals, the goal being to produce plants with a high potential for accumulation of heavy metals that can be used to remove such toxins from contaminated soils and wetlands.
Dr.
Jane Wolfson
Director Graduate Program of Environmental Science
Associate Professor of Biology
348 Smith Hall
jwolfson@towson.edu
personal web site
Dr. Wolfson has long standing interests in entomology, agroecology and the impact of agricultural production methods on the environment. She has done considerable research on developing and investigating environmentally friendly methods of insect control. Her research in Cameroon, West Africa, focused on traditional pest control methods and their efficacy. In Maryland she has been working with local farmers to make sure that their production constraints are understood by the those involved (or who will be involved in the future) in policy implementation.