Appalachian Laboratory

Past Visiting Scholar Seminars

Spring 2020

Jacqueline Grebmeier (UMCES-CBL)- "Biological time series observations in the Pacific Artic: a key to understanding ecosystem change" Host: Mark Cochrane 
 
Varsha Vijay (SESYNC)- "Understanding and predicting tradeoffs between food security and conservation." Host: Andrew Elmore 
Evan Fricke (SESYNC)- "Observing and forecasting macroecological change in seed dispersal networks." Host: Andrew Elmore 
 
February 20, 2020
Heath Kelsey (Integration and Application Network)- "Training Trainers in Ecosystems health Report Cards: Stakholder engagement in environmental decision making." Host: Andrew Elmore 
 
John Wenzel (Carnegie Museum of Natural History)- "Large-scale forest ecology at Powdermill Nature Reserve through classical approaches and emerging technologies." Host: Emily Cohen 
 

Due to escalating concerns relating to the spread of the COVID-19 Coronavirus, the remaining seminars in the Visiting Scholars Seminar Series for this semester were cancelled out of an abundance of caution for our visitors and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Community. 


Fall 2019

 
Claire Jantz (Shippensburg University)-  "Land use dynamics, climate change, and hydrologic processes in the Delaware River Basin." Host: Dan Filer 
 
Peggy Derrick (EA Engineering, Science, and Technology, Inc.; UMCES BOV)- "Application of science and engineering as a career in environmental consulting." Host: Eric Davidson 
 
 
Qian Zhang (UMCES)- "Synthesis of long-term trends of nutrient and sediment loads to the Chesapeake Bay."  Host: Joel Bostic 
 
Dong Liang (UMCES-CBL)- "Spatial issues in Bayesian analyses of scientific surveys with application to the Chesapeake Bay." Host: Mark Castro 
 
Andy Royle (USGS)- "The quantitative turtle analysis project at Patuxent: Machine learning turtles." Host: Dan Filer 
 
David Smith (USGS)"Collaborative structured decision making: Finding durable and optimal solutions." Host: Dan Filer 
 
Lee Cooper (UMCES-CBL)-  "Changing freshwater fluxes in the Arctic: a tale of melted ice, river runoff, and the Bering Strait." Host: Mark Castro 
 
Luke DeGroote (Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Powdermill Nature Reserve)- "58 years, 750,000 birds: Building Powdermill's Avian Research Center one bird at a time." Host: Claire Nemes - CANCELED 
 

Spring 2019

Andrew Heyes (UMCES-CBL) "Ecosystem level controls on mercury methylation: the Carbon-Sulfur-Mercury Triad." Host: Mark Castro 
 
Louis Plough (UMCES-HPL) "Shells, fins, and water: harnessing genomics to investigate the ecology and evolution of marine animals." Host: Paul Gugger
 
Pabodha Galgamuwa (The Nature Conservancy)- "Prescribed fire for oak woodland restoration in Kansas and resilient connected landscape science for conservation in the central Appalachians"  Host: Andrew Elmore and Dave Nelson 
 
Mike Runge (USGS) "Exploring management options in the Grand Canyon with formal decision analysis: grappling with tradeoffs and uncertainty." Host: Dan Filer
 
William Nardin (UMCES-HPL) "Multiple approaches to study the impact of Ecosystem-based coastal protection." Host: Katia Engelhardt
 
Kenny Rose (UMCES-HPL) "Linking watershed management to estuarine fish dynamics using coupled biophysical models." Host: Bob Hilderbrand 
 
John Sauer (USGS)-  "What do we know about bird population change in North America?" Host: Dan Filer 
 
Petra Wood (WVU) "Forest management for cerulean warblers and associated avian species." Host: Claire Nemes
 
Peter Marra "Studying birds in the context of the annual cycle: carry-over effects and seasonal interactions." Host: Rhonda Schwinabart  
 
Kane Samuel (UMCES-AL Intern, Frostburg State University student), "Mercury concentrations in our food supply: the untold story" (a poster presentation and talk)  Host Mark Castro (Internship Advisor) 

Fall 2018

Andrew Landsman (NPS) "Local landscapes and microhabitat characteristics are important determinants of urban-suburban bee communities," Host: Dan Filer 
 
Bill Link (USGS) "Seals, gators, cranes, and big bird surveys: How I became a Bayesian, and why you might want to, too," Host: Robert Hilderbrand 
 
Jacob Cram (UMCES-HPL) "Interactions between marine bacteria and marine snow drive microbial ecology and ocean processes" Host: Katia Engelhardt and Dave Nelson 
 
Jon Duncan (Penn State) "Hydrologic variability controls watershed scale nitrogen export: a multi-scale, multi-site approach" Host: Keith Eshleman and Joel Bostic 
 
Jeremy Testa (UMCES-CBL) "Quantifying scales, controls, and feedbacks within linked eco-biogeochemical cycles in coastal ecosystems."  Host: Keith Eshleman 
 
Bambang Saharjo (Bogor Agricultural University) "Indonesian peat fires and greenhouse gases emissions." Host: Mark Cochrane 
 
 

Spring 2018

Jamie Pierson  (UMCES-HPL) “Copepod tales: Zooplankton as gatekeepers and mediators in aquatic ecosystems,” Host: Mark Cochrane
 
Victoria Coles (UMCES-HPL) “Connecting the dots: Using models to link time and space scales to understand nonlinear interactions between physics and biology,” Host: Mark Cochrane
 
Tom Fisher (UMCES-HPL) “Agriculture, farmers, and water quality in the Choptank Basin,” Host: Andrew Elmore
 
Joseph Craine (Jonah Ventures) "Planetary boundaries: Global-scale terrestrial eutrophication or not?," Host: Andrew Elmore
 
David Osgood (Albright College) “Long-term assessment of ecosystem-level function for a floodplain restoration,” Host: Keith Eshleman
 
Christina Prell (University of Maryland-College Park) "Uncovering spatially distant feedback loops of global trade and land use," Host: Cat Stylinski
 
Manuel Spinola (National University of Costa Rica) "Wildlife research in Costa Rica: Case examples from the Institute of International Conservation at the National University," Host: Thomas Serfass
 
Allan O'Connell (USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center) "Marine birds, offshore wind energy along the Atlantic coast – a decade (or more) of activity & endangered species conservation in the Florida Keys," Host: Dan Filer
 
Klaus Hubacek (University of Maryland- College Park) "Global carbon inequality," Host: Xin Zhang
 
Thomas Serfass (Frostburg State University) "Spotted-necked otters in Rubondo Island National Park, Tanzania and North American river otters in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem, USA: A contrast in human dimensions challenges for developing an aquatic flagship."
 
Mary Ollenburger (PNNL College Park) "Awakening the sleeping giant: The future of agriculture in Mali's Guinea Savannah," Host: Xin Zhang
 
Jennifer Baka (the Pennsylvania State University) "Knowledge cartographies: Evaluating competing knowledge discourses in US hydraulic fracturing rulemaking," Host: Xin Zhang
 
Nathaniel Hitt (USGS) "Forecasting brook trout thermal habitat in Catoctin Mountain Park," Host: Dan Filer