Amir Azarnivand

Amir is a member of the Testa Lab at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory (CBL) and a doctoral student in the Marine, Estuarine, and Environmental Sciences (MEES) program. His research focuses on the development and application of coupled hydrodynamic-biogeochemical models to understand oxygen variability and depletion in the Patuxent River Estuary, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. He is particularly interested in how diel cycling and seasonal hypoxia influence nutrient dynamics under changing climate and nutrient loading conditions.

Amir also contributes to the Patuxent Sentinel project, supporting water quality monitoring at the CBL Research Pier, a long-term program that tracks physical, chemical, and biological conditions in the estuary. His broader interests include numerical modeling, estuarine biogeochemistry, climate change, and the use of real-time data to inform sustainable ecosystem management.

Before joining UMCES, Amir earned his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Tehran.