Faculty

Walter Boynton

Professor Emeritus
Faculty
Walter Boynton
Professor Emeritus
Chesapeake Biological Laboratory

Bio

Walter Boynton is a Professor at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory (CBL), University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and has been a faculty member at CBL since 1975. Boynton’s research expertise is estuarine ecology, particularly issues related to eutrophication and ecosystem restoration. He has published over 100 scientific papers and many more technical reports related to water quality, habitat and restoration issues. All of this research involves coastal and estuarine eutrophication and restoration of these ecosystems. Boynton serves on boards of the Patuxent Riverkeeper, Maryland-DC Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, and the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay. He has served on several EPA Science Advisory Board panels reviewing the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico, Florida nutrient criteria, an EPA workgroup developing national water quality standards for estuarine systems and, more recently, worked with the Department of Justice on Gulf of Mexico oil spill issues. He served on Maryland Governor O’Malley’s transition team for environmental issues and is currently a member of the science advisory panel for the Chesapeake Bay Trust Fund. He and Dr. Michael Kemp were awarded the Odum Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation and he was also elected president of this scientific society. In 2016 here was awarded the Mathias Medal from MD and VA Sea Grant and the Chesapeake Research Consortium and during 2017 the Ruth Patrick Award from ASLO More locally, he served as the vice-chair of the Calvert County Zoning Appeals Board for more than a decade and in this position has been involved in many Maryland Critical Area decisions. He taught a graduate ecology course and seminar that ties together the ecosystems of Maryland from the western mountains to the coastal ocean.

Areas of Expertise

  • Systems ecology
  • Nutrient cycling in estuarine systems
  • Estuarine restoration
  • Management/policy

Education

  • Springfield College, BS Biology
  • University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, MS Marine Science
  • University of Florida PhD Environmental Engineering (Systems Ecology)