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Affiliated Faculty

ESI-affiliated faculty span across The University of Texas' schools and colleges. Affilated faculty benefit from the ESI-network of university, public, and private sector experts with expansive and various opportunities to collaborate on exploring and understanding environmental issues.  For more information about how to become an affiliated faculty member, please contact ESI at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . 

The Environmental Science Institute:  University Research Affiliate - Senior Research Fellows
Dull, Robert Robert Dull (Senior Research Fellow, ESI):  Dull's research expertise is in the areas of paleoecology, paleoclimatology, paleo-hazards (wildfire, volcanism, etc.), environmental archaeology, and land-use history. This work involves analyses of plant micro- and macro-fossils, geochemistry, and buried landscapes. His primary research region is the Neotropics, specifically the coutries of El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Mexico, although he also works in the Western U.S. His research seeks to uncover and explain relationships between environmental change and human activities.
Dr. Phillip Fay Philip Fay (Research Ecologist, USDA-ARS Grassland, Soil and Water Research Laboratory): Philip Fay is a research ecologist for the USDA-ARS Grassland, Soil and Water Research Laboratory. He received a Ph.D. from Kansas State University, and remained there as a postdoctoral fellow till 1998. Fay's research interests are in grassland ecosystem ecology, including carbon cycling, climate change, plant physiology, population, and community ecology. His current projects involve the prairie carbon cycles, ecological genomics, and rainfall studies.
Jackson School of Geosciences:  Department of Geological Sciences
arctur David Arctur (Research Fellow and Lecturer): Geographic Information Systems and Database Management Systems, with focus of interest in standards for interoperability of data and models for multidisciplinary geosciences research (water resources, climate, and geohazards in particular). Data and model semantics, uncertainty, and trust are crosscutting subthemes of interest.
JayBanner Jay L. Banner (Professor; Director, ESI): Banner's research investigates how the interactions that occur between the atmosphere-land-ocean systems are preserved in the geologic record. This is explored using field, microscopic, geochemical, and dating studies of 1) cave deposits as records of links between climate change and hydrology, 2) limestones as records of the chemistry of ancient oceans, and 3) modern urbanized aquifers.
bell Christopher Bell (Assistant Professor): Bell's research centers on understanding the complex dynamics of vertebrate faunal communities during the Quaternary Period. Bell's research program concentrates on two terrestrial vertebrate groups, squamate reptiles and small mammals, and focuses in part on the differences and similarities in the responses of these groups to climate change.
breecker Daniel Breecker (Assistant Professor): Breecker's areas of expertise include soil biogeochemistry, calcic soils, stable isotope geochemistry.
Cardenas M. Bayani Cardenas (Assistant Professor): Cardenas’ studies surface water and ground water hydrology. Current research topics include: 1) hydrodynamics of surface-ground water interactions, 2) hydroecology, 3) flow and transport in porous and fractured media, 4) energy budgets of rivers, 5) hydrogeophysics, 6) hydrologic applications of thermography, 7) biogeochemical processes in stream-aquifer systems and 8) architecture of fluvial aquifers. These broad topics are investigated using numerical modeling, laboratory experiments, and field campaigns.

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 Ginny Catania (Assistant Professor):Catania conducts research and teaches about ice sheet and glacier changes both from natural and climate-forced variability. This involves improving the observational data sets that quantify cyrosphere change but also an improved understanding of the dynamical processes that conrol ice flow. In particular, Catania focuses on basal processes, the flow of water through and beneath ice and grounding line fluctuations.
folk Robert L Folk (Professor Emeritus): Since 1990 Dr. Robert L. Folk has been studying minute ovoids in the 100nm size range, which he believes to be "nannobacteria", independently living organisms.  These objects have been found in minerals, Martian meteorites, soils, the human body, and in waters.  Objections by biologists that these are "too small for life" are invalid as several laboratories have cultured them.  If they are indeed dwarf bacteria, they may play an enormous role in chemical reactions on the earth's surface, and their occurrence must be studied with high-resolutition the SEM (20,000 to 1000,000X)
james Eric James (Analytical Geochemist, currently assisting Jay Banner with ESI): James studies a wide range of geologic phenomena using geochemical methods. His work has been on the sources of metals in mineral deposits in West Texas and New Guinea using Sr, Nd, and Pb isotope ratios, Sr isotope ratios in fossils for age and stratagraphic studies, and the trace element characteristics and U-Th ages of cave deposits.
korcurek Gary Kocurek (Professor): Kocurek studies desert landforms and their representation in the ancient rock record. He is particularly interested in how sand seas respond to changes in climate, sea level and tectonism. His teaching centers on the basic principles that govern processes that operate on the land surfaces of the Earth.
marrett Randy Marrett (Associate Professor): Marrett's research has focused on characterization of fractured reservoirs, development of detachment folds, structure and regional tectonics of the Sierra Madre Oriental (México) and the Central Andes (Argentina and Chile), and comparisons of geologic with geodetic measurements of strain rate.  New work addresses temporal patterns of geyser eruption and structure along the volcanic arc of the Central Andes.
moffett Kevan Moffett (Assistant Professor; Assistant Professor, by courtesy, Civil, Architectural & Environmental Engineering): Ecohydrology and hydrogeology. Kevan is broadly interested in the linked roles of groundwater and plant-water interactions in the dynamic physical, chemical, and biological cycles of the Earth System. Her expertise and active research revolve around four coupled sets of interactions in humid and coastal environments: Plant-Water interactions, Surface Water-Groundwater interactions, Land-Atmosphere interactions, and Land-Sea interactions. These research activities combine into her current focus on Coastal Ecohydrology.

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Suzanne Pierce (Research Assistant Professor, Energy and Earth Resources; Assistant Director, Digital Media Collaboratory, Center for Agile Technology): A trained hydrogeologist, her focus is on transdisciplinary approaches; with research that integrates earth resource problems with decision processes for tractable and transparent solutions for management and policy.  In early work, Dr. Pierce established a multi-stakeholder decision support system for sustainable aquifer yield in real-world regional groundwater management for central Texas. Additionally, Dr. Pierce worked in international metals mining and engaged in systems analysis for U.S. national labs system for energy-water interdependencies. Currently she is researching science-based perceptions of risk in geothermal energy development for the Tatio Geyser Basin of Chile.
rowe Tim Rowe (Professor and Director, Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory - VPL): The VPL collections include 250,000 cataloged specimens. About 60% are vertebrate fossils that include among the most sensitive biological indicators of climate and environment. These collections offer our most detailed look at how terrestrial environments, particularly those of the Edwards Plateau, have changed over the last 100,000 years.
An Timothy Shanahan: Dr. Shanahan’s areas of expertise include paleoclimatology, paleoceanography, paleolimnology, sedimentary geology and geochemistry.

Click here to see a New York Times article on Dr. Shanahan's work.
sharpe John Sharp (Professor): Sharp's research interests include: 1) modeling flow and transport in fractured systems; 2) use of geological and geophysical information to characterize volcanic and sedimentary aquifers; 3) subsidence, thermal history and convection in the Gulf of Mexico Basin; 4) hydrogeology of urbanized areas; 5) water resources and hydrogeological evolution of semi-arid zones; and 6) the Edwards aquifer.
wilson Clark R. Wilson (Professor and Chairman): Wilson's research program has included the use of observations of changes in Earth's rotation, center of mass, and gravity field to measure global water and atmospheric mass balance over time scales of days to years. This has involved study of numerical models of the global water cycle, oceans and atmosphere, and analysis of global sea level change.
yang Zong-Liang Yang (Associate Professor): Yang's research interests include: 1) mathematical modeling of land-surface hydrology and its role in controlling weather and climate, 2) characterizing vegetation and snow cover including their influences on the surface energy and water balances using ground-based and remotely-sensed datasets, 3) quantifying the relative role of land versus oceans in determining rainfall in southwest and south central USA, 4) developing tools for assessing the potential impacts of heavy precipitation associated with severe weather on urban watersheds and flash flood prediction, and 5) investigating the impact of vegetation-derived chemicals on Texas air quality.
 Jackson School of Geosciences: Institute for Geophysics
james austin James Austin (Senior Research Scientist): Austin is a marine geologist expert in undersea sampling and the interpretation of sedimentary data. His most recent field studies have been near-shore sampling programs offshore of New Jersey and California, focused on understanding the age and origin of the surficial sediments.
blankenship Donald Blankenship (Research Scientist): Blankenship directs the Support Office for Aerogeophysical Research (SOAR), a national facility which provides an airplane, geophysical instrumentation, and support personnel for over-ice Antarctic research. The facility routinely collect gravity, magnetic field, surface elevation, and ice-penetrating radar data, and provides an inexpensive method for surveying vegetation, soil water content, and other near-surface properties which are important for environmental analysis.
dalziel Ian Dalziel (Associate Director, Senior Research Scientist, also Professor, Dept. of Geological Sciences ): Dalziel's interests include understanding the nature of life in extreme environments. He proposes to survey of the Bransfield Trough, Antarctica, an environmentally isolated active rift system which should possess thermal vents, etc., which are of interest for biological and chemical study. He is also involved in planning the exploration of the subglacial Lake Vostok, East Antarctica, which lies under nearly 4 km of ice and may have been isolated for tens of millions of years.
ellins Katherine Ellins (Program Manager): Kathy Ellins is the program manager at The University of Texas Institute for Geophysics (UTIG). As part of her responsibilities, Kathy oversees the Institute's funded educational outreach efforts and serves as UTIG's Public Information Officer.
fulthrope Craig Fulthorpe (Research Scientist): Fulthorpe is a marine geologist/sedimentologist. He is interested in the geology of continental margins as revealed by reflection seismic profiles and ocean drilling. His research focuses on the processes, including sea-level change, tectonism, and ocean currents, responsible for creating the preserved stratigraphic record on margins.
jackson Charles Jackson (Research Associate): Jackson's research interests have the goal of distilling lessons from the history of climate for the purpose of advancing our understanding of the physics of the atmosphere, ocean, and cryosphere and their coupling.
lawver Larry Lawver (Senior Research Scientist): Lawver is interested in climate over very long time scales, especially in how the global configuration of tectonic plates affects global meteorology, ocean circulation, and tectonic processes over periods of tens to hundreds of millions of years.
olson Hilary Olson (Research Associate): Olson is a micropaleontologist who applies various methods to evaluate Foraminifera collected from ocean-bottom sediment cores. When combined with monitoring of heavy minerals, water nutrients, and isotopic analysis, micropaleontological methods provide essential information about past and present climate, and transport properties of ocean and atmospheric currents.
sen, mrinal Mrinal Sen (Professor, Dept. of Geological Sciences, Research Professor, UTIG): Sen is an expert in numerical modeling, very fast simulated annealing (VFSA), and the nonlinear inversion of large data sets to find best-fit models. These methods are essential for the analysis of marine seismic reflection data to obtain 3-D models of the Earth's crust, but also apply to certain biological, meteorological, or environmental problems especially where there is ongoing data collection and it is desirable update models as new data are collected.
stoffa Paul Stoffa (Senior Research Scientist and Director): Stoffa is an expert in numerical modeling and nonlinear inversion methods, especially as applied to geophysical problems. He is considering a collaboration to apply these techniques to the modeling of commercial ocean fisheries.
taylor,fred Fred Taylor (Senior Research Scientist): Taylor collects live corals and drill cores of coral limestones from various sites in the South Pacific. One research focus is to evaluate frequency and intensity of past El Nino events, determined by evaluating annual growth bands, often in collaboration with geochemists who evaluate sea-surface temperature and other environmental parameters using isotopic methods.
 Jackson School of Geosciences: Bureau of Economic Geology
hovorka, sue Sue Hovorka (Research Scientist): Sedimentology, applications of sedimentology to aquifer studies and waste site characterization. Recent studies: Stratigraphic studies of Edwards aquifer; geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide; K-12 educational outreach.
paine,jeff Jeff Paine (Research Scientist): Environmental geophysics, climate change, coastal studies. Recent studies: Geophysical investigations of salinization; environmental applications of shallow seismic techniques; airborne electromagnetic investigations Lower Rio Grande Valley.
reedy,bob Bob Reedy (Research Scientist Associate): Hydrology, unsaturated zone hydrology, monitoring. Recent studies: Monitoring of natural settings and engineered barriers in semi-arid settings; monitoring of unsaturated zone on Southern High Plains.
scanlon,bridget Bridget Scanlon (Senior Research Scientist): Unsaturated zone hydrology, groundwater recharge, engineered barriers, karst hydrology. Recent studies: Vadose zone studies of semi-arid environments; recharge of Edwards aquifer; enhanced recharge of High Plains aquifer.
tremblay,tom Tom Tremblay (Research Associate): Geographic Information Systems, remote sensing, physical geography. Recent studies: GIS applications for coastal studies, shoreline change analysis, and geologic hazards; GIS database development in Texas-Mexico border area.
Texas Natural Science Center
cannatella,dean David Cannatella (Curator of Herpetology): Reptile and amphibian biodiversity and evolution. Research seeks to document the conservation status of selected species of amphibians and reptiles in Texas and the southwest through field studies with long-term monitoring of selected sites.
hendrickson,dean Dean Hendrickson (Curator of Ichthyology): Phylogeny, evolution, ecology and conservation of freshwater fishes and aquatic habitats, focusing on western North America (U.S.A. and Mexico). Studies of karst biota provide indicators of aquifer interconnections, with an eye toward applications of such data in environmental impact assessments throughout the large karst regions of Texas and northeastern Mexico.
laDuc,travis Travis J. LaDuc (Assistant Curator of Herpetology, Lecturer): LaDuc's research focuses on the spatial and temporal distribution of herpetological biodiversity across the southwest, particularly using data collected from field studies in Texas.  His research also focuses on the natural history of Texas reptiles and amphibians, including spatial ecology, feeding behavior, and morphology.
reddell James Reddell (Curator of Non-Arthropod Invertebrates): Systematics, taxonomy and ecology and conservation of karst invertebrates of Texas, Mexico and Central America.
theriot, ed Edward C. Theriot (Professor and Director): Aquatic biology with an emphasis on systematics and ecology of diatoms, especially diatom evolution in the context of environmental change. Research goals are to improve understanding of the utility of diatoms as environmental indicators, particularly as indicators of naturally occurring local and global climate change.
College of Natural Sciences:  Marine Science Institute
amos Anthony F. Amos (Research Fellow): Tides and weather along the Texas coast. Marine mammal stranding network, Animal Rescue Program.
arnold connie Connie Arnold (Professor Emeritus): Maturation and spawning, egg and larval development, growth requirements of marine organisms, designing and testing seawater systems, fish and invertebrate utilization of seagrass meadows as a nursery area.
black bryan Bryan Black (Assistant Professor): Long-term relationships among productivity, growth, and climate; climate reconstruction; linkages among marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems; application of dendrochronology (tree-ring analysis) to growth increments of fish, mollusk, and coral species; forest ecology and influence of terrestrial processes on the nearshore environment
buskey Edward J. Buskey (Professor): Marine plankton ecology, sensory perception and behavior of marine organisms, bioluminescence of marine organisms.
dunton,ken Kenneth H. Dunton (Professor): Physiological ecology, in situ productivity, and trophic relations in estuarine marsh, seagrass and algal communities; photosynthetic performance and UV effects on arctic and antarctic macroalgae. Application of remote sensing and GIS in landscape and global change studies.
fuiman,lee Lee A. Fuiman (Chairman and Professor, Department of Marine Science Director): Biology and ecology of fishes, especially fish larvae, including behavioral and physiological ecology and organismal biology. Studies include predator-prey interactions and the effects of natural and anthropogenic environmental variations on survival, growth, and health of fishes.
gardner Wayne S. Gardner (Professor): Nitrogen dynamics in the water column and sediments, nutrient-organism interactions in coastal ecosystems, ammonium regeneration, nitrification, denitrification, microbial food web dynamics.
holt G. Joan Holt (Professor Emeritus): Larval fish ecology and aquaculture with emphasis on biological and physical factors that limit larval fish growth and development. Research in Holt's lab includes studies of feeding dynamics; ontogenic changes in nutritional requirements; larval fish transport and mechanism of recruitment to estuarine nursery grounds.
mcclelland James W. McClelland (Assistant Professor): Jim's interests are in the effects of human activity on water, carbon, and nutrient fluxes from land to sea, responses of estuarine and coastal food webs to changes in land-derived resources, and the use of natural tracers to follow water and water-borne constituents across the land-sea interface.
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Sara Pelleteri (Program Director): Marine Education, visiting class program, teacher workshops, UT-Mustang Island Elderhostel programs, program development for Wetlands Education Center on-site at UTMSI.

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Peter Thomas (Professor): Fish reproductive physiology, purification and molecular actions of hormones, environmental endocrinology, applications of endocrinology of fish culture, biochemical and environmental toxicology of marine fishes, especially reproduction.
villareal Tracy Villareal (Professor): Phytoplankton ecology, including growth physiology, ecology and biogeochemistry of oceanic phytoplankton; harmful algal blooms including physiological ecology and occurrence/distribution along the Texas coast. Villareal's lab uses a combination of laboratory culture and field assays to determine what regulates phytoplankton species and the role individual species or groups of species play in biogeochemical cycling.
liu Zhanfei Liu (Assistant Professor): Dr. Zhanfei Liu is an organic geochemist, looking at source, transport, and transformation of organic compounds in terrestrial and marine environments. Dr. Liu is interested in using advanced analytical techniques such as mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance to study geochemical behaviors of organic compounds. Dr. Liu's interests also include making biofuel from algae.
College of Natural Sciences: Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
anslyn Eric V. Anslyn (Professor): Synthetic organic chemistry, molecular recognition; development of novel synthetic receptors for monitoring and quantitation of herbicides and insecticides in water (in collaboration with Jonathan Sessler); development of immobilization methods for creation of sensor arrays (in collaboration with John McDevitt and Dean Neikirk).
broadbelt,jennifer Jennifer S. Brodbelt (Professor): Analytical chemistry, mass spectrometry; development of novel mass spectrometric strategies for monitoring and quantitation of pesticides in ground water and soil, with emphasis on fire ant killers; development of new mass spectrometric methods to characterize binding selectivities of novel organic macrocyclic ligands for waste remediation.
ellington,andy Andy Ellington: The Ellington lab works on the develoment of biosensors and platforms that can be used for environmental monitoring. They also develop tools for metabolic engineering that can be used for the development of biofuels and bioprospecting.
holcombe,jim James A. Holcombe (Professor): Analytical chemistry, atomic spectroscopy; design of metal binding chelators formed from biopolymers (polypeptides) that have unique selectivities and can be immobilized with activity retained on a number of different substrates and can be used in remediation; metals of interest include heavy metals and transition metals.
krische,michael Michael J. Krische (Professor): Synthetic organic chemistry, catalytic reaction development; green chemistry for the value-added manipulation of basic chemical feedstocks, development of hydrogen-mediated C-C bond formations and related transformations that circumvent stoichiometric generation of chemical byproducts.
mcdevitt,john John T. McDevitt (Professor): Materials chemistry; development of new microfabricated sensor arrays that function analogous to an "electronic tongue" in which photochemical sensors are capable of discriminating different analytes, toxins, and bacteria.
wilson,grant C. Grant Willson (Professor): Polymers, photoresists; development of new water-compatible photoresists for environmental applications.
 College of Natural Sciences: School of Biological Sciences
abbott, john John C. Abbott (Lecturer; Research Associate with the Texas Memorial Museum; Curator of the Brackenridge Field Laboratory Insect Collection): Abbott's research focuses on the biodiversity, systematics, ecology and behavior of Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies). He also studies the population and evolutionary ecology of aquatic insects and their usefulness as biological indicators of stream and watershed health. Additional interests include the biodiversity and evolutionary ecology of lamellicorn beetles (Scarabaeoidea).
bull,jim James Bull (Johann Friedrich Miescher Regents Professor in Molecular Biology): Current research is oriented toward solving basic questions about evolution mechanisms, specifically the evolutionary significance of recombination and sex, molecular genetics of adaptations, selfish genes, and cooperation. Research organisms are chiefly bacteriophage because of the ease of laboratory manipulations afforded by them.
fowler,norma Norma Fowler (Professor): Dr. Fowler's research encompasses the composition and maintenance of natural ecosystems, particularly the grasslands of central Texas. These studies involve studying the effects of herbivory and competition in structuring communities.
gilbert,larry Lawrence E. Gilbert (Professor; Director, Brackenridge Field Laboratory): Current research ranges from the analysis of coevolved traits of insects and plants to experimental population dynamics and developmental genetics of mimetic color patterns in Heliconius butterflies, and the mechanisms of evolution and coevolution and rain forest diversity.
gonzalez,laura Laura Gonzalez (Lecturer): I am an Ecologist interested in both basic and applied population and community ecology of both marine and terrestrial organisms. Along the population lines, I am interested in the effect that the spatial dynamics of populations have on population productivity and on limiting species geographic ranges. My research approaches have included large-scale data synthesis from museum and lab specimens, and from publications as well as large-scale field sampling of bird populations in forests of western Mexico and marine intertidal invertebrates along the NE Pacific coast.
hawkes,christina Christine Hawkes (Assistant Professor): Ecology has traditionally been an aboveground field of study, both conceptually and practically. Yet the more we explore belowground, the more evidence we have that soil microorganisms are fundamental to the functioning of aboveground communities and ecosystems. My current research is aimed at a mechanistic understanding of how plant-microbe interactions affect community and ecosystem processes. I am also interested in how these relationships will be influenced by alterations in climate, land-use, and species invasions. Recently I have begun using exotic species invasions as model systems, as they provide both novel interactions and a range of interaction histories.
hillis,david David Hillis (Alfred W. Roark Centennial Professor in Natural Sciences and Director of School of Biological Sciences): Systematics is the focus Hillis' research using the techniques of molecular genetics to study relationships among populations species, and higher taxa. General areas of interest include phylogenetic relationships, speciation patterns and mechanisms, molecular evolution (including the use of experimental systems), and the consequences of hybridization and hybrid zones.
jackson,robert Robert Jackson (Adjunct): The movements of carbon and other substances through plant communities. His research has focused in part on the effects of global warming on the plant communities via changes in atmospheric and soil chemistry.
jansen,robert Robert K. Jansen (Professor): The interface of systematics and evolution. His work has utilized information from phylogenetic studies as a guide to conservation priorities. He and his students have also looked at the role hybridization of invasive species with native species has played in the extinction of endemic plants.
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 Shalene Jha (Assistant Professor): landscape genetics, population ecology, community ecology, conservation biology, and foraging ecology.  Students and researchers in the lab are investigating how global land use change influences gene flow, foraging patterns, and population viability for plants and animals.  Specifically, the lab is actively conducting research on plant and pollinator landscape ecology, plant and pollinator population genetics and disease ecology, and the provision of ecosystem services (e.g., pollination) within human-altered landscapes in California, Texas, Panama, and Mexico.
keitt,tim Timothy Keitt (Associate Professor): Dr. Keitt’s research focuses on: land use change and conservation in Madagascar, network theory applied to habitat-based conservation planning, and spatial and temporal scaling in ecological dynamics.
kirkpatrick,mark Mark Kirkpatrick (Professor): Research in this laboratory involves evolutionary biology using mathematical models of evolution. One area of particular interest is sexual selection and the understanding of how the elaborate male mating displays evolve. Another area of research is the evolution of morphological growth, shape, and phenotypic plasticity.
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Mathew Liebold (Professor): Research in the lab focuses on community ecology but spans everything from functional genomics to ecosystems!  We generally combine experimental, theoretical, and statistical studies to develop an integrated approach to address different questions.  We also generally study aquatic systems.
linder Craig Linder (Associate Professor): the evolution of complex character traits in a phylogenetic context, the genetic architecture of species, and genetic maternal effects in seeds. I use modern molecular techniques, computer modeling, and traditional experimental approaches. My primary work is the evolution of angiosperm seed-oil composition. I study the selective forces that have generated the wide variety of oil in seeds, especially the balance between saturated and unsaturated oils. I am also involved in a project with Dr. Loren Rieseberg of Indiana University to develop simulation models that test how different levels and types of selection affect the genetic architecture of hybrids and populations experiencing introgression. Finally, I am using Brassica rapa (a wild mustard) as a model system to test how maternal effects influence the fitness and performance of seeds.
maguire,basset Basset Maguire (Professor): Structure and function in ecological communities are related to each other by a formidable complex of causes and effects. Dr. Maguire's interest is in how the more determinative interactions affect characteristics and dynamics of communities and community sub-systems. To investigate this, he uses small aquatic systems (of algae, protozoa, micro-metazoa, etc).
meyers,lauren Lauren Ancel Meyers (Associate Professor, Section of Integrative Biology): Using a combination of theory, simulation, and microbial experimentation, the Meyers lab addresses problems at the interface of evolution and epidemiology. We build contact network models for predicting and controlling the spread of infectious diseases; study RNA structural evolution through simulation and bioinformatics; and investigate the evolution multispecies bacterial biofilms in vitro.
mueller,ulrich Ulrich Mueller (William Morton Wheeler-Lost Pines Professor): Behavioral Ecology and Molecular Ecology: Dr. Mueller's research aims at understanding the evolution of organismal interactions, particularly the evolution of mutualisms and the evolution of social conflict and cooperation. Current research focuses on the coevolution between fungus-growing ants and their fungi and the evolutionary ecology of halictine bees.
panero,jose José L. Panero (Associate Professor): Dr. Panero has been involved in research of the floras of sensitive tropical areas such as the rainforests of southern Mexico. He is documenting the diversity in these areas and helping to describe the biotic diversity found there before it is lost through habitat destruction.
parmesean,cam Camille Parmesan (Associate Professor): Biotic responses to global warming; foraging behavior and evolution of diet in butterflies.
pianka,eric Eric Pianka (Denton A. Cooley Centennial Professor): This research involves studies on population and community ecology, evolutionary ecology, resource partitioning, reproductive tactics, foraging theory, thermoregulation, metapopulations, biogeography, species diversity, computer simulation of model systems, emergent properties of ecological systems, disturbance, succession, and landscape ecology.
rankin,maryann Mary Ann Rankin (Professor Section of Integrative Biology; former Dean, College of Natural Sciences): Research in this laboratory focuses on the physiological basis of insect behavior and life history characteristics. Recent research projects include: analyses of the hormonal, environmental and genetic factors controlling migratory behavior and reproductive development in several species of migratory insects; investigation of the hormonal basis of wing polymorphism in insects; and analysis of various aspects of circadian rhythms in honeybees, especially as they relate to foraging activity.
richardson,dick Dick Richardson (Professor): Our research interests relate to ecological restoration and conservation, particularly of prairies. We have found that functioning of the soil ecosystem is critical for establishing and maintaining a healthy plant community, and the recycling of organic matter from above ground growth to below ground communities of species is greatly facilitated by herbivory, particular by large ungulates like bison, and even livestock. For examples, there are links from the class web site for Natural Resource Management
ryan,michael Michael Ryan (Clark Hubbs Regents Professor in Zoology): The evolution and mechanisms of animal behavior to address sexual selection and communication in frogs, and more recently, in fish; developing an integrated understanding of the mechanisms of communication involved in mate attraction with the evolutionary consequences of sexual selection.
schneider dennis Dennis Schneider (Adjunct Associate Professor): adjunct associate professor in the Department of Microbiology at UT-Austin since 1986. He has taught courses in biotechnology, introductory microbiology, microbial biochemistry and physiology as well as microbial ecology. Employed full time as Corporate Vice President and Director of Research and Development for a private biotechnology company located in Round Rock, Texas, he has worked in various aspects of the biotechnology industry for over 15 years.
simpson,beryl Beryl B. Simpson (C. L. Lundell Chair of Systematic Botany): Dr. Simpson studies the systematics and biogeography of flowering plants and is the Associate Director of the Plant Resources Center. Her work documents present and past distributions of plants in Texas, Mexico, and South America as well as their evolutionary histories.
singer,michael Michael C. Singer (Professor): Singer studies the evolution of diet breadth in plant-feeding insects and the origin and significance of correlations between oviposition preference of female insects and performance of their offspring.
 College of Natural Sciences: Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
harshey Rasika M. Harshey (Professor): Swarming motility in E. coli: a model for understanding surface signal transduction. Microbial cells can adsorb to almost any interface in an aqueous environment. Their subsequent growth and reproduction results in a microbial biofilm. These biofilms play a major role in medicine, industrial productivity and aquatic ecology.
meyerruchard Richard J. Meyer (Professor): Most plasmids in Gram-negative bacteria have a restricted host-range but some groups are widely distributed among unrelated genera. These plasmids are disseminated primarily by conjugation, which can result in DNA transfer to other bacterial species and into eukaryotes. His laboratory studies how plasmid DNA is processed for conjugal transfer.
Molineux, Ian Ian J. Molineux (Professor): Genetics and molecular biology of host-parasite interactions and mechanisms of translocating DNA across cellular compartments. Collaborative projects include molecular evolution and adaptation using bacteriophages as models, bacteriophage growth in bacterial biofilms, and, with geologists, in microbial transformations and biodiversity in mineral deposition and dissolution, bioremediation, and in seismically active environments.
College of Natural Sciences: Department of Physics
marder Michael Marder (Professor): Michael Marder's research concerns networks of interacting objects, how they hold together, and how they fail. Much of the work concerns the physics of materials, including fracture of brittle materials, and the physics of friction. Some of it concerns networks of people, including students in educational systems. He has written two texts, one on graduate Condensed Matter Physics, and one for undergraduates describing Research Methods in Science. He is co-founder and co-director of the UTeach program at UT Austin to prepare secondary science and mathematics teachers.
College of Natural Sciences: School of Human Ecology
Snodderly,Max D. Max Snodderly (Professor, Human Ecology/Nutritional Sciences and Institute for Neuroscience): Professor Snodderly studies primate visual systems and effects of nutrition on the retina. He teaches International Nutrition: Social and Environmental Policies (NTR 360), a course that examines relationships between nutritional needs of humans and social and environmental policies.
School of Architecture:  Community and Regional Planning Program
dooling Sarah Dooling (Assistant Professor, Urban Ecology): I am interested in the patterns and processes associated with urbanization, with an emphasis on vulnerable populations (e.g., low-income families and water birds) and vulnerable spaces (e.g., urban parks, urban creeks and gentrifying neighborhoods). Integrating natural and social science disciplines, my work focuses on the ways in which social and ecological components of urban systems come together in unanticipated ways.
moore,steven Steven Moore (Project Manager) Moore teaches design and a series of courses related to the philosophy, history, and application of environmental technology. These topics naturally lead to the critical study of Design With Climate issues and "sustainability" as a cultural phenomenon.
Robert Paterson (Associate Professor) Robert Paterson, an award winning instructor, teaches graduate level courses in Environmental Impact Assessment, Brownfield Redevelopment, Natural Hazard Mitigation, Growth Management, Public Policy Dispute Resolution, Public Finance, and Growth Management. Dr. Paterson is also active in professional planning practice within Texas, providing multiple opportunities for professional development seminars and conferences for Texas APA planners. He has served on numerous state and regional planning advisory boards and task forces, the Texas APA Board as Awards Chair and Education Foundation member, and is a regular contributor to the annual Texas APA conference.
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Bjorn Sletto (Associate Professor; Ph.D. Program Coordinator for Community & Regional Planning): Latin American planning and development, participatory planning, environmental and social justice, social theory; His current research focuses on indigenous land rights and environmental conflict in the Perija mountains on the Colombia-Venezuela border, and the ways in which these issues articulate with environmental planning and environmental justice in the Lake Maracaibo region.
College of Liberal Arts: Department of Geography and the Environment
arima Eugenio Arima (Assistant Professor): Dr. Arima's research interest lies under the broad theme of land cover and land use change (LUCC). He is particularly interested in modeling how LUCC manifests spatially using a combination of quantitative tools such as econometrics, geographic information systems, computer simulations, and remote sensing. He uses behavioral models (e.g. microeconomic models) to describe the motivations that drive humans to act upon and transform landscapes. 
butzer Karl W. Butzer (Dickson Professor of Liberal Arts and Director, Applied Geomorphology and Geoecology Laboratory): Butzer, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, studies and teaches about geomorphology, climate and global environmental change, geoarchaeology, and human adaptations to environmental change in Africa, Spain, Australia, and Mexico. He is currently leading a multi-year project studying Holocene climate and fluvial system changes in the Texas/Mexico borderlands.
Crews-Meyer,Kelley Kelley A. Crews-Meyer (Assistant Professor, Digital Remote Sensing): Remote sensing, GISc, regional and global change, Amazonian Ecuador, Thailand. Director, GISc Center. She manages (with Paul Hudson) the Digital Landscape Laboratory for remote sensing analysis of water resources and land use land cover change, and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in remote sensing and GISc.
dana,peter Peter Dana (Lecturer and Research Fellow): geographic information science, global positioning systems, participatory mapping, cultural geography
doolittle, william William E. Doolittle (Erich W. Zimmermann Regents Professor and Chair, Department of Geography and the Environment): Doolittle's work focuses on arid land and water management over time, with a focus on the American Southwest, northern Mexico, and Spain. A current research project is the impact of volcanic ashfalls on arid water conservation by crop plants. Doolittle teaches courses on agricultural ecosystems, geographical and GPS field methods, and Mexico/Southwest.
dougthy,robin Robin Doughty (Professor Emeritus). Doughty works on issues of cultural biogeography, including the place of animals and birds in human life. He has worked on a variety of Texas birds (including the whooping crane) and is currently studying the Albatross in the circumpolar South.
holz Robert K. Holz (Zimmermann Professor Emeritus): Holz introduced remote sensing to the University of Texas, authoring one of the first textbooks in the subject and developing both undergraduate and graduate classes and research facilities. He specializes in the application of remote sensing to the solution of environmental problems, especially in the Middle East and Texas/Mexico borderlands.
hudson_paul Paul F. Hudson (Associate Professor): Hudson's area of specialty is in fluvial geomorphology, with regional interests in Gulf Coastal Plain river systems. His major areas of research and teaching include: (1) river channel adjustment in alluvial river systems, particularly due to human impacts from engineering and land cover change, (2) discharge and suspended sediment transport dynamics, (3) channel metamorphosis in response to climate change and sea-level rise during the Holocene, (4) Geographic Information Systems.
Kimmel, troy Troy Kimmel (Lecturer and member, American Meteorological Society): Kimmel's area of specialization is hazardous and extreme weather. He teaches a course on hazardous weather, using web-based modules. He also teaches the university's introductory course on weather and climate.
Knapp, Gregory Gregory W. Knapp (Associate Professor): Knapp works on adaptive dynamics, modeling changes in human-environment relations as related to the microscale patterning of soil and water in mountain and desert environments. He has worked on impacts of global climate change on the high Andes, and is currently working on the long term impact of volcanic eruptions on adaptive strategies in Ecuador.
latrubesse Edgardo Latrubesse (Associate Professor): the Neogene paleogeography, paleohydrology and paleoecology of Tropical South America, geomorphology, hydrology of large rivers and the impacts of human activities on large fluvial systems and tropical biomes.
Manners, Ian Ian Manners (Professor): Manners has worked on environmental aspects of oil and energy development in the North Sea and the Middle East; he is also interested in conservation issues in the Middle East and has often taught courses on conservation issues.
Perez, Francisco Francisco L. Perez (Professor and Director, Soils Laboratory): Perez studies plant ecology; he focuses on the relationships between plants, soils, microclimate, and geomorphic processes. Much of his work has focused on high mountain ecosystems in the Andes, Hawaii, and Sierra Nevada mountains of California. He teaches courses in process gemorphology, ecology of world vegetation, soils, mountain geoecology, and environmental systems.
simmons,mark Mark Simmons (Research Scientist): Simmmons researches landscape ecology and fire ecology at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, and teaches courses on ecological field techniques.
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Rebecca Torres (Assistant Professor): rural development and reduction of poverty in Latin America and in the Southern United States. Her research includes migration, agricultural change, and touristic development in developing countries in the context of globalization. She is currently conducting a comprehensive research, education, and community support project focused on rural transformation and Latino migration in the Southern United States and Mexico supported by the National Science Foundation.
YOung, Kenneth Kenneth R. Young (Professor): Conservation, ecological restoration issues, and ecosystem management, and have skills in landscape assessment and analysis using GIS and quantitative methods. He will teach courses and seminars in landscape ecology, international conservation, and field methods.

College of Liberal Arts: Department of Anthropology

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Samuel Wilson (Professor; Department Chair): prehistory and early contact period history of the Caribbean, and culture contact in the Americas more generally. He also studies the way new digital technologies allow the emergence of novel kinds of communities for dispersed groups, including Native Americans. He has carried out archaeological fieldwork throughout the Caribbean and North America, most recently on Cuba, the island of Nevis, and central Texas.

Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs

Eaton, J David David Eaton (Bess Harris Jones Centennial Professor in Natural Resource Policy Studies and Director, UT Austin Center for Environmental Resource Management in Latin America): Policy interests: environmental engineering; health; agriculture; international affairs.
Stolp, Chandler Chandler Stolp (Associate Professor; Director, Center for Inter-American Policy Studies) Stolp is an applied statistician and economist with interests in research methods, policy decision making, regional development, and U.S.-Latin American relations. His research focuses on western hemispheric economic integration, regional economics, and public sector productivity.
Cockrell School of Engineering: Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
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Michael F. Blackhurst (Assistant Professor): Michael Blackhurst evaluates the life-cycle of public and private impacts of sustainable building technologies under system constraints.
corsi rich Richard L. Corsi (Professor, E.C.H. Bantel Professor for Professional Practice): Indoor air quality. Sources, fate, and control of indoor air pollution. Homogeneous and heterogeneous indoor environmental chemistry. Human exposure to toxins in indoor environments.
Hodges, Ben Ben R. Hodges (Associate Professor): Ben Hodges' area of expertise is in environmental and water resources engineering. His technical interests include hydrodynamics, transport and water quality issues in lakes, rivers and estuaries.
katz lynn Lynn E. Katz (Professor, John A. Focht Centennial Teaching Fellowship in Civil Engineering): Dr. Katz's teaching interests include aquatic chemistry, surface and interfacial phenomena, physicochemical treatment processes for water and wastewater and biological wastewater treatment. Her research has focused on the fate and transport of contaminants in natural and engineered systems. Specific research interests include the physicochemical processes which control the rate and extent of partitioning of organic and inorganic contaminants to soils and sediments, evaluation of physicochemical and integrated biological/physicochemical processes for removal of contaminants from water and wastewater, and elucidation of reaction mechanisms at mineral/water interfaces.
kirisits mary jo Mary Jo Kirisits (Associate Professor):Dr. Kirisits's teaching interests include water and wastewater treatment processes, particularly biological processes, biofilms, environmental microbiology, and molecular biology. Her research emphasizes the importance of applying the tools of molecular biology and microbiology to better understand and optimize the performance of biological treatment processes and to prevent their catastrophic failure.
 
lawler des Desmond F. Lawlor (Professor, Nasser I. Al-Rashid Chair in Civil Engineering, Distinguished Teaching Professor): Dr. Lawler's research interests focus on physical/chemical treatment processes for drinking water and wastewater, with a special emphasis on particle removal processes; the experimental measurements and mathematical modeling of changes in particle size distributions have long been a hallmark of his research. Recent work has focused on improving membrane treatment processes, including the effects of fouling on low pressure membranes and improving recovery from high-pressure membranes used for desalination.  Other interests include interactions among treatment processes, resource conservation and pollution prevention in industrial settings, and appropriate technology for developing countries.
 
Maidment, David David Maidment (Professor, Hussein M. Alharthy Centennial Chair in Civil Engineering): David Maidment is a specialist in surface water hydrology, and in particular in the application of geographic information systems to hydrology. He has been cooperating in this field with ESRI, manufacturers of Arc/Info and ArcView. He and his research team have current projects applying GIS for flood plain mapping, water quality modeling, water resources assessment, hydrologic simulation, surface water-groundwater interaction, and global hydrology.
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Daene C. McKinney (W.A. Cunningham Professor, Associate Chair for Administration and Planning): Sustainable management of water resources, transboundary river basins, optimization, uncertainty analysis, climate change adaptation, glacier-dominated river basins, cooperative game theory in water.

 
Reible, Danny Danny Reible (Bettie Margaret Smith Chair of Environmental Health Engineering): Dr. Reible is the Bettie Margaret Smith Chair of Environmental Health Engineering a the University of Texas and Director of the EPA supported Hazardous Substance Research Center/South & Southwest, a consortium of Louisiana State, Rice, and Texas A&M Univeristies, Georgia Tech and the University of Texas. Dr. Reible leads both fundamental and applied efforts in the assessment and management of risks of hazardous substances, especially as they apply to contaminated sediments. Dr. Reible has led the development of in-situ sediment capping and currently leads a large demonstration of active capping technologies in the Anacostia River in Washington DC.
Cockrell School of Engineering:  McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering
Allen, David David T. Allen (Melvin H. Gertz Regents Chair in Chemical Engineering and the Director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Resources at the University of Texas at Austin): Dr. Allen’s research addresses issues related to air quality in Texas. He was a lead investigator in one of the largest and most successful air quality studies ever undertaken: the Texas Air Quality Study (www.utexas.edu/research/ceer/texaqs). His current work is focused on using the results from that study to provide a sound scientific basis for air quality management in Texas.
alper,hal Hal Alper (Assistant Professor): Dr. Alper’s research is in the area of cellular and metabolic engineering. The goal of this work is to engineer a variety of host cells to produce important chemicals such as biofuels, pharmaceuticals, and other industrial commodity chemicals. Alper’s approaches focus on the integration and implementation of genetic tools and knowledge for the design, production, and elicitation of phenotypes relevant to biotechnological processes and medical interest.
korgel brian Brian Korgel (Temple Professor, Matthew Van Winkle Regents Professorship in Chemical Engineering, Temple FDN Endowed Teaching Fellowship in ENG #1, Director, Industry/University Cooperative Research Center on Next Generation Photovoltaics): Develop new methods for synthesizing nanostructured materials, fabricating devices based upon these materials, and studying their properties.  Nanotechnology can be defined as the study of material properties and interactions on a nanometer length scale. Our experimental group focuses on investigating size-tunable material properties, and the rational self-assembly and fabrication of nanostructures with atomic detail. This research finds applications in microelectronics and photonics, spintronics, coatings, sensors and biotechnology.
Mullins,Buddie Charles Buddie Mullins (Professor of Chemical Engineering and Z. D. Bonner Professorship): Professor Mullins has expertise in surface chemical kinetics and dynamics. He is currently studying the interactions between atmospheric gases and model aerosol surfaces and in particular water-ice surfaces and organic surfaces constructed of self-assembled monolayers. Ultrahigh vacuum, surface science, and molecular beam techniques are employed in these studies.

Cockrell School of Engineering:  Department of Mechanical Engineering

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Michael E. Webber (Associate Professor, Co-Director - Clean Energy Incubator, Josey Centennial Fellow in Energy Resources): Michael Webber is the Josey Centennial Fellow in Energy Resources, Co-Director of the Clean Energy Incubator at the Austin Technology Incubator, and Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, where he trains a new generation of energy leaders through research and education at the intersection of engineering, policy, and commercialization. He has authored more than 150 scientific articles, columns, books and book chapters, including a compendium of his commentary titled Changing the Way America Thinks About Energy, which was published in May 2009.

College of Pharmacy

richburg,john John H. Richburg  (Associate Professor, Head, Division of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Director, Toxicology Training Program, and Director, Center for Molecular and Cellular Toxicology): Dr. Richburg's laboratory research is focused on elucidating the mechanisms of testicular injury culminating in germ cell death after exposure to environmental toxicants. Current projects are centered on understanding the signaling systems that play a role in toxicant-induced germ cell death via apoptosis, or programmed cell death. Recent work has implicated the Fas signaling system in the initiation of germ cell apoptosis induced by environmental toxicants.
Toxicology Graduate Program

School of Law

adelman David Adelman (Professor; Harry Reasoner Regents Chair in Law): David E. Adelman teaches and writes in the areas of environmental law, intellectual property law, and climate change policy. Professor Adelman’s research focuses on the many interfaces between law and science. His articles have addressed such topics as the implications of emerging genomic technologies for toxics regulation, the tensions between legal and scientific evidentiary standards in regulatory decision making, and development of effective policies for promoting innovation relevant to addressing climate change.
  
hansen Patricia Hansen (J. Waddy Bullion Professor) has taught at the University of Texas School of Law since 1994. She currently holds the J. Waddy Bullion Professorship in Law and is Director of the dual degree program in Law and Latin American Studies. A prominent scholar in the area of international economic law, Professor Hansen has published numerous articles on the interplay between international economic law and environmental and consumer protection and dispute settlement in regional trade agreements. She has also done significant work on projects aimed at strengthening the rule of law in Latin America, and is a member of the American Law Institute and the Board of Directors of the U.S.-Mexico Bar Association.
taylor melinda Melinda Taylor (Senior Lecturer; Executive Director, Center for Global Energy, International Arbitration, Environmental Law): Melinda E. Taylor joined the faculty of the Law School in January 2006. Prior to joining the faculty, she was the director of the Ecosystem Restoration Program of Environmental Defense where she managed a staff of attorneys, scientists and economists engaged in projects to protect endangered species and water resources across the United States. Taylor has also served as deputy general counsel of the National Audubon Society in Washington, D.C. and was an associate at Bracewell & Patterson in Washington.

McCombs School of Business

DyerJames.jpg James S. Dyer (The Fondren Foundation Centennial Chair In Business, Ph.D., Department of Management Science and Information Systems): Dr. Dyer's research and teaching interests include risk management and capital budgeting, including work related to the management of environmental risks. For example, he designed the decision process and performed the analysis used by NASA to select the trajectories for the Voyager Spacecraft. These two spacecraft successfully accomplished their mission of gathering scientific information regarding Saturn, Jupiter, and their moons. More recently, he was asked by the Department of Energy (DOE) to lead a team to evaluate alternatives for the disposition of weapons-usable plutonium that remains when nuclear weapons are disassembled.
GoldenLinda.jpg Linda Golden (Marlene and Morton Meyerson Centennial Professor In Business, Ph.D., Department of Marketing Administration): Linda Golden's research areas include advertising, consumer behavior, process improvement/redesign.

The University of Texas School of Public Health

oluyomi

Abiodun Oluyomi (Post-doctoral Fellow, Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living): With background trainings in environmental design and management and advanced research trainings in environmental health sciences, epidemiology, and community health, Dr. Abiodun (Abi) Oluyomi's research goals are to work intensively on elucidating the inherent connection between environmental phenomena and population health. Abi is interested in understanding the intricacies of how global climate change may affect human health; researching the acceptability and effectiveness of proposed behavioral changes to limit anthropogenic contributions to global climate change; and examining potential health effects of the various climate-change mitigation strategies (e.g. alternative energy sources).

 

College of Education: Department of Curriculum and Instruction

BarufaldiJames James P. Barufaldi (Ruben E. Hinojosa Regents Professor In Education And Distinguished Teaching Professor, Ph.D.): Barufaldi's special areas of interests are curriculum design, instructional strategies, implementation, evaluation, professional development, and science teacher education. He is currently investigating the process of building successful collaboratives in the science education community and variables, which may contribute to high intensity, sustained collaboration.
College of Communication:  Department of Advertising
dudo Anthony Dudo (Associate Professor): the intersection of science, media, and society. He is particularly interested in media representations of science and environmental issues, scientists’ public communication activities and interactions with journalists and strategic communicators, and the effects of informational and entertainment media on public understanding of science. Some of his recent work has identified factors influencing scientists’ likelihood to engage in public communication, the effects of television entertainment programs on public perceptions of science, and media depictions of health pandemics and controversial biomedical and technological innovations.
 
KahlorLeeann Lee Ann Kahlor (Assistant Professor): Kahlor looks at predictors of public knowledge, information seeking, and information processing concerning personal health risks (e.g., consumption of contaminated water) and risks to the environment (e.g., pollution of the Great Lakes). She is currently studying how and why some people actively seek information about global warming and others actively avoid it.
College of Fine Arts:  Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music
bobduke Robert A. Duke (Professor, Director of the Center for Music Learning): Duke's research on human learning and behavior spans several disciplines, including music, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience. His most recent work explores cognition during improvisatory behavior and procedural memory consolidation.
External Collaborators
keisling Richard Kiesling (Hydrologist, USGS): Dr. Richard L. Kiesling is an aquatic ecologist and limnologist with USGS. He holds a B.S. in Biology from the University of Minnesota (1980) and a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of Michigan (1990) with specialization in limnology and community ecology. He is currently a Hydrologist and Water Quality Specialist with the Minnesota Water Science Center.  Dr. Kiesling’s current research includes studies of the effects of endocrine disruption on lake fish communities and the effects of land use and hydrologic modifications on nutrient fate and transport in aquatic ecosystems.
litvak Marcy Litvak (Assistant Professor, Ecosystem Ecology and Plant Physiological Ecology, University of New Mexico): how processes that exchange carbon, water and energy between the land surface and the atmosphere vary across ecological gradients.   We use a tower-based micrometeorological technique called eddy covariance to measure whole ecosystem fluxes directly to develop a mechanistic understanding of the factors that control ecosystem processes such as carbon storage, water cycling and energy balance from a variety of biomes.  Increased societal attention to the goods and services provided by the biosphere increases the importance of being able to quantify variability in carbon and water fluxes at a wide range of spatial and temporal scales.  To do this, we not only need to understand ecosystem processes in intact, undisturbed ecosystems, but also how these processes change in response to large-scale disturbances (e.g. fire, insect outbreak, afforestation, deforestation, climate change, etc.).
mahler Barbara Mahler (Research Hydrologist, USGS): Reconstruction of contaminant histories using lake cores; identification and evaluation of contaminant sources; sources and fate of PAHs (including parking lot sealcoat). Karst water quality; use of aqueous geochemistry to understand karst systems; relations between recharge and spring discharge.
matthews john John Matthews (Adjunct Professor, Ecology at Colorado State University; Director, Freshwater Climate Change at Conservation International): My work with Conservation International focuses on developing and implementing strategies for global freshwater ecosystems to adapt and build resilience to the current period of climate shifts, from on-the-ground management approaches at individual wetlands to high-level national and international climate adaptation policy. I work in about a dozen countries. My current scientific research focuses on the impacts of climate change on the hydrological cycle of wetlands in the Great Basin of North America.
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 John McCray (Director Environmental Science and Engineering Division, Colorado School of Mines): chemical transport in hydrologic systems, generally utilize some combination of field, laboratory, and modeling work.   Current projects include: potential release and transport of metals in groundwater due to CO2 leaking into overlying aquifers during carbon sequestration; geochemical reactions that influence porosity and permeability during carbon injection into saline aquifers, including the impacts on cap rocks; impact of the mountain pine beetle on hydrology and chemical transport in Rocky Mountain watersheds; transport, interphase mass-transfer and remediation of flourinated hydrocarbons in groundwater; chemical and bio remediation in fractured rock aquifers; using polymer solutions to enhance delivery of remediation agents to lower-permeability media; fate and transformation of nitrogen, pharmaceuticals and other emerging organics in the vadose zone during soil-based wastewater treatment; nitrogen contamination of springs in western Florida, and joint sustainability of water resources and petroleum-energy production.
montagna Paul Montagna (Endowed Chair for Ecosystems and Modeling, Texas A&M University Corpus Christi): Through his work, Dr. Montagna incorporates a long-term viewpoint. His research to understand the response of estuary ecosystems and organisms such as mollusks, crustaceans, and polychaetes, to freshwater inflow is accomplished by tracking the level of freshwater inflow, nutrients, sediments, and water column characteristics in the bays. One concern, for example, is the occurrence and effects of hypoxic (or "dead") zones and their effects on organisms. The goal of his research is to develop strategies to maintain bay productivity and health. 
schwinning Susan Schwinning (Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Texas State University): Susan is an assistant professor at Texas State University, San Marcos. Her area of expertise is the ecology of plants in arid and semi-arid regions, particularly the use of resource pulses by plants on time scales from days to decades. She is now pursuing this interest in the hydrologically complex environments of the Edwards Plateau to improve understanding of interactions between surface hydrology and plant physiological and population dynamics.
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Daniel Sinclair (Research Associate, Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University): Ph.D., The Australian National University.  Environmental Geochemistry.

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Libby Stern (Research Chemist, FBI Laboratory, Counterterrorism and Forensic Science Research Unit): stable isotope specialist.
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