Faculty Listed by Campus
umES
Marcos Cheney
macheney@umes.edu
Nanostructure technology for environmental, biomedical and clinical applications; surface chemistry; nuclear medicine; trace metals and radionuclides detection and removal; electrokinetic phenomena
Paulinus Chigbu
pchigbu@umes.edu
web site
Fisheries ecology; influence of variations in climatic factors on water quality and biota; culture of rotifers and copepods for use in rearing marine fish larvae; trophic dynamics in marine and freshwater environments; zooplankton ecology
Maurice Crawford (*currently not taking on students)
mkcrawford@umes.edu
web site
Estuarine habitat conservation/restoration; the dispersal and movement of organisms, and the interplay between science and policy.
Jonathan Cumming
jrcumming@umes.edu
web site
Plants exhibit a wide degree of variation in their ability to function under environmentally stressful conditions, such as nutrient deficiencies, drought, and toxins in soils. This variation reflects genetic pathways conferring stress resistance, including morphological and metabolic adjustments that overcome stress. Plant roots additionally cooperate with soil microbes in many ways, bring new capabilities to the host plant. These symbioses involve mycorrhizal fungi and a vast variety of bacteria that improve access soil resources, overcome limitations of saline and metalliferous soils, and broadly improve root metabolic function. We are currently growing various lines of poplar (Populus spp.) that have been selected for stress resistance, investigating drought tolerance, soil microbial communities, and the contribution of poplar trees and microbes to soil carbon sequestration as a means of mitigating climate change.
Kausik Das
kdas@umes.edu
Understanding of the capillary and wetting dynamics on under-sea bio-solid substrates, the role of viscous bio-films on contact line dynamics to reveal the micro-scale information of the under-liquid wetting transition, and use it into developing macroscopic tools and techniques to i) develop tools for characterization of under-water pollutant plumes and its impact on marine ecosystems; ii)Develop surfaces which will simultaneously behave as superhydrophobic (water repellant) and superleophobic (oil repellant); (iii) Develop efficient under-water structures with antifouling properties; iv) Develop novel micro-fluidic devices for mixing/demixing.
Robert Dadson
rbdadson@mail.umes.edu
International programs in soybean breeding; insect resistance of soybeans; agronomy and breeding of food enzymes; biological nitrogen fixation
Joseph Dodoo
jdodoo@umes-bird.umd.edu
Application of TG/MS/GC to the study of the spontaneous conbustion of low rank coals and lignites
Dia-Eldin Elnaiem
daelnaiem@umes.edu
web site
Biology of Leishmania parasites in their sand fly vectors; biology, ecology and population genetics of sand fly vectors of leishmaniasis in East Africa; epidemiology and control of visceral and cutaneous Leishmaniasis; epidemiology and control of malaria; ecology and control of mosquito vectors of disease in Maryland coastal bays.
Ali B. Ishaque
abishaque@umes.edu
web site
Environmental chemical stressors (organic, inorganic and microplastics). Fatty acid markers, stable isotope ratios and mercury concentrations to understand trophic relationships and how food web changes in relation to environmental factors and climate variability.
Andrea Karen Johnson
akjohnson@mail.umes.edu
web site
Assessing the health of Atlantic menhaden using several biomarkers of fish health: indicators of tissue damage, nutritional status and exposure to environmental stresors, immune function and disease
Madan Kharel (*currently not accepting students)
mkkharel@umes.edu
web site
Our lab seeks to identify bioactive natural products from marine resources. Our focus is to explore their potential applications both as therapeutics or their significance at local ecosystems. We utilize molecular biology, synthetic biology and bioorganic chemistry techniques to address research questions.
Eric B. May
ebmay@mail.umes.edu
web site
Effects of environmental contamination and habitat degradation on aquatic animal health; use of biochemical and metabolic indicators to determine the response of fish to injurious agents of conditions; establishment of clinical methods for non-lethal testing
Madhumi Mitra
mmitra@mail.umes.edu
Paleontology, paleocology and paleoenvironmental studies of cretaceous-quaternary sediments of atlantic coastal plain; factors impacting the decline of submerged aquatic vegetation; phytoplankton dynamics
Thoedore A. Mollett
tamollett@mail.umes.edu
Role of hormones in animal growth, reproduction and lactation
Abhijit Nagchaudhuri
anagchaudhuri@umes.edu
Integration of advanced technologies of mechatronics in the fields of precision agriculture, environmental, marine and geosciences; remote sensing and image analysis
Salina Parveen
sparveen@mail.umes.edu
Genotypic and phenotypic methods for detecting sources of fecal pollution in aquatic environments; rapid molecular and immunological methods for detection of water and food borne pathogens; improvement of safety and quality characteristics of seafood, poultry, produce
Joseph Pitula
jspitula@umes.edu
web site
PFAS contamination of environmental sites and its biological impacts
Stephanie Stotts
snstotts@umes.edu
web site
Dr. Stephanie Stotts is Associate Professor of Forest Ecology and faculty lead for UMES' Urban Forestry Program. Dr. Stotts is a dendroecologist with expertise in tree and root response to changing environmental conditions
Stephen Tomasetti
sjtomasetti@umes.edu
web site
Global change ecology with emphasis on warming, deoxygenation, and acidification; Shellfishes and biogenic habitats; Resilience and climate-adapted habitat restoration; Aquaculture and sustainable coastal food systems; Socio-ecological systems
Victoria Volkis
vvolkis@umes.edu
web site (under construction)
Natural plants in antifouling protection, the science of biofilm formation and prevention, polymeric resins for extraction of antioxidants, natural pants incapsulated into biodegradable polymers as natural pesticides.
Yan Waguespack
yywaguespack@umes.edu
web site
Lethal and sublethal responses of early life-stages of winter flounder to habitat contamination in their natal estuaries; sublethal physiological effects of heavy metal on ecologically key marine and aquatic organisms by using 31P NMR, AAS and ICP-AES; characterization of high molecular weight mucin-like glycoconjugates from fish models; heavy metal and polyaromatic hydrocarbon investigations on sediment along Maryland coastal bay, and heavy metal contaminants' effect on SAV plant along Maryland coastal bay; phyto remediation of TNT, DNT and other contaminants
Justine Whitaker
jwhitaker@umes.edu
web site
I use genomic and epigenomic tools to answer ecological and evolutionary questions about imperiled and invasive species.
Meng Xia
mxia@umes.edu
web site
Numerical modeling of estuarine and coastal ocean, such as hydrodynamic modeling and plume dynamics; water quality modeling and bio-physical interaction; wave-current coupling and nearshore circulation