Graduate Students
Erica Antill, B.S. University of Massachusetts Amherst, Biology

Erica Antill grew up in Pepperell, Massachusetts, and obtained her B.S. in Biology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. After graduating in 2006 with minors in German and Anthropology, she moved to Missoula, Montana, and worked at Matson's Laboratory processing mammalian teeth. She is now pursuing a M.S. degree in the GES department, with a focus on biogeography. Her thesis research topic is the American chestnut tree. Specific projects include a morphological analysis of back-crossed trees produced by the American Chestnut Foundation, and a spatial analysis of American chestnut distribution. Her broader interests include human-environment interactions, creation of sustainable systems, restoration ecology, environmental genomics, and biodiversity conservation.
Amy Bleich
Amy Bleich received a Bachelor of Science degree in Astronomy from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1987. Since that time, she has worked on a number of astronomical and earth observing satellites. She worked on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Science Data and Information System at Goddard Space Flight Center, and is currently working on the National Polar Orbiting operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS), which is a joint mission between NOAA, NASA, and the Department of Defense. She is also working on the NPP (NPOESS Preparatory Project), currently due to launch in 2010. Her academic interests include using satellite data to study atmospheric science and the modeling of climate/environmental systems. She is planning to obtain an MS in the GES program while maintaining her full-time work status at the NOAA Integrated Program Office.

Jonathan Dandois, B.S. UMBC, Geography and Environmental Systems (advisor: Dr. Erle Ellis)

I received a B.S. in Geography, with a focus in GIS, from UMBC in 2003. After several years working various jobs, I have returned to pursue a Ph.D in Geography & Environmental Systems at UMBC working with Dr Erle Ellis. I am also a Trainee in the IGERT “Water in the Urban Environment” program. I intend to build upon my skills with GIS and remote sensing to improve our understanding of the urban environment. I am interested in how modern remote sensing techniques can be used to model urban problems like: improving development and growth strategies in cities; identifying potential locations for 'green' design; or automated classification of invasive species throughout a city. I am also interested in researching how municipal GIS databases are currently utilized and what other applications might be possible with that data. I have had experience working with mobile GIS and sub-meter accurate GPS technology and hope to incorporate those skills into my research as well. As a student of GIS, I am always excited about generating maps to help communicate different kinds of spatial data and look forward to exercising my cartographic talents during my research. One of my long-term goals is to continue my research career after graduate school, studying urban enviroments around the world; I know that the opportunities available at UMBC will help me achieve that goal.

Webpage: http://userpages.umbc.edu/~jdando1/
Amanda Davis, B.A., University of Oklahoma, Anthropology M.A., Arcadia University,
International Peace & Conflict Resolution M.S., Johns Hopkins University, Environmental Science and Policy (advisor: Dr. Robert Neff)

Amanda holds an M.S. in environmental science and policy from Johns Hopkins University and an M.A. in international peace and conflict resolution from Arcadia University, specializing in environmental conflict management. Before coming to UMBC she worked at both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Foundation. She has participated in field research in Costa Rica, Equatorial Guinea, and Northwest Baltimore. Her research interests include human-environment relationships, environmental justice issues, urban growth/landuse/sustainability (specifically the role of community collaboration in urban planning), and the integration of GIS in decision-making processes.
Anna Johnson, B.A. Liberal Arts, St. John’s College
Anna Johnson received her B.A. in liberal arts, in 2007 from St. John’s College in Annapolis, MD. She worked at the University of Pittsburgh for two years as a molecular genetics technician and lab manager, before beginning as a PhD student at UMBC in August of 2009. She is currently an IGERT trainee, and supervised by Dr. Christopher M. Swan. She is broadly interested in how the interactions between human management and “natural” ecological processes shape community assembly in urban areas, using plants as her model system. She uses a variety of approaches, including greenhouse and field experiments, observational surveys, and molecular genetics techniques to address her research questions.

Cheryl Knott
Cheryl Knott is in the master's program studying under the guidance of Dr. Robert Neff. She received her undergraduate degree in Geography from UMBC in May 2007 and received a certificate in Cartography as well. Cheryl works as the Geographic Information Systems Analyst for The Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance at The University of Baltimore. Her research interests include urban social geography and environmental public health. She can be reached at cherylk1@umbc.edu.
Jennifer Li, B.S. Towson University, Biology-Organismal Biology & Ecology (Advisor: Dr. Christopher M. Swan)

Born and raised around Maryland’s Chesapeake region, I’ve always been fascinated by environmental systems and how they function. I began my education at Anne Arundel Community College where I earned an Associates of Science degree. It was there that I began aiding professors in their research which helped to further deepen my love for Ecology. After completion of my Associates degree I transferred to Towson University where I studied and earned my Bachelors of Science in Biology concentrating in Organismal Biology and Ecology. Towson University provided me with so many different experiences in not only classes but research that I was able to finally define my core interest: Aquatic Ecosystems. This interest has led me to UMBC where I am now working on earning my Masters degree under the supervision of Dr. Christopher Swan.
Garth Lindner, B.A. Indiana University, M.S. Indiana University (advisor: Dr. Andrew Miller)

Broadly put, my research interests focus on patterns of urban development and water resources. My research centers on the interactions and patterns between urban infrastructure and hydrologic, hydraulic, and geomorphic processes in the Baltimore, Maryland region. I am a second year PhD student working closely with Dr. Andrew Miller in the Department of Geography and Environmental Systems at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. At present, the bulk of my work goes into 1) investigating methods of building and assessing the properties of rating curves for small urban streams, and 2) exploring the geomorphic structure and resident flow times of urban streams. Building steam for future research towards my degree are two more projects, one exploring the age, type, and spatial configuration of stormwater management practices and the subsequent runoff dynamics in various urbanized watersheds, and the other examining the release of sediment loads from dam removal.

I am currently funded as an IGERT trainee, called Water in the Urban Environment, and am affiliated with the Center for Urban and Environmental Research and Education. I am also funded by the NSF CNH grant, Dynamic Coupling of the Water Cycle with Patterns of Urban Growth. I hold an M.S. in Geography from Indiana University, Bloomington, which focused on the implementation of a hydrologic network, and used data from the network to assess the accuracy of hydrologic modeling at various spatial scales. My M.S. advisor was Dr. Kelly Caylor. I also received my B.A. from Indiana in Environmental Studies and Philosophy. For more information, please visit my website.
  Nicholas Magliocca, B.S. Environmental Systems, University of California, San Diego M.E.M. Ecosystem Science and Conservation, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University

I am originally from Westerville, Ohio. I earned my B.S. in Environmental Systems at the University of California, San Diego. After graduating in 2006, I moved to North Carolina to attend the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University, where I earned my Masters of Environmental Management in 2008. I took a break from graduate school and was employed at Resources for the Future, a non-profit, environmental economics think-tank, in Washington, D.C. In 2009, I continued working at RFF, and began my Ph.D. in the GES department at UMBC. My research focuses on building a systemic understanding of coupled human-natural systems. In particular, I am interested in understanding how patterns of land-use and land-cover change emerge from human alterations of natural processes and the resulting feedbacks. My current projects include testing and applying an agent-based model of urban growth, and the development of a generalized agent-based model to simulated land use and cover change across varying landscapes.
Haley Martin, B.S. UMBC, Environmental Science, B.A. UMBC, Anthropology (advisors: Dr. Matthew Baker and Dr. Christopher M. Swan)

Haley received a B.S. in Environmental Science and a B.A. in anthropology from UMBC in 2010. She is now pursuing her masters degree in the GES department at UMBC. Her interests are in community ecology in streams. After completing her M.S., Haley plans to pursue a career in natural resource management.
  Laura Merner
Laura received a dual Bachelor degree in Geography and Environmental Science & Policy from Clark University, Worcester, MA in 2008. After graduation she worked as disaster response trainer and case manager with families displaced by hurricanes in the Gulf Coast. She is currently in the second year of her Ph.D. working with Dr. Andrew Miller. Laura’s research focuses on developing new methods to improve the application of adaptive capacity measures that are determined through vulnerability assessments. Specifically, her work uses a community based participatory research approach to better understand flood vulnerability in both urban and rural landscapes in southern West Virginia. Research Interests: flood hazards, geomorphology, vulnerability analysis, risk perception, activist research
Matthew Panunto, B.S., Wesley College, Environmental Studies (advisor: Dr. Matthew Baker)


Matt received his undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies from Wesley College, located in Dover, Delaware. Matt's interests include identifying spatial patterns of natural processes particularly with regard to watershed science. He is currently a M.S. student in the GES department working with Dr. Matthew Baker attempting to determine the impact of the spatial configuration of river valleys and their morphological shape on flooding dynamics within the White River Drainage Basin, Indiana. Matt's other interests include identifying effects of riparian ecosystems and land use on hydrologic processes and water quality.
Molly Van Appledorn, B.S., University of Michigan, M.S., Utah State University (advisor: Dr. Matthew Baker)

Molly is a PhD student mentored by Dr. Matthew Baker. She received her B.S. at the University of Michigan in 2003 where she also studied Environmental Science, Paleontology and Biology. After spending some time teaching and participating in a variety of field research projects around the country, she went on to complete an M.S. in Ecology at Utah State University in 2009. The focus of her thesis work was understanding and modeling how stream-side vegetation may reduce the delivery of pollutants to aquatic end points. Her current research interests center on the interactions and feedbacks between environmental heterogeneity and ecosystem function using riparian areas as model systems. When she's not crunching numbers in the office or measuring plants, Molly may be found picking her banjo, dreaming about fossils, or chasing squirrels with her dog Pepper.
Nohemi Voglozin, Engineer Degree, University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin, Agronomy MPhil., University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin, Management of Natural Resources. (advisor: Dr. Laura R. Lewis)
Prior to coming to UMBC, I received Masters (2005) and Engineer (2003) degrees in Agronomy and Management of Natural Resources from the University of Abomey-Calavi in Benin (West Africa). I am a Ph.D. student in Geography & Environmental Systems working in the Biogeography and Crop Evolution research group at UMBC, under the supervision of Dr Laura Lewis. My Ph.D. research will focus on the conservation of Plant Genetic Resources. Particularly, I am interested in studying the relation between adoption of new cultivars and erosion of genetic diversity of African crop species, particularly African rice (Oryza glaberrima). My research will be threefold: ethnographic surveys to understand farmer’s valuation of diversity and germplasm management, spatial distribution to assess the ecogeography of O. glaberrima and morphological and molecular genetic diversity. The outcomes will be used as part of strategies for improvement of new technology implementation and in situ conservation of plant genetic resources.
Weibing Wang, B.E. Wuhan University, M.S. Institute of Remote Sensing Applications, Chinese Academy of Science (advisor: Dr. Junmei Tang)
I am in Ph.D program in Geography and Environmental Systems at UMBC. My advisor is Dr. Tang Junmei and Dr. Zhang Qingyuan. Currently, I do research in water quality model, hydrology, remote sensing data fusion, land use or agriculture and environmental survey. I received a B.E. in Geodesy and Geomatics at Wuhan University and a M.S. in Institute of Remote Sensing Applications (IRSA) at Chinese Academy of Sciences focusing on Software Development of Searching System of Spatial Information Service and a Prediction Model Research of avian Influenza. My research goal is obtaining spatial distribution of dynamic water quality using water quality model with dynamic remote sensing data and methods.

Katherine (Tara) Willey, B.S. Environmental Science, Virginia Tech; M.S. Entomology, Virginia Tech (Advisor: Dr. Christopher M. Swan)

Tara Willey graduated from Virginia Tech with an undergraduate degree in Environmental Science. She returned a few years later to complete a MS in Entomology studying benthic macroinvertebrates. Ms. Willey entered the Geography and Environmental Systems department at UMBC in the fall of 2008. She is also an IGERT Trainee. Her research interests pertain to the benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages in urban streams, including: (1) large-scale impacts of stream restoration; (2) the relationship between the benthic macroinvertebrates present in urban streams and their habitat, focusing on the influence of hydrologic regime, to understand the limiting factors for the benthic community; and (3) assessment of management techniques, such as stream restoration and TMDLs, to gauge the impact on macroinvertebrate communities.
Yvette Williams, Connecticut, Biology M.S., Yale School ofForestry & Environmental Studies, Conservation Biology (advisors: Dr. Richard Pouyat and Dr. Laura R. Lewis)

Yvette Williams completed her B.S. degree in Biology at the University of Connecticut and a Masters of Environmental Science degree in Conservation Biology at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. She is a PhD student in the Geography and Environmental Systems (GES) program at UMBC. The overall focus of her research is to investigate the vegetation diversity of a continuum of managed and unmanaged land types in Baltimore City to determine the potential for ecosystem services (e.g., food production, water infiltration, etc.). This management continuum, which consists of community gardens, "Clean & Green" lots, and unmanaged vacant lots, will be examined in the context of social processes such as population change and poverty status. Her research will utilize existing geospatial databases (i.e., city maps, census information, aerial photography, etc.) and current GIS methodology to examine distribution of vacant lots and community gardens across neighborhoods of Baltimore City. A goal of her research is to generate knowledge for urban planning for restoring the environmental and social well being of urban neighborhoods.
  Michael Wissner, B.A. Geography, West Virginia University, (advisor Dr. Dawn Biehler)

After attaining a B.A. in Geography with a focus on Urban Planning and Development from West Virginia University, Mike set out to work as an Environmental Action and Awareness Coordinator for two years while a Peace Corps Volunteer in Peru. Located in the environmentally threatened Bosque Seco region adjacent to Parque Nacional Cerros de Amotape in the Department of Tumbes, Mike worked on a diverse set of community-centered social and environmental projects; specifically GIS-aided, sustainable land use practices, community waste management and environmental education. Upon return to the US, the Peace Corps experience was followed by two years of work as a 5th Grade Bilingual Education Teacher in the Austin Independent School District. Mike's current research interests lie in the intersection of Community-Based Participatory GIS methods and environmental health and justice research activism.