UMass Amherst Faculty

Julie Brigham Grette, PhD

Professor
Department of Geosciences – Quaternary/Glacial Geology; Arctic Paleoenvironments
University of Massachusetts Amherst
email: juliebg@geo.umass.edu
phone: 413.545.4840

Areas of research/interest: Dr. Brigham Grette’s research interests are focused on the stratigraphy, sedimentology, and chronology of geologic systems that record the climate evolution and sea level history of the Arctic since the mid-Pliocene. Most of her research program is aimed at documenting the global context of paleoenvironmental change across “Beringia”, i.e., the Bering Land Bridge, stretching across the western Arctic from Alaska and the Yukon into NE Russia including the adjacent marginal seas.

Edward Calabrese, PhD

Professor
Department: Environmental Health Sciences
School of Environmental Health Science
University of Massachusetts Amherst
email: edwardc@umass.edu
phone: 413.545.3164

Areas of research/interest: Dr. Calabrese has researched extensively in the area of host factors affecting susceptibility to pollutants, and is the author of over 750 papers in scholarly journals, as well as more than 10 books. Areas of Specialization: toxicology, risk assessment, environmental health, dose-response, hormesis

Brian Cheng, PhD

Associate Professor
Department of Environmental Conservation
University of Massachusetts Amherst
email: bscheng@umass.edu
phone: 413.545.2454

Areas of research/interest: Dr. Cheng’s research interests straddle the line between basic and applied problems in marine ecology. They seek to integrate knowledge from the physical sciences (oceanography) with biology (evolution, ecology, and physiology) to understand what the future holds for marine ecosystems. They are currently focusing on global change (climate change, biological invasions), predator-prey interactions, and management tools (marine protected areas) using lab experiments, field observations, and quantitative synthesis (meta-analysis).

Andy J. Danylchuk, PhD

Intercampus Marine Science Graduate Program Campus Coordinator
Professor
Department of Environmental Conservation
University of Massachusetts Amherst
email: adanylch@umass.edu
phone: 413.545.2940

Areas of research/interest: The overarching theme of Dr. Danylchuk’s research is to understand the factors that naturally influence the life history and ecology of fishes and other aquatic organisms, as well as how natural and anthropogenic disturbances can influence the dynamics of their populations. His work spans both marine and freshwater systems, and includes stress physiology, behavioral ecology, spatial ecology, predator-prey interactions, and adaptations in life history traits as a response to disturbance.

Robert DeConto, PhD

Professor
Department of Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences
University of Massachusetts Amherst
email: deconto@umass.edu
phone: 413.545.3426

Areas of research/interest: Dr. DeConto studies polar climate change, the response of ice sheets to a warming climate, and coastal impacts of sea-level rise. He serves on international science advisory boards and is a lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Previously, he held research positions at the US National Center for Atmospheric Research and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Stephen Frasier, PhD

Professor
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
College of Engineering
University of Massachusetts Amherst
email: frasier@ecs.umass.edu
phone: 413.545.4582

Areas of research/interest: Microwave Imaging and Interferometry. Radar and Radiometer Systems. Radio Oceanography and Meteorology.

Adrian Jordaan, PhD

Associate Professor of Fish Population Ecology and Conservation
Department of Environmental Conservation
University of Massachusetts Amherst
email: ajordaan@eco.umass.edu

Areas of research/interest: (1) understanding the influence of environmental variables on growth and survival of individuals and populations, (2) elucidating the temporal and spatial structure and function of ecosystems, and (3) determining the best management policies given the environmental constraints on growth, survival and geographic distributions of fish.

Lisa Komoroske, PhD

Associate Professor
Department of Environmental Conservation
University of Massachusetts Amherst
email: lkomoroske@umass.edu

Areas of research/interest: Dr. Komoroske’s research is driven by a fundamental curiosity in how animals are shaped by natural and anthropogenically altered environments, coupled with the desire to apply this knowledge to mitigate human impacts and inform effective conservation management. She conducts integrative studies in wildlife genomics, physiology and ecology to understand animal performance, distributions, connectivity and adaptation. Much of her research focuses on species of conservation concern and economic value in marine and freshwater ecosystems, and generally falls under one or multiple of three broad research topics: 1) Global Change, 2) Conservation Management, 3) Ecological Adaptation.

Blair Perot, PhD

Professor
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
University of Massachusetts Amherst
email: perot@ecs.umass.edu

Areas of research/interest: Dr. Perot’s interests include turbulence modeling; computational fluid dynamics; numerical methods; supercomputers and parallel computation; droplets, hydrophobic surfaces, and micro flows.

Timothy Randhir, PhD

Professor
Department of Environmental Conservation
University of Massachusetts Amherst
email: randhir@eco.umass.edu
phone: 413.545.3969

Areas of research/interest: Dr. Randhir’s primary interests include: watershed management, water quality, ecological economics, dynamic modeling and optimization, spatial analysis and simulation, complex systems, Institutional economics, GIS-Internet-Simulation interfacing, systems modeling, climate change, land use policy, international trade and development, common pool resource management, nonpoint source pollution, and natural resources policy and management.

Jon Woodruff, PhD

Professor, and Co-Director, Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center
Department of Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences
College of Natural Sciences
email: woodruff@umass.edu
phone: 413.577.3831

Areas of research/interest: Dr. Woodruff is a sedimentologist, who focuses on coastal, estuarine and fluvial processes. In particular, he studies mechanisms of sediment transport during extreme flooding, as well as how these high-magnitude, low-frequency events are recorded within the geologic record.

Baoshan Xing, PhD

University Distinguished Professor – Environmental & Soil Chemistry Program
College of Natural Sciences
Stockbridge School of Agriculture
University of Massachusetts Amherst
email: bx@umass.edu
phone: 413.545.5212

Areas of research/interest: Environmental fate, behavior and ecotoxicity of engineered nanoparticles; Sorption mechanisms of organic chemicals in soils and sediments; Characterization of natural organic matter and its roles in sustainable agriculture and environmental protection; Fate and transport of organic chemicals and heavy metals; Biochar characterization and soil quality; Risk-assessment and soil remediation; application of advanced analytical, spectroscopic and microscopic instruments in environmental and soil research.

Qian Yu, PhD

Associate Professor in GIS and Remote Sensing
Department of Geosciences
University of Massachusetts Amherst
email: qyu@geo.umass.edu
phone: 413.545.2095

Areas of research/interest: Dr. Yu’s current research focuses on these following topics. 1. Riverine carbon export from watershed, currently focusing on water carbon measure using in situ spectral measurement and hyperspectral remote sensing image. (Collaborate with Yong Tian at Central Michigan Univ. and Bob Chen of EEOS, UMass-Boston); 2.Aquatic biomass monitoring and assessment from in situ spectral measurement and high-resolution satellite imagery. (Collaborate with USGS MA-RI Water Resources Center ); 3.Object-based classification and vegetation information (biophysical parameters and vegetation species) extraction from high-resolution remote sensing imagery.; 4.Greenhouse gas emission and soil respiration. (Collaborate with Jim Tang @ Marine Biology Lab, Woods Hole).