Photo of Bob Hilderbrand

Faculty

Robert Hilderbrand

Associate Professor
Faculty
Robert Hilderbrand
Associate Professor
Appalachian Laboratory

Bio

Bob Hilderbrand is an associate professor at the Appalachian Laboratory. While he has very broad interests in both basic and applied science, most of his research comes back to actionable science involving the conservation, management, or restoration of wadeable streams and their biota. His work has substantively contributed to recovery and management plan actions for protecting rare, threatened, and endangered species; the delisting of an endangered species; and additional legal protections to Maryland's coldwater streams. Much of his current research involves the responses of fish, aquatic invertebrates, and overall stream ecological condition to land use and landscape change, including stream restorations. He is also very involved in developing and testing applications from high throughput, next generation DNA sequencing data for stream monitoring and assessment.

Areas of Expertise

  • Stream ecology and conservation
  • Stream assessment and monitoring
  • Stream restoration
  • Watershed responses to land use
  • Benthic invertebrates
  • Stream fishes

Education

  • Utah State University, 1998, Ph.D., Ecology
  • Virginia Tech, 1994, M.S., Fisheries Science
  • Frostburg State University, 1992, B.S., Wildlife and Fisheries Management

Regularly Offered Courses

Lab News

Study looks at best way to bring healthy streams back after development

Ecologist Robert Hilderbrand and his research team at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science’s Appalachian Laboratory are examining the abilities of different stream restoration techniques to better improve the ecological side of stream restorations in urban watersheds.