Photo of Keith Eshleman

Faculty

Keith Eshleman

Professor
Faculty
Keith Eshleman
Professor
Appalachian Laboratory

Bio

Dr. Keith N. Eshleman is Professor at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science based at Appalachian Laboratory in Frostburg, Maryland. Dr. Eshleman has published more than 60 peer-reviewed papers and dozens of technical reports in his career and is co-author of an undergraduate textbook entitled Elements of Physical Hydrology (with former colleagues from the University of Virginia where Dr. Eshleman served on the faculty from 1988 through 1995).  Prior to returning to academia, Dr. Eshleman was employed at the USEPA Environmental Research Laboratory in Corvallis, Oregon and at The Ecosystems Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Dr. Eshleman's research interests are in the areas of watershed and wetlands hydrology; groundwater/surface water interactions; biogeochemical processes in upland and wetland ecosystems; hydrochemical modeling; and ecosystem responses to natural disturbances, energy development, and land use change. Recent research projects have focused on the hydrological impacts of acid deposition, forest disturbances, and surface mining in the Appalachian Mountain region, as well as on detecting and understanding long-term improvements in water quality across the Upper Potomac River Basin. In 2012, Dr. Eshleman lead a major report on recommended best management practices for Marcellus shale gas development in Maryland at the behest of the Governor’s Safe Drilling Commission and served on a National Research Council committee on uranium mining in Virginia.  

Areas of Expertise

  • Watershed Hydrology
  • Wetlands hydrology
  • Groundwater/surface water interactions
  • Biogeochemical processes in upland and wetland ecosystems
  • Acidification of surface waters
  • Hydrochemical modeling and regionalization
  • Ecosystem interactions with land use change

Education

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1985, Ph.D., Water Resources
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1982, S.M., Civil Engineering
  • University of Virginia, 1978, B.A., Environmental Sciences

Regularly Offered Courses