Commencement 2022

Commencement 2022

University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
commencement ceremony
Tuesday, May 24, 2022, 1 p.m.
Horn Point Laboratory, Cambridge, Maryland

Featuring the conferral of master's and doctorate degrees,
distinguished speakers and university awards, and keynote speaker
Dr. Deborah Bronk (MEES Ph.D. '92)
President and CEO of the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences

See more memories from Commencement 2022

2021-2022 GRADUATES

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Alec Armstrong
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Environment and Society
Advisors: Dr. Margaret Palmer & Dr. Michael Gonsior, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
Ecological significance of dissolved organic matter composition and
 reactivity in depressional freshwater wetlands

Joel Bostic
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Earth and Ocean Systems 
Advisor: Dr. David Nelson, Appalachian Laboratory
Investigating watershed-scale controls on stream water nitrate export using stable isotopes

Anna Davis
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Ecology
Advisor: Dr. Louis Plough, Horn Point Laboratory
Physiological, molecular, and ecological responses of the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, to hypoxia exposure in the Chesapeake Bay

Laura Gemery
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Earth and Ocean Systems
Advisor: Dr. Lee Cooper, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
Biogeographic, geochemical, and paleoceanographic investigations of Ostracodes in the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas

Christina Goethel
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Earth and Ocean Systems
Advisor: Dr. Jacqueline Grebmeier, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory 
Time-series focused assessments of changing marine bivalve communities in the Bering and Chukchi Seas

Shadae’sha Reneé Green
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Environmental Molecular 
Biology and Biotechnology
Advisor: Dr. J. Sook Chung, Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology
Understanding the reproductive biology and endocrinology of the female red deep-sea crab Chaceon quinquedens

Christine M. Knauss
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Environmental Chemistry
Advisor: Dr. Jeff Cornwell & Dr. Alba Torrents, Horn Point Laboratory
Microplastic interactions and effects on Crassostrea virginica larvae

Katherine Robbins Martin
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Earth and Ocean Systems
Advisor: Dr. Michael Gonsior, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
Characterization of septic system wastewater and municipal solid waste landfill leachate

Alexandra McCarty
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Ecological Systems
Advisor: Dr. Louis Plough, Horn Point Laboratory
Examining the genetic basis and physiology of survival in extreme low salinity
to improve aquaculture of the Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica)

Hannah Morrissette
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Earth and Ocean Systems
Advisor: Dr. Raleigh Hood, Horn Point Laboratory
Marsh-ing through time: Resolving the temporal and spatial variability of tidal marsh sediment dissolved organic carbon sorption

Alexander J. Robillard
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Ecological Systems
Advisor: Dr. Helen Bailey & Dr. Christopher Rowe, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
Ecological applications of machine learning to digitized natural history data

Steven Rogers
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Fisheries Science 
Advisor: Dr. Allen Place, Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology
Bahamian oolitic aragonite sand impact on water quality and mitigation of phosphate
and phosphorous removal and recovery in recirculation aquaculture systems

Stephanie Siemek
Advisor: Dr. Keith Eshleman, Appalachian Laboratory
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Environmental Science
Nutrient retention by riparian forested buffers in western Maryland: 
Do they work and are they worth it?

Ana Sosa
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Environmental Molecular Science and Technology
Advisor: Dr. Feng Chen, Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology
Microbial biofilms on microplastics: A look into the estuarine plastisphere 
of the Chesapeake Bay

Jason Spires
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Earth and Ocean Systems
Advisor: Dr. Elizabeth North, Horn Point Laboratory
Using calcein, a fluorochrome chemical tag, to mark shells of the Eastern oyster,
Crassostrea virginica, and to validate direct setting of oyster larvae 

Mengqi Sun
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Environmental Molecular 
Biology and Biotechnology
Advisor: Dr. Feng Chen, Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology
Estuarine virioplankton: Viromics, biogeography, and viral populations

Suzanne E. Webster
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Environment and Society
Advisor: Dr. William Dennison, Integration and Application Network
Using citizen science to collaboratively research and manage Chesapeake Bay

Ernest Williams  
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Environmental Molecular 
Science and Technology
Advisor: Dr. Allen Place, Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology
Insights into dinoflagellate natural product synthesis via catalytic domain interactions

MASTER OF SCIENCE
 

Amber Fandel
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Ecological Systems
Advisor: Dr. Helen Bailey, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
Ambient sound affects movement and calls of bottlenose dolphins

Benjamin Alexander Frey
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Ecological Systems
Advisor: Dr. David Secor, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
Validation of age and growth using microconstituent analysis of fish hard parts

Yijun Guo
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Earth and Ocean Systems
Advisor: Dr. Ming Li, Horn Point Laboratory
Discerning the roles of ocean acidification, eutrophication, and river alkalinization
in driving long-term pH trends in the Chesapeake Bay

Kevin Kahover
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Fisheries Science
Advisor: Dr. Lora Harris & Dr. Jeremy Testa, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
Building a high resolution, mechanistic model of filtration, biodeposition, hydrodynamics, and sediment biogeochemistry
in order to understand the driving forces behind nitrogen dynamics on oyster reefs

Megan Ryan Munkacsy
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Environment and Society
Advisor: Dr. Lisa Wainger, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
Valuing shallow water systems in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay