Commencement 2023
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science commencement ceremony
Friday, May 19, 2023, 1:00 p.m.
Appalachian Laboratory, Frostburg, Md.
Featuring the conferral of master's and doctorate degrees, distinguished speakers and university awards,
and keynote speaker, Dr. Kandis Boyd, senior advisor at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 3.
PROGRAM
AWARDS
UMCES Staff Excellence Award
Mary Ann Manley, Program Management Specialist, Horn Point Laboratory
Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award
Dr. Ryan Woodland, Associate Professor, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
UMCES Student Service Award
Isabel Sanchez-Viruet, Graduate Student, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
President’s Award for Outstanding Research Support
Jerome M. Frank, Senior Faculty Research Assistant, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
President’s Award for Excellence in Application of Science
Dr. Ming Li, Professor, Horn Point Laboratory
2022-2023 GRADUATES
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Nicole Barbour
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Ecological Systems
Advisor: Dr. Helen Bailey, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
Sea turtle movement ecology: Causes and patterns of variability for dierent
species and life stages
Brendan Campbell
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Ecological Systems
Advisor: Dr. Matthew Gray, Horn Point Laboratory
Tool development to constrain and optimize shellsh aquaculture gear
performance
Jacob Hagedorn
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Environmental Science
Advisor: Dr. Eric Davidson, Appalachian Laboratory
Examination of soil greenhouse gas uxes and denitrication to assess
pollution trading in agricultural drainage water management
Chris Hayes
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Fisheries Science
Advisor: Dr. Lisa Wainger, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
Expanding the sheries management tackle box: A multiple-model approach
to support better decisions
Shannon Hood
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Environment and Society
Advisor: Dr. Louis Plough, Horn Point Laboratory
Optimizing desiccation as a biofouling control strategy for water-column
cultured oysters, Crassostrea virginica, in the Chesapeake Bay
Katie Lankowicz
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Ecological Systems
Advisor: Dr. Hongsheng Bi, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
Fine-scale spatial ecology of an estuarine forage
Juliet Joy Nagel
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Environmental Science
Advisor: Dr. David Nelson, Appalachian Laboratory
Informing conservation of threatened bat species using genomics and
acoustics
Claire Nemes
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Ecological Systems
Advisor: Dr. Emily Cohen, Appalachian Laboratory
Moving the goal posts: Migratory birds in a changing world
Natalie Louise Snider
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Environment and Society
Advisor: Dr. Bill Dennison, Integration and Application Network
Building ood resilience in social-ecological systems
Daniela Tizabi
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Environmental Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
Advisor: Dr. Russell Hill, Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology
Bioprospecting marine actinomycetes for novel anti-tuberculosis drugs
Srishti Vishwakarma
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Environment and Society
Advisor: Dr. Xin Zhang, Appalachian Laboratory
Exploring the future of global crop supply: The role of nitrogen inputs, climate
change, and international trade
Anna Windle
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Earth and Ocean Systems
Advisor: Dr. Greg Silsbe, Horn Point Laboratory
Incorporating unoccupied aircraft systems (UAS) and earth-observing
satellites to enhance environmental remote sensing of Chesapeake Bay
Mingli Zhao
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Environmental Molecular Science and Technology
Advisors: Dr. Eric Schott & Dr. Hal Schreier, Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology
Investigating interactions between climate, host life history, and viral diversity
across a transhemispheric range of marine ecosystems
Qiurui Zhu
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Ecological Systems
Advisor: Dr. Eric Davidson, Appalachian Laboratory
Quantifying nitrous oxide and methane uxes using the tower-based gradient
method on a drainage water managed farm on the Eastern Shore of Maryland
Tan Zou
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Environment and Society
Advisor: Dr. Xin Zhang, Appalachian Laboratory
Sustainable nutrient management across systems and spatial scales
MASTER OF SCIENCE
Nicholas Coleman
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Ecological Systems
Advisor: Dr. David Secor, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
Integrating biotelemetry and hydroacoustic data to estimate the abundance
of the fall spawning run of Atlantic sturgeon in the Marshyhope Creek-Nanticoke River system
Alexandra Marie Gibbs
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Earth and Ocean Systems
Advisors: Dr. Solange Filoso & Dr. Michael Gonsior, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
Occurrence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCP) and
articial sweeteners (AS) in surface waters of Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay Western Shore
Emma Green
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Ecological Systems
Advisor: Dr. Lee Cooper, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
Insights into benthic macroinvertebrate ecology in the northern Bering and
southern Chukchi Seas from stable isotope analysis
Daniella Marie Hanacek
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Ecological Systems
Advisors: Dr. Lorie Staver & Dr. Je Cornwell, Horn Point Laboratory
Evaluating carbon sequestration potential of natural and restored tidal
marshes in Chesapeake Bay through quantication of methane uxes and
identication of drivers
Archi Howlader
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Ecological Systems
Advisor: Dr. Elizabeth North, Horn Point Laboratory
Predicting the salinity history of oysters in Delaware Bay using observing
systems data and nonlinear regression
Sarah Ann Jones
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Ecological Systems
Advisor: Dr. Thomas Miller, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
Geostatistical estimation of blue crab Callinectes sapidus abundance in
Chesapeake Bay at local scales
Madeline Lahm
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Earth and Ocean Systems
Advisor: Dr. Michael Gonsior, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
Optical properties of marine and picocyanobacteria-derived dissolved organic
matter in the Atlantic, Pacic, and during long-term incubation experiments
Megan Massa
Applied Ecology and Conservation Biology
Advisor: Dr. Emily Cohen, Appalachian Laboratory
Conserving eastern grassland birds on public and private lands
Andrea Ruth Pfa
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Earth and Ocean Systems
Advisor: Dr. Jacqueline Grebmeier, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
Drivers of epibenthic biodiversity and abundance in Barrow Canyon,
Chukchi Sea utilizing drop-camera video data
Lauren Rodriguez
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Ecological Systems
Advisors: Dr. Helen Bailey & Dr. Ryan Woodland, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
Assessing vertebrate biodiversity across the Chesapeake Bay using
environmental DNA metabarcoding
Samantha Schiano
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Ecological Systems
Advisor: Dr. Genevieve Nesslage, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
Evaluating the consequences of alternative Atlantic striped bass harvest
control rules on their prey, Atlantic menhaden
Stefenie Faye Shenoy
Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Ecological Systems
Advisors: Dr. Lora Harris & Dr. Jeremy Testa, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
Quantifying nitrogen removal potential of bottom cage (C. virginica) aquaculture