Expert Alerts

Features

Multimedia

News Releases

News Wire

Resources

Subscribe

Media Contacts

U of M names Institute on the Environment founding fellows

~ Scholars to tackle world's pressing environmental issues ~

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL ( 1/12/2007 ) -- Provost Thomas Sullivan and Professor and Interim Director of the Institute on the Environment Deborah Swackhamer today named 15 University of Minnesota faculty as founding fellows of the university's new Institute on the Environment.

Established in 2006, the Institute on the Environment will coordinate the university's breadth and depth of environmental resources to make it easier for researchers to share knowledge with each other and the public. The institute will bring the university's wide-ranging environmental experts closer together, helping to trigger even greater discoveries and further enhance the university's reputation as an environmental leader.

Selection criteria included being a leading scholar in an environmental field, with a robust record of scholarly accomplishment in publishing and research support; having experience in multi-investigator and multidisciplinary research; being excellent leaders, team-builders, communicators and institute ambassadors; and having a strong commitment to the mission of the institute.

"The Institute on the Environment is a key component of the university's strategic positioning goal to become one of the top three public research universities in the world," Sullivan said. "These founding fellows are outstanding environmental scientists and scholars with remarkable commitment to helping solve some of the most important issues we face in the 21st century. Their depth of understanding of the vision and mission of the new institute is remarkable. We look forward to their pioneering work under the guidance of institute interim director Deborah Swackhamer."

The 15 fellows are:

Susan Galatowitsch, professor in the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences' department of horticulture science. She is a landscape ecologist with a focus on the revegetation of natural communities. In her current work she is investigating factors affecting ecosystem recovery in restored wetlands, including land use and invasive species. She holds a joint appointment in the department of horticulture science and the department of landscape architecture.

Sagar Goyal, professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine's department of veterinary population medicine and director of graduate studies. His research encompasses the pathogenesis and control of viral infections in livestock and poultry, and conducts clinical studies in the development of rapid methods for the detection of viral infection.

Lucinda Johnson, senior research associate in the Natural Resources Research Institute at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. Her research projects include the effects of multiple stressors on aquatic communities; testing indicators of coastal ecosystem integrity using fish and macroinvertebrates.

Anne Kapuscinski, professor in the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences' department of fisheries, wildlife and conservation biology. She conducts policy analysis on cross-sectoral governance of biotechnology and is leading a large collaborative effort to develop recommendations for U.S. organic aquaculture standards. Kapuscinski is also the director of the Institute for Social, Economic and Ecological Sustainability.

Bradley Karkkainen, professor in the University of Minnesota Law School. He is a nationally recognized authority in the fields of environmental and natural resources law. Karkkainen's research centers on innovative strategies for environmental regulation and natural resources management, with an emphasis on mechanisms that promote continuous adaptive learning, flexibility, transparency, and policy integration.

David Mulla, professor in the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences' department of soil, water, and climate. An internationally recognized researcher and scholar, his research in soil and water resource management involves many aspects of non-point source pollution. Mulla's research focuses primarily on identifying the sources of lake and river pollution, and on developing tools and strategies to improve water quality.

Lance Neckar, professor in the College of Design's department of landscape architecture. He is a practicing landscape architect, historian, and urban designer. Neckar has investigated subdivision design approaches that can reduce or stabilize the number of vehicle miles traveled by residents; he has also conducted planning studies on light rail transit and bus transportation in the Twin Cities, and studied new ways to develop industrial and rail properties in Saint Paul.

Paige Novak, associate professor in the Institute of Technology's department of civil engineering. Her studies primarily specialize in research on the biological transformation of hazardous substances. She is currently collaborating with colleagues in chemical engineering to develop a layered membrane that is capable of both treating and containing common sediment contaminants.

Christopher Paola, professor in the Institute of Technology's department of geology and geophysics. His research focuses on creating a sedimentary record to study the history and composition of the Earth's stratigraphy. The research is carried out at the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory here on the banks of the Mississippi river. Paola is also a fellow of the Geological Society of America and is director of the National Center for Earth-surface Dynamics (NCED).

Stephen Polasky, professor in the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences' department of applied economics and the College of Biological Sciences' department of ecology, evolution, and behavior. Polasky's research focuses on ecological and environmental economics, biodiversity conservation and endangered species policy.

Lanny Schmidt, Regents Professor in the Institute of Technology's department of chemical engineering and materials science. His research focuses on various aspects of the chemistry and engineering of chemical reactions on solid surfaces. Schmidt has published over 300 papers in refereed journals and most recently was recognized for his work towards creating usable fuels from plant wastes like sawdust or cornstalks.

Richard Skaggs, professor emeritus in the College of Liberal Arts' department of geography. His work and instruction are strongly focused in climatology. Recently, Skaggs has been studying investigating extreme precipitation in Minnesota and assessing the impacts of climate variability and change on Minnesota natural resources.

David Tilman, Regents Professor in the College of Biological Science's department of ecology, evolution, and behavior. Considered the inventor of the biodiversity concept, he studies the effects of biodiversity on the stability and functioning of ecosystems. Tilman is also a McKnight Presidential Chair in Ecology and has had his findings on ethanol and biodiversity published widely throughout the world.

Lawrence Wackett, professor in the College of Biological Science's department of biochemistry. He teaches and researches in the areas of microbial genomics and bioinformatics. He is also a Distinguished McKnight Professor.

Elizabeth Wilson, an assistant professor of energy and environmental policy and law at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. Wilson's research focuses on the development of carbon-managed energy systems. Recent work examines the regulatory and legal contexts for the deployment of carbon capture and sequestration technologies.

----------