Environmental Research at USM

This is a glimpse at interdisciplinary research being conducted by faculty members at USM in the area of the environment.

Faculty members interested in listing their environmental research here, please submit your information using the webform at:

http://usm.maine.edu/csth/researchsubmit

Nancy Artz

Her research examines sustainable business, especially as it relates to social marketing, consumer behavior, business education, and Maine business.  She offers internship opportunites to USM students via BUS 391: Internships in Sustainable Business.

Lucinda Cole

Her historical research is on famine, dearth, and disease during Europe's Little Ice Age, 1350-1800. It is specifically focused in how ecological changes were represented in early modern science and literature, and how those influenced policies and practices towards animal populations and populations of immigrants. She is also interested in the relationship between two new disciplines, Animal Studies and Environmental Studies.

Matthew Bampton

His current research is on field mapping and climate change in Shetland as part of his NSF grant Shetland Island Climate and Settlement.  His other research focus is on teaching and learning GIS to improve undergraduate GIS education.

Therese Theodose

Her research focuses on the study of the ecology of native plant communities, with particular emphases on roles of soil resource availability and species interaction in maintaining plant species diversity and ecosystem function. Most of her work revolves around anthropogenic perturbations, such as invasive species and nutrient loading. She has conducted ecological research in forests, alpine tundra, salt marshes and freshwater wetlands. Her current work revolves around facilitating graduate student thesis projects related to these topic areas. She is increasingly interested in preservation of native plant communities (and the ecosystems in which they occur) with a concurrent interest in monitoring for early indicators of change so to maximize the probability of preservation. She is also developing a strong interest in the effects of climate change on plant communities and possible management measures that can be taken to prevent degradation. Terry likes to facilitate  the design and implementation of projects related to native plant ecology with students, at both graduate and undergraduate level. She enjoys the spirit of collaboration with students and peers and is particularly interested in collaborating on projects concerning conservation.

Travis Wagner

His overarching research focus is the identification, analysis, and potential application of model, innovative environmental policies related to sustainable material use primarily through waste diversion, reduction, and recycling. Recent efforts have focused on the application of extended producer responsibility and product stewardship frameworks on electronic waste, fluorescent lighting and single-use propane cylinders. His sub-discipline is environmental communication with a focus on the social construction of environmental problems. Currently, Travis is doing an analysis of single-use, small propane cylinders for the potential application of product stewardship to eliminate disposal, and evaluating a mandatory retail take back program for household hazardous waste.