Faculty and Staff

The Division of Environmental Science, Policy and Geography is home to thirteen tenured and tenure-earning faculty in a range of disciplines including biology, chemistry, geology, mathematics, geography, environmental science and natural resource management. An additional two faculty members have visiting appointments. Four mathematics instructors are also affiliated with the program. All fulltime faculty hold the Ph.D. in their field of specialty.

	Dr. James Gore, Director and Professor, Environmental Science Areas of specialization include aquatic ecology/Hydrology/Conservation, hydrodynamic and hydraulic change as an influence on the distribution of aquatic biota, habitat modeling and instream flow.
	Dr. Melanie Riedinger-Whitmore, Associate Director, Associate Professor, Biology My areas of specialization include: Aquatic ecology, wetland ecology, and paleolimnology of lakes in Florida, The Galapagos Islands, and mainland Ecuador.
	Dr. Henry Alegria, Assistant Professor, Chemistry My area of research is in the general field of fate and transport of pollutants. I have over ten years of designing, executing and supervising research projects on the fate and transport of pollutants, including organic pollutants (e.g. pesticides, PCBs and PAHs) and others (e.g. nutrients, metals) in air, soil and water in the U.S., Mexico, Central America, Canada and Europe (independently and in team setting). Research has included modeling and determination of the impact of pollutants on sensitive ecosystems.
	Dr. Erika Asano, Assistant Professor, Mathematics My area of research is in the ...
	Dr. Kathy Carvalho-Knighton, Assistant Professor, Chemistry My research interests include water quality, phytoremediation of heavy metals by aquatic species, remediation of organic and chlorinated compounds, and chemical education.
	Dr. Deby Cassill, Assistant Professor, Biology I am a biologist interested in self-organizing systems. My model system is the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, which has turned out to be an ideal organism for studying how tasks are completed when no single individual, a boss, directs the work of others. Over the next 10 years, I will fine-tune the theory of skew selection as well as continue to dissect the intriguing lives of ants.
	Dr. Chris D’Elia, Professor, Environmental Science Academic expertise includes nutrient dynamics in aquatic systems, estuarine ecology, coral reef ecology, algal/invertebrate symbiosis, science policy, math and science education, marine pollution, global climate change, and analytical chemistry.
	Dr. Barnali Dixon, Assistant Professor, Environmental Science I have extensive experience in the application and teaching of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), remote sensing, Global positioning Systems (GPS), geostatistics, fuzzy logic and neural networks for environmental modeling.
	Dr. Joseph Dorsey, Assistant Professor, Environmental Policy My teaching focuses on environmental policy and its implications at local, regional, national and global levels. My research interests include brownfield redevelopment and greenfield protection, resource use and environmental degradation in developed and developing nations; corporate environmental decision making for pollution management effectiveness and eco-efficiency; and empowering communities to participate more effectively in sustainable development initiatives.
	Dr. Rebecca Johns, Associate Professor, Geography My work encompasses community organizing around economic or environmental issues, problems of cross-border labor organizing, globalization and the labor movement, gender and globalization, Native American cultural conflict.
	Dr. chris Meindl, Assistant Professor, Geography I am a geographer interested in human-environment interaction, particularly in people’s perceptions of environmental issues, especially wetlands, natural hazards, and sustainability. My regional focus is on Florida, my methods are usually qualitative and archival, and my approach is as often as not historical.
	Dr. James Krest, Assistant Professor, Geology I have extensive experience measuring nutrients, trace elements, and radioactive isotopes in the environment. Most of my research couples these measurements with one- and two-dimensional models to study chemical fluxes and biogeochemical cycling. Current topics of interest include age-dating of water samples, coastal mixing rates and processes, transit times of water in Karst environments, geochemical interactions between surface water and ground water, and submarine groundwater discharge.
	Dr. Donny Smoak, Assistant Professor, Geology My research interests involve the use of naturally occurring radionuclides as tracers of water and sediments. I have worked in a variety of interesting places including Antarctica, Brazil, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela.

Visiting Professors and Instructors

	Dr. Eric Steimle, Visiting Assistant Professor, Chemistry Areas of specialization include aquatic ecology/Hydrology/Conservation, hydrodynamic and hydraulic change as an influence on the distribution of aquatic biota, habitat modeling and instream flow.
	Dr. Tom Whitmore, Research Assistant Professor, Biology My areas of specialization cover paleolimnology of lakes in Florida, southern China, and Central and South America. Assessing long-term climatic and human influences on lakes and watersheds. Work on historical changes in Florida lakes began at the University of Florida (UF) in 1980-1988 under Edward S. Deevey, Jr., then proceeded with Claire L. Schekse in the UF Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences Department until 2000.
	Dr. Andy Casper, Post-Doctoral Fellow My past research focuses on river foodwebs, estuarine plankton, benthic-pelagic coupling, and mussel ecophysiology in large rivers like the Ohio River, Mississippi River, Mackenzie River and St. Lawrence River. However I am also expanding into two new areas. Doing river restoration through dam removal and trying to modeling of the implications of water level manipulation (under Dr. James Gore) provides a science opportunity to improve a river for both the people and animals that live in and around it.

Staff

Dr. Bob Wang, Lab Manager My research interests focus on biosphere-atmosphere interactions by using stable isotopes to quantify the amount of CO2 and H2O exchanged during photosynthesis, respiration and transpiration. I have a broad interests in water and carbon cycle studies in land and riverine systems. Besides overseeing operations of the research labs and providing analytical support for the faculty and students, I am also participating actively in researches with other faculty members.

Doris Dixon, Program Coordinator