Initiatives and Programs

Hydrodynamics, Climate, and Environment Research Team

  • Associate Director, Great Lakes Research Center
  • Professor, Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering
  • Director, Numerical Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Great Lakes Research Center

Teaching Interests

  • Introductory Geophysical Fluid Dynamics
  • Hydrodynamic Modeling
  • Water Resources Engineering
  • Ecosystem Dynamics Modeling

Research Interests

  • Hydrodynamic modeling
  • Regional climate modeling
  • Coupled ocean-atmosphere dynamics
  • Data assimilation and machine learning
  • Biophysical processes in the Great Lakes
  • Estuary and coastal ocean processes
  • Assistant Research Scientist, Great Lakes Research Center

Area of Expertise

  • Hydrodynamic modeling
  • Regional climate modeling
  • Physical limnology
  • Nearshore processing

Research Interests

  • Great Lakes cross-scale hydrodynamics
  • Integrated Earth modeling system
  • Long-term climate change and projection over the Great Lakes
  • Short-term hydrodynamic forecasting in the Great Lakes
  • Interactions between atmospheric and lake processing
  • Postdoctoral Scholar

Research Interests

  • Great Lakes hydrodynamic modeling and data assimilation
  • Coastal disaster prevention and mitigation
  • Waves and currents interaction with vegetation
  • Sediment transport in vegetated regions
  • Visiting Scholar

Research Area

Utilizing machine learning techniques for the Great Lakes system, particularly for the projections of water levels,  waves, and coastal flooding regions

Environmental Biology, Biotechnology, and Water Quality Research Team

  • Associate Professor, Biological Sciences
  • Associate Director, Great Lakes Research Center

Research Interests

  • Environmental Microbiology
  • Next-generation sequencing technology and bioinformatics/computational biology
  • Microbial physiology and biochemistry
  • Microbes as sensors for the environmental impacts of oil and gas production
  • Microbially-mediated remediation of crude oil contamination
  • Sustainability and plastic biodegradation

Smart Ships Coalition

  • Research Engineer, Great Lakes Research Center
  • Relief Captain, Great Lakes Research Center

Specialties 

  • Responsible for administration of the Marine Autonomy Research Site and Smart Ships Coalition and coordination with the Marine Research Assets Shared Use Facility (MRAF) in support of client needs.
  • Provide scientific and engineering support to faculty, staff, partners, and sponsors with expertise in design, manufacturing, and integration of marine systems. Support budget and proposal development, project management, and strategic planning.
  • Over 10 years' experience as a licensed captain on the Great Lakes with expertise in navigation systems, marine electronics, mechanical systems, and maintenance, repair, and operations.
  • Expanded Biography.

Mi-STAR

Marianne Semones

Marianne Semones

  • Mi-STAR Program Director and Senior Research Scientist
Stephanie Tubman

Stephanie Tubman

  • Mi-STAR Senior Research Scientist

Research Interests

  • Teacher leadership development
  • Science teacher beliefs, attitudes, and practices around effective science instruction
  • Decision-making and power sharing in instructional and organizational settings

Specialties

  • Design of curriculum for Next Generation Science Standards in the middle (6-8) and high school (9-12) gradebands
  • Design and evaluation of inquiry-based curriculum for grades 6-12
  • Environmental and place-based education
  • Integration of Next Generation Science Standards into place-based educational frameworks
  • Design and implementation of professional learning for STEM educators
  • Coaching and facilitation of teacher leaders
  • Earth science, water resource, and natural hazards education
  • Project Management
Gregg Bluth

Gregg Bluth

  • Mi-STAR Senior Research Scientist: Assessment and Curriculum
  • Adjunct Professor, Geological and Mining Engineering

Links of Interest

  • Science Education
  • Science Assessment Development
Chris Geerer

Chris Geerer

  • Mi-STAR Professional Learning Coordinator
  • Associate Research Scientist

Specialties

  • K-12 Educational Leadership
  • K-12 Professional Development
  • K-12 Science Education
Lindsey Watch

Lindsey M Watch

  • Mi-STAR Research Scientist

Research Interests

  • STEM/CS/CT K-12 curricular integration
  • STEM educator professional development

Specialties

  • K-12 NGSS curricular design
  • Professional development for STEM educators
  • Place-based environmental education

Center for Innovation in Sustainability and Resilience (CISR)

  • Professor of Sociology, Department of Social Sciences
  • Affiliated Professor, College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science
  • Director of Research, Center for Innovation in Sustainability & Resilience

Research Interests

  • Socio-technological systam transitions
  • Technology adoption
  • Energy policy
  • Energy practices
  • Sustainable communities
  • Self-provisioning
  • Environmental education
Robert Handler
"Only in the present do things happen"
—Jorge Luis Borges
  • Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering
  • Affiliated Assistant Professor, CEGE and Social Sciences
  • Faculty Advisor, Green Campus Enterprise

Courses

  • ENG 4515/5515 Introduction to Sustainability and Resilience
  • ENG 4525/5525 Systems Analysis for Sustainability and Resilience
  • CM 3980 Sustainable Chemical Engineering
  • Green Campus Enterprise

Research Interests

  • Life-cycle assessment
  • Sustainability and resilience
  • Food, Energy, and Water systems
  • Sustainable materials and manufacturing
  • Ecosystem services
  • Aquaponics and hydroponics
  • Assistant Professor of Economics, College of Business

Teaching Interests

  • Principles of Economics
  • Microeconomics
  • Environmental and Natural Resource Economics

Research Interests

  • Coupled human and environmental systems
  • Fishery economics and management
  • Computable General Equilibrium Modeling
  • Regional economic modeling
  • Assistant Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
  • Associate Research Director, Center for Innovation in Sustainability & Resilience (CISR)
  • Advisor, Outdoor Venture Crew

Research Interests

  • Impacts of climate change on electric power systems
  • Energy transitions in cold climates
  • Solar photovoltaic design for cold climates
  • Heat pump performance
  • Thermal power plant modeling
  • Professor, Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering

Teaching Interests

  • Environmental Engineering
  • Transport & Transformation of Organic Chemicals
  • Boundary Layer Meteorology
  • Sustainability

Research Interests

  • Air and Water Quality
  • Atmosphere-biosphere Exchange of Chemicals
  • Micrometeorology
  • Environmental Analytical Chemistry
  • Sustainability
  • Research Professor, Chemical Engineering
  • Robbins Chair in Sustainable Use of Materials

Research Interests

  • Bioprocess engineering
  • Alternative energy/Biofuels
  • Sustainability

CISR

Hardwood Timber Mass Institute (HTMI)

  • Professor of Practice in Forest Biomaterials
  • Coordinator of Industrial Research, Innovation, and Commercialization
  • Director of Ford Center and Forest

Areas of Expertise

  • Forest Biomaterials
  • Tree biomechanics
  • Wind and trees
  • Dendrochronology
  • Extension and Outreach