Graham Family Professor of Sustainability

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I lead a double life here at the University of Michigan!

In my first life, as a Professor of Natural Resources and Environment and of Civil and Environmental Engineering, my students and I combine numerical models, laboratory and field work, and assessments to improve the understanding of interactions between human activities on land and their impacts on coastal marine and freshwater ecosystems. Most of our recent work has focused on impacts on the iconic Gulf of Mexico, Chesapeake Bay, and Great Lakes. My research and teaching also support development and application of Integrated Assessment, a tool that brings together natural systems science, social science, engineering, and environmental policy making. Links to my research, students, postdocs, and publications are along the right side of this page.

In my second life, as Director of the Graham Sustainability Institute and Special Counsel to the U-M President for Sustainability, I’m responsible for engaging the full multidisciplinary assets of the University of Michigan to develop and implement education, research, and operational goals in support of sustainable communities, ecosystems, and economies from local to global scales.

I also serve on advisory committees for a diverse group of external and internal organizations, and as a Trustee of the Mpala Research Center, Kenya. I have served as Associate Editor for Estuaries and Coasts and Frontiers in Ecology and Environment, on the Boards of Directors for the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, the International Association for Great Lakes Research, and the Great Lakes Observing System, .

I was director of Michigan Sea Grant from 2004-2009, SNRE Research Associate Dean for SNRE from 2004-2006, and Director of the Cooperative Institute for Limnology and Ecosystems Research from 2004-2007. Prior to joining the Michigan faculty in 2004, I was Chief Scientist for NOAA’s National Ocean Service, Director of the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, Director of NOAA’s Coastal Ocean Program, and research scientist with NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory.

kayak-smallI hold Bachelors, Masters, and Doctorate degrees in Environmental Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of Michigan.