The Department of Environmental Sciences is actively involved in applied research. We link environmental quality with management capacity and educational opportunities through our research efforts.
Both faculty and students participate in research that leads to significant discoveries and gives everyone an opportunity to learn and grow. The environment is the perfect laboratory in the classroom and field.
Research Focus: Dr. Rachael Urbanek’s main research interests focus broadly on urban wildlife management, human dimensions of wildlife and human-wildlife conflict and resolution.
Her current work involves predator exclusion to protect sea turtle nests, long-term use of highway underpasses and carnivore presence throughout New Hanover County.
Read more about Dr. Urbanek's research and work with students on her faculty website.
Research Focus: Human dimensions of natural resource management, particularly within coastal ecosystems.
Previous Research:
Research Focus: Dr. Devon Eulie's main research interests focus on coastal processes and management.
Her current research spans across coastal North Carolina. Dr. Eulie works with multiple partners across the state including state agencies, local communities, and nonprofits to conduct research on coastal processes, hazards, and management. Additionally, Dr. Eulie has conducted research in France and Belize.
Read more about Dr. Eulie's research and work with students on her faculty website.
Research Focus: Dr. Joni ‘Osku’ Backstrom's current research focuses on beach and shoreface morphodynamics, offshore wind, coastal storms, sand resource management and using remote sensing, diving and sampling techniques to map and characterize reefs, shipwrecks and coastal/marine environments.
Previous Research:
Research Focus: Dr. Christopher Dumas's main research focuses on Natural Resource Economics, including:
Research Focus: Dr. Stacy B. Endriss's main research focus on studying plant invasions. Specifically, Rapid evolution of plant populations, Plant-insect interactions, Dispersal ecology, and Accountability in invasive species management.
She conducts her research with the intention of (1) helping to develop solutions to important applied conservation challenges, while (2) furthering basic understanding of eco-evolutionary theory. Invasions therefore present unique, replicated opportunities to increase our understanding of eco-evolutionary theory, which can have strong implications for introduced and native plants alike.
Read more about Dr. Endriss's research and work with students on her faculty website.
Research Focus: Dr. Frensley is serving as a Co-Principal Investigator on the funding program "NSF Advancing Informal Science Learning (AISL)" to conduct a study of environmental education (EE) programs for youth across the United States. He conducts this research with colleagues from:
The project titled "What leads to better outcomes in informal STEM-based environmental education programs for youth?" will examine the characteristics and outcomes of a large sample of EE programs for youth. The goal is to elucidate program characteristics that most powerfully influence 21st century learning outcomes. The award amount is $1,944,846 and duration of the project will be October 1, 2019 to December 31, 2023. EE programs for youth, particularly day-long school field trip programs, are popular and reside at the intersection of formal and informal STEM education.
Such field trips provide opportunities for diverse audiences to participate in shared learning experiences, but current understanding of what leads to success in these programs is limited. This large-scale study will address this gap in knowledge by investigating the linkages between program characteristics and participant outcomes for at least 800 single-day EE field trip programs for youth in grades 5-8. This research focuses on programs for diverse and underserved audiences.
This study will result in the identification of evidence-based practices that will inform future program design for a wide variety of settings, including nature centers, national parks, zoos, museums, aquariums and other locations providing informal EE programs.
Read more about Dr. Frensley's research and work with students on his faculty website.
Research Focus: Dr. Eric 'Britt' Moore's research focuses on Soil Hydrology, Soil Management, Plant-soil interactions, Soil Physics, Sustainable Agriculture, and STEM Education.
Read more about Dr. Moore's research and work with students on his faculty website.
Research Focus: Dr. Rother conducts research within the broad disciplines of forest ecology, wildland fire ecology, biogeography and dendrochronology (tree-ring science).
Her current research uses tree-ring records to understand historical wildfire activity in longleaf pine ecosystems throughout the Southeastern Coastal Plain. She is also involved in studies that examine recent climate-driven changes in wildfire activity and post-wildfire forest recovery.
Read more about Dr. Rother’s research, including opportunities for students on her faculty website.
Professor Shew holds a dual appointment in the Earth and Ocean Sciences Department and the Department of Environmental Sciences.
Research Focus: Professor Shew's research currently focuses on studies of coastal issues and processes and surface and groundwater sources and quality in southeastern North Carolina. An additional area of current interest is geoscience and environmental education.
Read more about Professor Shew's research as well as his EOS faculty profile on his faculty website.
Research Focus: Dr. Jamie Rotenberg's main research interest focuses on using birds as environmental indicators of habitat change and condition.
His current projects include bird community dynamics in rainforests in Southern Belize as well as using Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles (UAV-drones) and invertebrates to determine ecosystem control as it relates to the northernmost and only-known Harpy Eagle nesting pair in Belize. Other projects in Belize include Cacao (chocolate) agroforestry restoration, and migratory Wood Thrush wintering in Belize.
Painted Bunting Observer Team (PBOT)
The eastern population of Painted Bunting is in decline. Our main goal focuses on developing strategies for sustaining eastern Painted Bunting populations, with volunteers playing a major role in monitoring and collecting data in the field to meet that goal. Join Dr. Rotenberg and his citizen science monitoring project to help the Painted Bunting in the Carolinas. Become a Painted Bunting Observer Team (PBOT) member. Click here for the website and more information.
Harpy Eagle Research Project
Dr. Rotenberg and his Belizean colleagues were recently awarded their second year of funding from The Nature Conservancy for his research project, "An Integrated Community-Based Harpy Eagle and Avian Conservation Program for the Maya Mountains Massif. For more information please visit the website.
Research Focus: Dr. Snider has focused on use value taxation, forest resource utilization, coastal land use change and problems associated with deer populations in resort developments. His current research interests include sustainable agriculture and factors motivating environmentally responsible behavior.