Potomac Environmental Research and Education Center

R. Christian Jones, Director

Mission

To utilize the tools of scientific research, restoration, education, and policy analysis to help society understand and sustain natural processes in ecosystems, watersheds, and landscapes Research Foci for the Center:

  • Restoration of the Potomac River and its Tributaries
  • Sustainability of Natural Ecosystems in Suburban Areas
  • Impact of Global Climate Change on Management of Aquatic Ecosystems

Background:

The Potomac River is the second largest tributary to the Chesapeake Bay and the largest subestuary of the Bay. The nation’s capital and more than five million people call the Potomac watershed their home. The watershed covers some 14,670 square miles in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia. Virginia has the largest number of residents in the watershed at 2.3 million and the largest amount of land area in the watershed, 5,700 mi2. Despite its large size and importance, no major university environmental research center is located on the Potomac River and dedicated to its study. In Virginia the major aquatic research centers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Studies and Old Dominion University are located on the York and James Rivers, respectively. In Maryland major research centers are located on the Patuxent River and the main bay. Given the importance of the Potomac to the management of the Chesapeake Bay system, there is clearly a need for a major university research center on the tidal Potomac River. George Mason is ideally positioned to provide that leadership. In addition to a need for an enhanced research capability, educational activities related to the ecology and management of the Potomac Watershed could clearly benefit from a university center of this sort. The Potomac River provides a natural rallying point for environmental education activities in the northern Virginia area. The major Northern Virginia population centers of Arlington, Fairfax, Prince William and Loudoun Counties and associated cities are entirely within the tidal Potomac’s watershed. These rapidly growing jurisdictions currently house over 2 million residents with the number of children enrolled in K-12 public schools reaching just over 300,000. This region contains a highly educated populace that is eager to learn more about their environment and natural resources. The Department of Environmental Science and Policy at George Mason University has had a long history of ecological studies in the tidal Potomac River and the larger watershed. Since 1984 ESP has headed a continuing monitoring program on the tidal Potomac River centered at Gunston Cove. This work has resulted in numerous research publications and presentations as well as master’s theses and doctoral dissertations. Other areas within the watershed that have been studied by ESP faculty and students include streams in Prince William, Fairfax, and Clarke Counties, plant communities in Prince William Forest Park, vertebrate populations at Fort Belvoir, Pohick Bay Regional Park, Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge, Quantico Marine Base, Prince William Forest Park and Airlie, and wetlands in Huntley Meadows Park and at the North Fork Wetlands Bank. A major study of the Potomac River Gorge just above Washington, DC was recently initiated.

Teaching:

Teaching activities at the Center include standard university courses, summer school courses, teacher workshops and short courses, professional workshops and short courses, summer enrichment programs for high school students, and enrichment programs for the general public. Contact the Department of Environmental Science and Policy for more information at this time.

Research:

Sponsored research is a major activity at the center. The tidal Potomac River and its tributaries have been a major focus of research in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy and other departments for the past two decades. A partial list of sponsored research awards for environmental research in the Potomac watershed is found here. Creation of the center allows Mason to solidify its leadership in research in this important natural system. This will be accomplished by assembling the multidisciplinary teams which this sort of research requires. A direct benefit of this will be to provide much needed expertise to the Commonwealth’s decision makers and citizens to improve our management of these vital natural resources. A list of anticipated research programming activities are found here.

Staff

Within the Department of Environmental Science and Policy

  • Changwoo Ahn, Asssistant Professor, Wetland Ecology, Biogeochemistry and Modeling
  • Peter Balint, Assistant Professor, Environmental Policy
  • Geoffrey Birchard, Associate Professor, Conservation Biology and Animal Physiology
  • Susan Crate, Assistant Professor,
  • Jon Cooper, Affiliate and Adjunct Professor, Environmental Law and Management
  • Hillary Cressey, Assistant Professor, Ornithology
  • Nicole Darnall, Assistant Professor, Corporate Environmental Policy
  • Richard Diecchio, Professor, Sedimentary Geology and Hydrogeology
  • Cody Edwards, Assistant Professor, Vertebrate Conservation Biology
  • Patrick Gillevet, Associate Professor, Environmental Molecular Biology and Biocomplexity
  • Stephen Harlan, Associate Professor, Structural Geology
  • Robert Jonas, Associate Professor, Microbial Ecology
  • R. Chris Jones, Professor and Chair, Freshwater Ecology, Environmental Analysis
  • Richard Kraus, Assistant Professor, Fish Biology and Ecology
  • Mark Krekeler, Assistant Professor, Clay Mineralogy and Environmental Geology
  • Giuseppina Kysar Mattietti, Assistant Professor, Earth Science
  • James Lawrey, Professor, Lichenology and Plant Biology
  • Carol Litchfield, Research Professor, Microbial Ecology and Bioremediation
  • Allison Macfarlane, Associate Professor, Earth Science Policy
  • Randy McBride, Associate Professor, Coastal Geomorphology
  • Dawn Parker, Assistant Professor, Environmental Economics and Land Use Modeling
  • Chris Parsons, Assistant Professor, Marine Mammal Conservation
  • Larry Rockwood, Associate Professor, Population Ecology and Conservation Biology
  • Lee Talbot, Professor, Management of Wild Living Resources, International Biodiversity Conservation
  • Albert Torzilli, Associate Professor, Biology of Fungi and Biocomplexity
  • Stacey Verardo, Assistant Professor, Paleontology and Historical Geology
  • Andrea Weeks, Assistant Professor, Plant Taxonomy and Communities

From Other Departments at Mason

  • Sheryl Beach, Associate Professor, Earth Systems and Geoinformation Sciences, Water Resources
  • Sharon deMonsabert, Associate Professor, Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructural Engineering
  • Greg Foster, Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Water Chemistry
  • Mark Houck, Professor, Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructural Engineering
  • Julia Nord, Assistant Professor, New Century College, Environmental Geology
  • Tom Wood, Associate Professor, New Century College, Conservation Biology

Collaborating Organizations

Government Agencies

  • Virginia Science Museum*
  • Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin*
  • Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments*
  • US Fish and Wildlife Service: Mason Neck and Occoquan National Wildlife Refuges*
  • US Bureau of Land Management: Meadowood Special Recreation Area*
  • EPA Chesapeake Bay Program
  • Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
  • Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
  • Virginia State Parks
  • Maryland Department of Natural Resources*
  • Fairfax County Department of Public Works*
  • Prince William County Department of Public Works
  • Mason Neck State Park
  • Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority: Pohick Bay Regional Park

School Districts

  • Fairfax County Public Schools
  • Prince William Public Schools

Non-Governmental Organizations

  • Prince William Conservation Alliance
  • Audubon Naturalist Society
  • Chesapeake Bay Foundation

 

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