Anne’s academic year-end update

On the (dormant) green roof at Cleveland Metroparks’ Watershed Stewardship Center, April 2015

As I finish my third year at Kent State and prepare to go up for tenure, my work is taking me to exciting new heights. My newest project involves monitoring the hydrologic and water quality performance of different types of green infrastructure for Cleveland Metroparks. I never thought I’d be measuring soil moisture on a rooftop, but here I am. My work on green infrastructure brings with it enthusiastic students and stimulating collaborations with faculty in Biological Sciences, Geography, and Architecture. Kimberly Jarden defended her M.S. in April, and I have two graduate students beginning in the fall. Three more graduate students are close to defending, and I’ve had the pleasure to work with undergraduates Allison Reynolds, Sean Robertson, and Mitch Ladig as well. All of my students joined me at the Geological Society of America meeting in Vancouver in October, where we had a total of 7 presentations and a lot of fun. In the fall, I also taught an honors class of Environmental Earth Science, which was a good reminder of the big issues facing our planet and the urgent need for earth scientists to engage with these problems and their potential solutions. In the spring, I was mostly on leave following the birth of my baby boy, but I did manage to get a number of papers and proposals submitted, so it was a productive year in every sense.

[This blurb brought to you by needing to write something for the departmental newsletter.]