UA Scientist to Help Develop New Environmental Organization

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – A University of Alabama ecologist is among a select group of scientists chosen to help develop guidelines for a newly formed national organization focusing on environmental science issues.

Dr. Amy Ward, professor of biological sciences and director of UA’s Center for Freshwater Studies, was selected to serve as part of the planning and design committee for the National Ecological Observatory Network, known as NEON.

NEON, proposed by the National Science Foundation, is a national, interdisciplinary undertaking designed to answer scientific questions and to achieve credible ecological forecasting. Social scientists and educators are teaming with ecologists and physical scientists to focus on matters such as biodiversity, climate change, infectious disease, invasive species and land use.

Ward, a faculty member in UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, founded and directs UA’s Center for Freshwater Studies and heads a graduate education program to support students in freshwater studies. In the Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training program, known as IGERT, UA faculty from biological sciences, geography and geology participate jointly with faculty in similar areas from the University of New Mexico.

The program allows students from each of the two universities to travel to the other region and study freshwater environments in contrasting climates. The students also participate in externships with state and federal agencies where they apply what they’ve learned in dissertation research to real-world problems.

Under Ward’s direction, the Center for Freshwater Studies is dedicated to understanding and preserving water, the environment in and around it, and the plants and animals, including people, that depend on it. This teaching, research and outreach program draws together faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Engineering, the School of Law and the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration.