RAN: Redesigning the American Neighborhood Project
Research Team
Principal Investigators
Breck Bowden Email Breck
William (Breck) Bowden is Patrick Professor for Watershed Science and Planning in The Rubenstein School at the University of Vermont. He is Director of the Water Resources and Lake Studies Center in the School and a member of the Arctic Long-Term Ecological Research Program. His research focuses on interactions between hydrological and biogeochemical processes, especially those influenced by land use practices and land cover characteristics at catchment scales. He promotes uptake and use of science knowledge by resource managers, policy makers, and community stakeholders.
Walter Kuentzel Email Walt
Walt Kuentzel is Associate Professor and Chair of the Recreation Management undergraduate program in The Rubenstein School at the University of Vermont. His research focuses on processes of rural social change. Walt uses a variety of longitudinal research designs to understand community development and adaptation, behavior across the life course, leisure and recreational trends, and community capacity building.
Alan McIntosh Email Alan
Alan McIntosh is Professor and Chair of the Environmental Sciences undergraduate program in The Rubenstein School at the University of Vermont. His research interests focus on the fate and effects of toxic contaminants in freshwater ecosystems, with particular interest in the mechanisms involved in sediment contamination, including uptake of sediment-associated contaminants and impacts of these sediments on aquatic communities. Additional interests include the use of stream benthic macroinvertebrates as indicators of pollution.
John Todd Email John
John Todd is a pioneer in the emerging field of ecological design and engineering. He is a Research Professor in The Rubenstein School and a Distinguished Lecturer at the University of Vermont. He is also a Fellow of the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics at UVM. John is the Founder and President of Ocean Arks International, a non-profit research and education organization established in 1981, and the Founder and a Principal in John Todd Ecological Design Inc., an international ecological design and engineering firm based in Woods Hole on Cape Cod.
Alexey Voinov
Alexey Voinov is a former Research Professor in the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics at the University of Vermont and is now a Research Scientist at Johns Hopkins University. His research interests include simulation modeling of ecosystems, environmental management and decision support, and sustainability and economic development.
Graduate Students and Research Assistants
Joe Bartlett Email Joe
Joe Bartlett is currently a Master of Science candidate in Aquatic Ecology and Watershed Science in The Rubenstein School at the University of Vermont. He is working with the University of Vermont Transportation Research Center on a streams project. His role on the RAN project was as a research technician working with graduate students. Joe received his BS in Environmental Sciences from the University of Vermont in 2004.
Evan Fitzgerald Email Evan
Evan Fitzgerald received his MS in Natural Resources in 2007 from the University of Vermont Rubenstein School. His thesis is titled Linking Urbanization to Stream Geomorphology and Biotic Integrity in the Lake Champlain Basin, Vermont. Evan's contribution to the RAN project included Stream Ecosystem Response to Watershed Development. Evan earned his BS in Environmental Conservation in 1998 from the University of New Hampshire. He recently started a consulting firm Fitzgerald Environmental, Inc.
Julie Foley Email Julie
Julie Foley earned her MS in Natural Resources from the University of Vermont Rubenstein School in 2007. Her thesis is titled Development of an Integrated, Watershed-Scale, Planning Tool for Stormwater Management in Vermont. Prior to her Master's work, Julie received her BA in Geology from Colgate University in 1999. She is currently a Wetland Resource Manager with the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources.
Alexander Hackman Email Alex
Alex Hackman completed his MS in Natural Resources from the University of Vermont Rubenstein School in 2008. His thesis is titled The Influence of Stormwater Impairment on Whole-Ecosystem Metabolism of Surburban Vermont Streams. His component of the RAN project included Measuring Urban Stream Health Using Ecosystem Metrics. Prior to his Master's work, Alex received his BA in Environmental Studies from Tufts University and is currently a staff scientist with the Massachusetts Riverways Program.
Barton Kirk Email Barton
Barton Kirk received his MS in Natural Resource Planning from the University of Vermont in 2006. Barton's component of the RAN project focused on Life Cycle Assessment of Urban Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs). Prior to his Master's work, Barton completed his BS in Agricultural and Biological Engineering at Penn State University. He is currently employed as an Ecological Engineer/Researcher at SEEDS in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Andrea Kofstad Email Andrea
Andrea Kofstad is a Master of Science student in Environment, Society and Public Affairs in the University of Vermont Rubenstein School. Her component of the RAN project was Neighborhood Differences in Attitudes and Preferences Regarding Stormwater Runoff.
Joel Nipper Email Joel
Joel Nipper is currently a PhD student in Natural Resources in the University of Vermont Rubenstein School. His components of the RAN project include: Evaluation of the Performance of a Storm Water Detention Pond and In-stream vs. Land-based Sources of Water Pollution.
Helena Vladich
Helena Vladich is currently a PhD candidate in Natural Resources in The Rubenstein School at the Unversity of Vermont. Helena's contribution to the RAN project included Tackling Stormwater Runoff with Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis Tools. She earned her MS in Automatic Control Systems from the Moscow Physical Training Institute in 1983, specializing in modeling of ecological economic systems, particularly involving water reservoirs. Helena joined the Institute for Ecological Economics (now the Gund Institute at the University of Vermont) as a research assistant in 1994.
Last modified January 05 2010 01:25 PM