News Releases

Dr. Keith Eshleman honored with UMCES President's Award for his impact on environmental protection and management

FROSTBURG, MD (May 16, 2013)—Dr. Keith Eshleman, a professor at the Appalachian Laboratory and an expert in the field of watershed hydrology, has been honored by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science with the President's Award for Excellence in Application of Science. Eshleman was recognized for his leadership in preparing a landmark report on best management practices for unconventional natural gas extraction, also known as fracking, as part of the Marcellus Shale Safe Drilling Initiative established by Governor Martin O'Malley. 

Appalachian Laboratory honors Allegany College's Forestry Department for environmental stewardship

FROSTBURG, MD (April 25, 2013) – In honor of outstanding contributions to environmental education in Western Maryland, the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's Appalachian Laboratory has selected the Forestry Technology Program at Allegany College as recipient of its 2013 Richard A. Johnson Environmental Education Award. Beginning with eight students in 1968, the program has grown to produce 580 graduates who are helping to manage our natural resources, as well as making contributions to the health of our urban forests.

NSF award will help scientists learn from the ancient past to better predict how species may respond climate change

FROSTBURG, MD (April 16, 2013) – What do woolly mammoths wandering around the ancient spruce woodlands of eastern North America have to do with predicting how species could respond to climate change? Matt Fitzpatrick of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's Appalachian Laboratory, along with researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of California-Merced, have received a three-year, $670,000 award from the National Science Foundation to study how plants and animals responded to changes in climate during the ice age to better predict what we can expect in the near future. 

Prairie dogs disperse when all close kin have disappeared

FROSTBURG, MD (March 7, 2013)—Prairie dogs pull up stakes and look for a new place to live when all their close kin have disappeared from their home territory--a striking pattern of dispersal that has not been observed for any other species. This is according to a new study published in Science by behavioral ecologist John Hoogland, Professor at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's Appalachian Laboratory. He has been studying the ecology and social behavior of prairie dogs in national parks in Arizona, South Dakota, and Utah for the last 40 years.