Steve Faulkner is a supervisory research ecologist at the Eastern Ecological Science Center in Kearneysville, WV.
Growing up exploring the forests of central Maryland led him to pursue his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Forestry from Louisiana State University. He received his Ph.D. in wetland biogeochemical ecology at Duke University. After graduate school, he held faculty positions at LSU before joining USGS in 2002. Steve has studied various aspects of forest and wetland ecosystem sustainability and restoration including soil redox chemistry, carbon and nitrogen biogeochemistry, and the effects of climate and land-use change on ecosystem services. He currently serves as Chief of the Aquatic Ecology Branch at Leetown where he leads a team of seven scientists with research programs in genetics, aquatic ecology, and landscape ecology.
EDUCATION
Ph.D. 1994. Duke University (Biogeochemical Ecology)
M.S. 1982. Louisiana State University (Forestry)
B.S. 1979. Louisiana State University (Forestry)
CURRENT POSITION
Chief /Supervisory Research Ecologist, Aquatic Ecology Branch, Leetown Science Center, Kearneysville, WV. I serve as Chief of the Aquatic Ecology Branch at the Leetown Science Center, where I lead a diverse team of scientists with expertise in landscape ecology (spatial analysis and modeling of land use, land use change, and impacts on aquatic ecosystems), stream fish ecology (responses to environmental quality, stream physical habitat, stream food web modeling), decision analysis and statistics (methods and protocols to sample and monitor populations of aquatic organisms, landscape-level studies of aquatic organisms and their habitats, improve management strategies for conservation efforts using adaptive management and structured decision making), and conservation genetics and genomics (identification, development, testing, and application of DNA microsatellite markers, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers, gene expression profiles, real-time PCR gene product quantification, pathogen identification).
PREVIOUS PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS
Research Ecologist, National Wetlands Research Center, Lafayette, LA (2002-2009) – Primary research areas were wetland carbon and nitrogen biogeochemistry, climate change, integrated landscape science and monitoring.
Adjunct Professor, Departments of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA (2002-2009)
Adjunct Professor, Department of Environmental Studies, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA (2002-2009)
Assistant Professor, Wetland Biogeochemistry Institute/Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA (1996-2002) - Developed and taught three new courses in the Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences: Environmental Chemistry of Wetlands, Wetland Delineation and Functional Assessment,
Science and Products
The Potential Effects of Unconventional Oil and Gas Development on Eastern Brook Trout
Forecasting the Effects of Land-Use and Climate Change on Wildlife Communities and Habitats in the Lower Mississippi Valley
Science and Products
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The Potential Effects of Unconventional Oil and Gas Development on Eastern Brook Trout
Issue The Upper Susquehanna River watershed (PA) has experienced a rapid increase in unconventional oil and gas (UOG) development since it is part of the Marcellus shale formation. It is also part of the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay, which is the focus of considerable conservation and restoration activities by federal and state agencies under the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement. Brook trout...Forecasting the Effects of Land-Use and Climate Change on Wildlife Communities and Habitats in the Lower Mississippi Valley
This project built on an existing regional conservation partnership to use the most recent downscaled climate model projections to forecast the likely impacts of climate change to species and ecosystems in the Lower Mississippi Valley (LMV). The objective of this work was to develop and test ecological and biological models to facilitate regional adaptive management of wildlife resources and the f - Publications
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