Large Delmarva Bay wetland located near the Maryland/Delaware Border on TNC property.

I’m currently part of a large interdisciplinary team exploring hydrology, microbial ecology, and carbon dynamics of Delmarva Bay Wetlands. The overarching theme of our work is to identify dominant drivers that can be used to manage, preserve, and restore these unique landscape features. Our larger collaborative group includes scientists from UMD, Virginia Tech, USDA, EPA, USFWS, and TNC.

My role in this project includes (1) developing and maintaining a well network across 6 headwater catchments [50+ wells!], and (2) developing a process-based hydrologic model to explore potential drivers of wetland connectivity.

Other notable activities from the Palmer Lab include:

  1. Alec Armstrong is characterizing sources and drivers of DOM composition.
  2. Kelly Hondula is quantifying spatial and temporal variability in methane flux source areas.
  3. Anna Kottkamp is examining carbon stabilization mechanisms in mineral-based wetland soils. [Why do restored wetlands not store carbon efficiently?]
  4. Christine Maietta is examining spatial variability in microbial communities and their potential impact on wetland biogeochemical cycling.
  5. Graham Stewart is comparing drivers of carbon emissions across restored and natural Delmarva Bay wetlands.
  6. Michael Williams – in addition to being the Palmer Lab Manager and maintaining three flux towers – Michael is using tracer addition experiments to quantify wetland hydraulics and residence time distributions.
A few pictures of our team in the field. I'm incredibly lucky to be part of such a talented and dynamic group!