Research Associate Professor
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Appalachian Laboratory
301 Braddock Road
Appalachian Laboratory
Frostburg, Maryland 21532
Email: kengelhardt@umces.edu
Phone: 301-689-7140

Visit Katia's Research Website

Research Disciplines:

• Aquatic Ecology
• Conservation
• Ecosystem Services
• Exotic species
• Plant Ecologist
• Reintroduced species
• Restoration Ecology
• Wetlands

Research Interests:

Biodiversity, Vallisneria americana, Hydrilla verticillata, roadside vegetation, Castanea dentata, Chesapeake Bay, Hudson River, experimental ecology

View Katia's CV

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Biographical Sketch

Dr. Katia Engelhardt is a Research Associate Professor who received her Ph.D. from Utah State University in 2000 and since then has been at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science’s Appalachian Lab where she is studying the ecological consequences of changes in genetic and species diversity. Her research has taken her to a variety of ecosystems but her tendency is to keep her feet wet and her finger nails dirty studying wetland systems. Submersed aquatic macrophytes have long peeked her curiosity about the natural world with the Chesapeake Bay providing a perfect natural laboratory for studying what drives submersed aquatic macrophytes growth and diversity and ways to restore this awesome and important natural resource.

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Education

1993    B. S., Oregon State University. Animal Science.

1997    M.S., Utah State University. Fisheries and Wildlife Ecology. Evaluation of translocation criteria for Trumpeter swans reintroduced to northern Utah: habitat quality and interactions with Tundra swans.

2000    Ph.D., Utah State University. Ecology. The role of species composition and biodiversity in wetland ecosystem resilience and processes.

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Ongoing and Recent CESU Projects

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Other Research

Application of genomic analysis to restoration of submersed aquatic vegetation habitat in the tidal Hudson River. Hudson River Foundation. 2015-2018

Resilience of Vallisneria americana in the Chesapeake Bay. Maryland Sea Grant. 2016-2018

Identification of low growing, salt tolerant turfgrass species suitable for use along highway right of way – experimental field trials. Maryland State Highway Administration. 2017-2019

The role of sediments in the maintenance of biodiversity in freshwater marshes: implications for global environmental change. National Science Foundation. 2009-2014.

Citizens Restoring American Chestnuts (CRAC). Chesapeake Bay Trust. 2012-2013.

The dynamic feedback between sediments and vegetation in natural and restored tidal freshwater marshes. Grayce B. Kerr Fund. 2013-2014.

Water celery genotyping, propagation and testing for sensitivity to fluridone in the Croton River. 2019-2021

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