The Environmental Institute

Research Profile

Research focuses on Energy and Environmental Economics and Policy, especially the impact of uncertainty on climate change emissions and technology policies. Current studies include collecting expert elicitations on energy technology R&D and evaluating the impact of energy R&D portfolios on greenhouse gas emissions and the environment. A new, interdisciplinary project focuses on developing metrics for sustainability for the Pioneer Valley region, and developing a decision support system that relates electricity generation decisions to sustainability metrics, including uncertainty.

Keywords

Climate Change, Renewable Energy, Water Resources

Michael Barnes

Associate Professor
Department: Chemistry

Phone: 413-577-3121

Email: mdbarnes@chem.umass.edu

Research Profile

Our highly collaborative and interdisciplinary research explores the connection between structure and optoelectronic function in polymeric and inorganic composite nanostructures. Our experimental approach, termed Chemical Microscopy, combines single-molecule imaging and spectroscopy techniques along with scanning probe microscopies such as AFM, to understand details of structure and internal order in macromolecular systems and their relation photonic, or optoelectronic properties.

Keywords

Renewable Energy

Paul K. Barten

Associate Professor
Department: Natural Resources Conservation

Phone: (413) 545-2665

Email: pkbarten@nrc.umass.edu

Research Profile

Research focuses on watershed structure and function, spatial and temporal variation of soil water storage in forested watersheds, streamflow generation and water movement in forested uplands and wetlands, integrated assessment of the hydrological impacts of land use, retrospective modeling of water and sediment yield, and watershed management. Research includes interdisciplinary studies of the Connecticut River Watershed system.

Keywords

Green Communities, Natural Resources Management, Water Resources

Elizabeth R. Bertone-Johnson

Assistant Professor
Department: Public Health

Phone: (413) 577-1672

Email: ebertone@schoolph.umass.edu

Research Profile

Research focuses on environmental health and the effect of diet and other lifestyle factors on ovarian cancer incidence, hormonal risk factors for breast and ovarian cancer, and cancer epidemiology in animal populations.

Keywords

Environmental Health

Magdalena Bezanilla

Assistant Professor
Department: Biology

Phone:

Email: bezanilla@bio.umass.edu

Research Profile

My lab studies the molecular mechanisms behind plant cell growth. In particular we are focusing on the mechanisms leading to the very polar and directed form of growth known as tip growth. We are investigating how actin-binding proteins affect dynamics in the cell and how they regulate tip growth.

Keywords

Biology

Surita Bhatia

Associate Professor
Department: Chemical Engineering

Phone: (413) 545-0096

Email: sbhatia@ecs.umass.edu

Research Profile

Research focuses on complex fluids, solutions and gels containing surfactants, polymers, and colloidal particles which are potential models for biomembranes.

Keywords

Green Chemistry, Renewable Energy

Prasanta C. Bhowmik

Professor
Department: Plant, Soil, and Insect Sciences

Phone: (413) 545-5223

Email: pbhowmik@pssci.umass.edu

Research Profile

Studies the biology of invasive weed species, allelopathic interactions of weed species, the use of organic products for weed management, and the influence of edaphic factors in herbicide behavior and development of integrated weed management strategies for cool-season turfgrass.

Keywords

Plant/Pest Management

Annaliese Bischoff

Associate Professor
Department: Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning

Phone: (413) 545-6623

Email: abischof@larp.umass.edu

Research Profile

Professor Bischoff specializes in landscape architecture and cultural landscape preservation. Her research focuses on the cultural influences that shape the landscape with an emphasis on historic identity and landscape character.

Keywords

Green Communities, Urban Sustainability

Jeffrey Blanchard

Associate Professor
Department: Microbiology

Phone: (413) 545-2130

Email: blanchard@microbio.umass.edu

Research Profile

Researches systems-level approaches to understanding bacterial stress response networks related to host-pathogen interactions and the influence of global climate change on populations of marine cyanobacteria and communities of bacteria. Focus areas include use of genomic data to discover functions for genes and proteins; rules governing and constraining biological systems; and predictive models of biological systems that incorporate biochemical and genetic data.

Keywords

Climate Change, Renewable Energy

Kumar Bobba

Assistant Professor
Department: Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

Phone: (413) 545-3363

Email: bobba@ecs.umass.edu

Research Profile

Research focuses on the interface of complex fluid flow phenomena and robust automatic control systems, investigating the multi-scale mechanics, dynamics and statistics of turbulent flow phenomena; and design, analysis and testing of novel distributed control systems that can function in the presence of wide amount of structured uncertainty arising from various sources. Technological and natural applications for energy systems, environmental flows, and cellular medicine.

Keywords

Energy Efficiency