Dr. Joe Maher and Professor Jim Hanson
Image Credit: Edwin Remsberg
Congratulations to all of the AREC students who graduated in December 2015. One graduate student and several undergraduates received degrees.
Joe Maher (pictured with Professor Jim Hanson) received a Ph.D. for his dissertation, "Essays on Energy Efficiency and Forest Conservation." Joe received several awards while completing his degree. He received the department's Rhona Lantin Award for best paper written by a first year for his paper "A Hedonic Assessment of Tree Cover and Tree Height." The following year, he received the merit fellowship given by the University of Maryland Graduate School, as well as the Green Fund Fellowship for Collaborative Research on the Environment, from the University of Maryland Council on the Environment, for the research project “Linking Remote Sensing and Economics: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Protected Areas in Reducing Tropical Deforestation.”
Joe has accepted a position as a computational research fellow with the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center in Annapolis, Maryland. He plans to continue his research focusing on energy efficiency policy, valuation of ecosystem services, and issues at the intersection of forestry and climate change.
We would also like to congratulate graduating senior Charlotte Staver. Charlotte was selected as the commencement speaker for the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources graduation ceremony.
Charlotte excelled both academically and in extracurricular activities while studying Agricultural and Resource Economics. She received the Ray A. Murry Scholarship and the Southern States Cooperative scholarship. She also pursued study abroad opportunities including a leadership course in Norway and an environmental stewardship couse which traveled to Germany, the Netherlands, England, and Scotland. Closer to home, she spent a summer doing soil science research as an intern in the Crop Systems and Global Change Laboratory at the USDA Agricultural Research Service facility in Beltsville, MD.
Charlotte was highlighted as an AGNR Standout Student in May 2014. The article noted her accomplishments as a middle distance runner with the UMD Track and Field Team, as well as her work as an AGNR ambassador, and as a member of Sigma Alpha, a professional agricultural sorority.
After graduation, Charlotte said she plans to pursue her masters degree and PhD, eventually conducting research, going into academia or working for the government.
