Faculty & Partners


CENRS Faculty
Darren L. Bade Assistant Professor College of Arts and Sciences
Department of Biological Sciences
Center for Ecology and Natural Resources Sustainability


Research Areas:

  • Limnology
  • Ecosystem Ecology
  • Biogeochemistry
  • Trophic Interacdtions
Christopher Blackwood Associate Professor cblackwo@kent.edu
Phone: 330-672-3895
Department of Biological Sciences
Center for Ecology and Natural Resources Sustainability


Research Areas:

  • Community and physiological ecology of soil microorganisms
  • Ecosystem processes in forest and agricultural systems
  • Symbiotic relationships between microbes and plants
Andrea L. Case Associate Professor acase@kent.edu
Phone: 330-672-3699
Department of Biological Sciences
Center for Ecology and Natural Resources Sustainability


Research Areas:

  • Evolutionary ecology of plant reproductive systems
  • Gender evolution
  • Male sterility
Reid Coffman Associate Professor rcoffma4@kent.edu
Phone: 330-672-2917
College of Architecture and Environmental Design
Center for Ecology and Natural Resources Sustainability


Research Areas:

  • urban ecological design
  • vegetative roofs
  • bioretention
  • ecological services
Ferenc A. de Szalay Associate Professor fdeszala@kent.edu
Phone: 330-672-7936
Department of Biological Sciences
Center for Ecology and Natural Resources Sustainability


Research Areas:

  • Responses of aquatic invertebrates to management strategies in wetlands, streams, lakes, and ponds
  • Mosquito ecology and control methods
  • Vegetational, hydrological, and trophic factors regulating invertebrate communities in aquatic ecosystems
Qunxing Ding Assistant Professor qding@kent.edu
Phone: 330-382-7400
Department of Biological Sciences
Center for Ecology and Natural Resources Sustainability


Research Areas:

  • Oxidative stress in neuronal degenerative disease
Jean Engohang-Ndong Assistant Professor jengohan@kent.edu
Phone: 330-339-3391
Department of Biological Sciences
Center for Ecology and Natural Resources Sustainability


Research Areas:

  • Surface water quality,
  • Environmental microbiology
  • Molecular mechanisms of bacterial pathogenesis
  • Disease control and Drug discovery
Robert Hamilton Assistant Professor rhamilt6@kent.edu
Phone: 330-244-3450
Department of Biological Sciences
Center for Ecology and Natural Resources Sustainability


Research Areas:

  • Urban ecology with a focus on ecological integrity of streams within wetlands, aquatic macroinvertebrates, water quality, and stream substrate composition
  • Pitcher plant invertebrate community dynamics
Charles Hart, PhD, CIH, CSP, RS Associate Professor - Environmental Health Sciences chart18@kent.edu
Phone: 330-672-6519
College of Public Health
Center for Ecology and Natural Resources Sustainability


Research Areas:

  • EOHS Practice
  • Institutional & Workplace EOHS
  • Lab Safey/Biosafety
  • Vector-borne Disease
W. Randolph Hoeh Associate Professor whoeh@kent.edu
Phone: 330-672-9573
Department of Biological Sciences
Center for Ecology and Natural Resources Sustainability


Research Areas:

  • Evolution of bivalved mollusk morphology, mating systems, and gender-associated mitochondrial DNA genomes
Laura G. Leff Professor and Assistant Chair lleff@kent.edu
Phone: 330-672-3788
Department of Biological Sciences
Center for Ecology and Natural Resources Sustainability


Research Areas:

  • aquatic ecology
  • microbial ecology
Matthew Lehnert Assistant Professor mlehner1@kent.edu
Phone: 330-499-9600
Department of Biological Sciences
Center for Ecology and Natural Resources Sustainability
Andrew Lepp Associate Professor alepp1@kent.edu
Phone: 330-672-0218
College and Graduate School of Education
Health and Human Services
Center for Ecology and Natural Resources Sustainability


Research Areas:

  • Ecotourism
  • Human Dimensions of Conservation
  • Sustainable Development
  • Park Management
Patrick D. Lorch Assistant Professor plorch@kent.edu
Phone: 330-672-7888
Department of Biological Sciences
Center for Ecology and Natural Resources Sustainability


Research Areas:

  • Behavioral and evolutionary ecology of insect mating behavior, group formation, movement, and sexual selection.
  • Evolution of sex differences in meiotic recombination rates.
Brian Lutz Assistant Professor blutz6@kent.edu
Phone: 330-672-9394
Department of Biological Sciences
Center for Ecology and Natural Resources Sustainability
Xiaozhen Mou Assistant Professor xmou@kent.edu
Phone: 330-672-3625
Department of Biological Sciences
Center for Ecology and Natural Resources Sustainability


Research Areas:

  • Ecological roles of microbial organisms in the global cycling of essential nutrients
  • Phylogenetic and metabolic diversity of bacterial communities in aquatic ecosystems
  • Metagenomics and metatranscriptomics in aquatic ecosystems
Mandy Munro-Stasiuk Professor and Chair mmunrost@kent.edu
Phone: 330-672-2045
Department of Geography
Center for Ecology and Natural Resources Sustainability


Research Areas:

  • Glacial and Karst Environments
  • Terrestrial Remote Sensing
  • Geoarchaeology
Helen Piontkivska Associate Professor opiontki@kent.edu
Phone: 330-672-3620
Department of Biological Sciences
Center for Ecology and Natural Resources Sustainability


Research Areas:

  • Molecular evolution of genes and genomes, large-scale analyses of genomic sequences, adaptive evolution of host-parasite interactions
Oscar Rocha Associate Professor orocha@kent.edu
Phone: 330-672-2297
Department of Biological Sciences
Center for Ecology and Natural Resources Sustainability


Research Areas:

  • Reproductive Ecology
  • Selective abortion of fruits and seeds
  • Genetic diversity and conservation of genetic resources
  • Conservation ecology
Dan Ross Instructor daross@kent.edu
Phone: 330-672-2045
Department of Geography
Department of Biological Sciences
Center for Ecology and Natural Resources Sustainability


Research Areas:

  • Urban Conservation
  • Natural Resource Management
  • Sedimentation from Urban Site
  • Urban Resource Management
Scott Sheridan Professor ssherid1@kent.edu
Phone: 330-672-3224
Department of Geography
Center for Ecology and Natural Resources Sustainability


Research Areas:

  • Climatology
  • Biometeorology
David Singer Assistant Professor dsinger4@kent.edu
Department of Geology
Center for Ecology and Natural Resources Sustainability


Research Areas:

  • Environmental Mineralogy
  • Environmental Geochemistry
  • Medical Geology
Emariana Taylor Assistant Professor etaylo12@kent.edu
Phone: 330-672-3226
Department of Geography
Center for Ecology and Natural Resources Sustainability
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