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Mark Castro, Associate Professor

Phone: 301.689.7163
Fax: 301.689.7200
Email:

 

MDE's hazecam located atop Savage Mt. in Frostburg

Research Interests

  • Environmental Science
  • Atmospheric-Biosphere Interactions
  • Impacts of Land use on Water Quality
 
Education

1991  Ph.D.

University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA - Environmental Sciences

1984  M.S.

Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL - Environmental Sciences

1979  B.A.

Lawrence University, Geology, Appleton, WI
 
Professional Experience

1994-Present

Associate Professor, Appalachian Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science , Frostburg, MD

1993-1994

Adjunct Faculty, Cape Cod Community College, W. Barnstable, MA

1992-1994

Research Scientist, The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA

1992-1994

Postdoctoral Fellow, The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA

 
Selected Publications
  • J. Aber, M. Castro, W. Currie, D. Kicklighter, M. Martin, and S. Olinger. In Press. Synthesis and extrapolation: models, remote sensing and regional analyses. In: Forests in time: the environmental consequences of 1000 years of change in New England . D. Foster and J. Aber (eds.). Harvard University Press, Massachusetts.
  • Campbell, J.L., J.W. Hornbeck, M.J. Mitchell, M.B. Adams, M.S. Castro, C.T. Driscoll J.S. Kahl, J.N. Knochenderfer, G.E. Likens, J.A. Lynch, P.S. Murdoch, S.J. Nelson and J.B. Shanley. 2004 . Input-output budgets of inorganic nitrogen for 24 forest watersheds in the northeastern United States: A review. Water, Air and Soil Pollution 151: 373-396.
  • Clark, K.L., H.L. Gholz and M.S. Castro. 2004 . Carbon dynamics along a chronosequence of slash pine plantations in north Florida. Ecological Applications 14(4): 1154-1171.
  • Venterea, R.T., P.M. Groffman, M.S. Castro, L.V. Verchot, I.J. Fernandez and M.B. Adams. 2004. Soil emissions of nitric oxide in two forest watersheds subjected to elevated N inputs. Forest Ecology and Management 196(2004): 335-349.
  • Whitall, D., M. Castro and C. Driscoll. 2004 . Evaluation of management strategies for reducing nitrogen loadings to four U.S. estuaries. Science of the Total Environment 333 (2004): 25-36.
  • Driscoll, C., D. Whitall, J. Aber, E. Boyer, M. Castro, C. Cronan, C. Goodale, P. Groffman, C. Hopkinson, K. Lambert, G. Lawrence, and S. Ollinger. 2003. Nitrogen pollution in the northeastern United States: Sources, Effects, and Management Options. Bioscience. 53(4) :357-374.
  • Driscoll, C., D. Whitall, J. Aber, E. Boyer, M. Castro, C. Cronan, C. Goodale, P. Groffman, C. Hopkinson, K. Lambert, G. Lawrence, and S. Ollinger. 2003. Nitrogen pollution: sources and consequences in the U.S. northeast. Environment 45(7) :8-22.
  • Castro, M. S., C. T. Driscoll, T. E. Jordan, W. G. Reay, and W. R. Boynton. 2003. Sources of nitrogen to estuaries in the United States. Estuaries 26:803-814. (nutshell)
  • Castro, M. S., E. N. McLaughlin, S. L. Davis, and R. P. Morgan. 2002. Total mercury concentrations in lakes and fish of western Maryland, USA. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 42:454-462. (nutshell)
  • Castro, M. S., and C. T. Driscoll. 2002. Atmospheric nitrogen deposition to estuaries in the mid- Atlantic and northeastern United States. Environmental Science & Technology 36:3242-3249.
 
Selected Research Projects
Water Quality Assessment of Lakes in Western Maryland: Broadford Lake and Savage River Reservoir - A project designed to augment our measurements of total and methyl mercury in western Maryland. Quarterly measurements of selected water quality variables are being made at these two lakes, as well as at Lake Habeeb and Piney Creek Reservoir. Data collected should help explain differences in methyl mercury concentrations in fish in Maryland lakes.
Ammonia Concentrations in Ambient Air in Maryland - A project designed to increase our understanding of ammonia (NH3) gas in ambient air across the state of Maryland. Field measurements are being made at three locations: Piney Dam Reservoir, Assateague Island, and Beltsville, Maryland. In addition to measurement of ammonia concentrations, we will examine the relationship between wind direction and ammonia concentrations across the state. Funded by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

Water Quality Assessment of Piney Creek Reservoir - A project that was designed to assess the health of the Frostburg drinking water supply reservoir. We have examined precipitation chemistry, the trophic state and phytoplankton communities of the late, sources of N and P in the watershed and mercury concentrations in the water and fish of the reservoir. Funded by the Maryland Department of the Environment and the City of Frostburg, Maryland.

Research Opportunities & Collaboration in the Appalachians - A collaborative research and education project funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation with scientists from other academic institutions in the Appalachian College Association focused on watershed research in the Appalachians. Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

 
 
Teaching Activities

Land Margin Interactions, MEES 610 (4 credits) - Fall of every year

This course is taught by UCMES faculty members Mark Castro, Tom Fisher, and Walter Boynton and was developed several years ago as an overview course on physical, chemical, and biological interactions in the coastal zone for incoming graduate students in the MEES Program. The course emphasizes water flows, biogeochemistry, biological productivity, and anthropogenic effects and covers interactions between the atmosphere, watersheds, streams, and estuaries. The content of the course is designed to provide a basic framework upon which more specialized courses can be built (e.g., watershed ecology, estuarine ecology, biological oceanography, etc.). Course components are two, 2 h lectures per week, 3 weekend field trips (an overnight camping trip in Western MD, a 1 day cruise on the Patuxent, and a 1-day trip to Blackwater Wildlife Refuge), a 5-10 page term paper, a class forum (presentation of the term paper), and mid-term and final exams.

 
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