Faculty

Faculty, Lecturers and Post Doctoral Associates

Our faculty members make up the Instructional Areas that include Plant Biology & Biotechnology, Sustainable Agricultural Production & Technology, as well as Landscape Architecture & Landscape Management.

Dr. Carol Allen Agent Associate in Food Safety
Dr. Carol Allen Agent Associate in Food Safety
Email: callen12@umd.edu
Room: PLS 2125E
Phone: 301.405.7543
Dr. Craig Beyrouty Professor
Dr. Craig Beyrouty Professor
Email:beyrouty@umd.edu
Room: PLS 2110
Phone:
Dr. Daniel Buonaiuto Assistant Professor
Dr. Daniel Buonaiuto Assistant Professor
Email: dbuona@umd.edu
Room: PLS 2128
Dr. Mark Carroll Associate Professor and Director, Environmental Science and Policy Program
Dr. Mark Carroll Associate Professor and Director, Environmental Science and Policy Program
Email: mcarroll@umd.edu
Room: PLS 2132
Phone: 301.405.1339
Juanita Choo Assistant Research Professor
Juanita Choo Assistant Research Professor
Email: juanita@umd.edu
Room: PLS 2138
Dr. Diana Cochran Associate Clinical Professor
Dr. Diana Cochran Associate Clinical Professor
Email: cochrand@umd.edu
Room: PLS 2112
Phone: 301.405.4336
Dr. Gary Coleman Associate Professor
Dr. Gary Coleman Associate Professor
Email: gcoleman@umd.edu
Room: PLS 6142
Phone: 301.405.4371
Diana Cortez Lecturer &Faculty Specialist
Diana Cortez Lecturer &Faculty Specialist
Email:dcortez@umd.edu
Room: PLS 2139
Phone: 301.405.4359
Dr. James Culver Professor
Dr. James Culver Professor
Email: jculver@umd.edu
Room: PLS 6139
Phone: 301.405.2912
Mary Christensen Lecturer
Mary Christensen Lecturer
Email: mchrist5@umd.edu
Room: 2131
Phone: 301.405.4931
Dr. Olumide Sam Daramola Assistant Clinical Professor
Dr. Olumide Sam Daramola Assistant Clinical Professor
Email:odaramo1@umd.edu
Room: PLS 2134
Phone: 301.405.1602
Dr. Christopher Ellis Professor
Dr. Christopher Ellis Professor
Email: cdellis@umd.edu
Room: PLS 2144
Phone: 301.405.7782
Dr. John Erwin Professor and Chair
Dr. John Erwin Professor and Chair
Email: jerwin@umd.edu
Room: PLS 2104
Phone: 301.405.4356
Dr. Macarena Farcuh Associate Professor and Extension Specialist
Dr. Macarena Farcuh Associate Professor and Extension Specialist
Email: mfarcuh@umd.edu
Room: PLS 2116
Phone:301.405.1323
Dr. Nicole Fiorellino Associate Professor and Extension Specialist
Dr. Nicole Fiorellino Associate Professor and Extension Specialist
Email: nfiorell@umd.edu
Room: PLS 2124
Phone: 301.405.6241
Dr. Ana Cristina Fulladolsa Director, Maryland Plant Diagnostic Lab
Dr. Ana Cristina Fulladolsa Director, Maryland Plant Diagnostic Lab
Email: acfulla@umd.edu
Room: PLS 3134
Phone: 301.405.1611
Tom Flores Lecturer Fermentation Science
Tom Flores Lecturer Fermentation Science
Email: tflores3@umd.edu
Jonathan Gemmell Assistant Clinical Professor
Jonathan Gemmell Assistant Clinical Professor
Email: mjhu@umd.edu
Room: PLS 2106
Phone: 301.405.5586
Kayla Griffith, MS, CCA Lecturer (PLSC112, PLSC113)
Kayla Griffith, MS, CCA Lecturer (PLSC112, PLSC113)
Email: kmgriffi@umd.edu
Dr. Mengjun Hu Associate Professor and Extension Specialist
Dr. Mengjun Hu Associate Professor and Extension Specialist
Email: mjhu@umd.edu
Room: PLS 2106
Phone: 301.405.5586
Dr. Pierre Jacob Assistant Professor
Dr. Pierre Jacob Assistant Professor
Email: pjacob@umd.edu
Room: PLS 6117
Phone:
Dr. Byoung-Suk Kweon, PLA Professor
Dr. Byoung-Suk Kweon, PLA Professor
Email: kweonb@umd.edu
Room: PLS 2140
Phone: 301.405.4341
Christine Machado, Lecturer (LARC120)
Christine Machado, Lecturer (LARC120)
Email: cmach15@umd.edu
Dr. Shirley Micallef Professor, PLSC Graduate Admissions Chair
Dr. Shirley Micallef Professor, PLSC Graduate Admissions Chair
Email: smicall@umd.edu
Room: PLS 2126
Phone: 301.405.4369

Name	Contact Information	Research Focus
Dr. Carol Allen Agent Associate in Food Safety	Email: callen12@umd.edu Room: PLS 2125E Phone: 301.405.7543	Optimizing water quality Fruit and vegetable crop production to meet current food safety requirements
Dr. Craig Beyrouty Professor	Email:beyrouty@umd.edu Room: PLS 2110 Phone:	Agronomy Soil Science
Dr. Daniel Buonaiuto Assistant Professor	Email: dbuona@umd.edu Room: PLS 2128	Plant phenology and global change Plant community ecology Invasive species impacts and control Sustainable nursery and turf management practices.
Dr. Mark Carroll Associate Professor and Director, Environmental Science and Policy Program	Email: mcarroll@umd.edu Room: PLS 2132 Phone: 301.405.1339	Turfgrass Water Quality Nutrients Pesticides Runoff Organic Lawn Care
Juanita Choo Assistant Research Professor	Email: juanita@umd.edu Room: PLS 2138	Biodiversity conservation and enhancement in forest and urban landscapes Human-driven changes to biodiversity and plant-animal interactions Biodiversity’s contribution to human health and wellness Tracing plant dispersal and food origins using genetics and spatial analysis Preserving local and traditional ethnobiological knowledge
Dr. Diana Cochran Associate Clinical Professor	Email: cochrand@umd.edu Room: PLS 2112 Phone: 301.405.4336	Commercial crop production Crop diversification Relationship between plants and environmental variables Sustainable in-season crop management practices
Dr. Gary Coleman Associate Professor	Email: gcoleman@umd.edu Room: PLS 6142 Phone: 301.405.4371	Tree growth and development Nitrogen Storage Bud Dormancy Plant Adaptation Nitrogen-use efficiency
Diana Cortez Lecturer &Faculty Specialist	Email:dcortez@umd.edu Room: PLS 2139 Phone: 301.405.4359	Academic Advisor
Dr. James Culver Professor	Email: jculver@umd.edu Room: PLS 6139 Phone: 301.405.2912	Virology Nanotechnology PLSC399 opportunities may be available during the Fall and Spring semesters. Please email for more information.
Mary Christensen Lecturer	Email: mchrist5@umd.edu Room: 2131 Phone: 301.405.4931
Dr. Olumide Sam Daramola Assistant Clinical Professor	Email:odaramo1@umd.edu Room: PLS 2134 Phone: 301.405.1602	Agronomy and Weed Science Weed Ecology and Management Integrated Weed Management Optimizing Herbicide Efficacy Precision Weed Control Teaching and Mentoring Experiential Learning
Dr. Christopher Ellis Professor	Email: cdellis@umd.edu Room: PLS 2144 Phone: 301.405.7782	Planning and design for sustainable land development Landscape ecology & environmental perception Information technology for landscape planning and design Geographic modeling and analysis of built and natural systems
Dr. John Erwin Professor and Chair	Email: jerwin@umd.edu Room: PLS 2104 Phone: 301.405.4356	Environmental control of plant growth in greenhouses and controlled environment agriculture Identifying ways to maximize flowering, photosynthesis and yield using different lighting and temperature strategies Manipulating the environment in controlled environment systems to maximize edible crop nutritional value. Identifying new production strategies to reduce chemical use, environmental input and labor costs. Identifying strategies to facilitate heat and drought tolerant crops to improve plant resilience in a changing climate. Identifying new ornamental crops that are heat and drought tolerant.
Dr. Macarena Farcuh Associate Professor and Extension Specialist	Email: mfarcuh@umd.edu Room: PLS 2116 Phone:301.405.1323	Fruit quality Fruit ripening Postharvest physiology Fruit biochemistry and molecular biology Fruit safety Fruit hormonal balance PLSC399 opportunities may be available during the Fall, Spring, and Summer semesters. Please email the semester prior for more information.
Dr. Nicole Fiorellino Associate Professor and Extension Specialist	Email: nfiorell@umd.edu Room: PLS 2124 Phone: 301.405.6241	Adaptive nitrogen management Alternative crops Long-term phytoremediation of soils with high phosphorus concentrations
Dr. Ana Cristina Fulladolsa Director, Maryland Plant Diagnostic Lab	Email: acfulla@umd.edu Room: PLS 3134 Phone: 301.405.1611	Plant Disease Diagnostics - all crops National Plant Diagnostic Network Diseases of woody and herbaceous ornamentals Plant Diagnostic Laboratory
Tom Flores Lecturer Fermentation Science	Email: tflores3@umd.edu	Viticulture Brewing Sensory Biochemistry
Jonathan Gemmell Assistant Clinical Professor	Email: jgem@umd.edu Room: PLS 2142 Phone: 301.405.0106	Higher Education and Campus Design Transportation Community Engagement
Kayla Griffith, MS, CCA Lecturer (PLSC112, PLSC113)	Email: kmgriffi@umd.edu	Agriculture education Farm stress Application of integrated agronomic systems
Dr. Mengjun Hu Associate Professor and Extension Specialist	Email: mjhu@umd.edu Room: PLS 2106 Phone: 301.405.5586	Plant Pathology Grape and Small Fruit Disease Fungicide Resistance and Its Mechanisms
Dr. Pierre Jacob Assistant Professor	Email: pjacob@umd.edu Room: PLS 6117 Phone:	The plant immune response in a stressful environment. Plant response to environmental stress. Gene discovery for increased resistance to biotic and abiotic stress. Function of NLRs and TIR domains in immunity and beyond.
Dr. Byoung-Suk Kweon, PLA Professor	Email: kweonb@umd.edu Room: PLS 2140 Phone: 301.405.4341	Environmental behavior Environment and health School and Children's Environment Landscape Performance Urban Agriculture
Christine Machado Lecturer (LARC120)	Email: cmach15@umd.edu	Environment and health Symbiotic relationship between landscape & architecture Primary based research
Dr. Shirley Micallef Professor, PLSC Graduate Admissions Chair	Email: smicall@umd.edu Room: PLS 2126 Phone: 301.405.4369	Food safety of fresh produce Rhizosphere and phyllosphere bacterial interactions Microbial ecology Plant exudate biology Environmental detection of human pathogens PLSC399 opportunities may be available during the Fall and Spring semesters. Please email the semester prior for more information.
Dr. David Myers Associate Professor, LARC Director & MLA Program Chair	Email: dnmyers@umd.edu Room:PLS 2146 Phone: 301.405.4350	Green Infrastructure Ecological Design Greenway design and planning Residential environments Conservation design and planning
Dr. Maile Neel Professor	Email: mneel@umd.edu Room: PLS 2118 Phone: 301.405.9780	Habitat Fragmentation and the Spatial Distribution of Biological Diversity Endangered Species Recovery and Conservation
Boyoung Park Lecturer	Email: bpark513@umd.edu Room:2131
Dr. Yiping Qi Professor	Email: yiping@umd.edu Room: PLS 5115 Phone: 301-405-7682	Plant genome engineering Plant innate immunity Plant genome engineering CRISPR-Cas Systems
Dr. Nidhi Rawat Associate Professor, PLSC Director	Email: nidhirwt@umd.edu Room: PLS 2114 Phone: 301.405.9744	Gene discovery for resistance to fungal pathogens Susceptibility mechanisms of plants to pathogen infection Mechanistic investigation of molecular interaction between plants and fungal pathogens Developing solutions to fungal diseases of small grain crops including wheat and barley
Dr. Daniel Rodriguez Leal Assistant Professor	Email: danielrl@umd.edu Room: PLS 6123 Phone: 301.405.0920	Plant Developmental Genetics Genome Editing Trait Development in Biotech Phylogenetics and Evolution
Dr. Deni Ruggeri Associate Professor, BLA Program Chair	Email: druggeri@umd.edu Room: PLS 2136 Phone: 301.405.0229	Community participation, citizen engagement and co-creation PAR processes in community and landscape development Landscape Democracy and environmental justice Place identity, and attachment Livability in Urban Design Engaged Scholarship and Pedagogy.
Sherry Russell Lecturer	Email: slr2020@umd.edu Room: PLS 2154B	Landscape performance Economic effects of community managed open spaces and parks Practice business strategy
Dr. Colby Silvert Assistant Professor	Email: csilvert@umd.edu Room: PLS 2120 Phone: 301.405.4356	Extension education Evaluation and program planning Planned change approaches Andragogy International agricultural development Specialty crop and small-scale farming systems Residential landscape conservation
Dr. Joseph Sullivan Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Programs	Email: jsull@umd.edu Room: PLS 2122 Phone: 301-405-1626	Environmental Stress UV-B Radiation Global Climate Change Ecosystem Services Plant Physiological Ecology
Dr. Vijay Tiwari Associate Professor	Email: vktiwari@umd.edu Room: PLS 5115 Phone: 301.405.1730	Genetics and genomics of small grain crops PLSC399 opportunities may be available during the Fall, Spring, and Summer semesters. Please email for more information. Interview process required before acceptance in the lab and PLSC399.
Dr. Katherine Tully Professor	Email:kltully@umd.edu Room: PLS 2108 Phone: 301.405.1469 Curriculum Vitae	Effects of sea-level rise and saltwater intrusion on nutrient dynamics in coastal farmlands Cover crops for ecosystem services provisioning Environmental impacts of the African Green Revolution PLSC399 opportunities may be available during the Fall and Spring semesters. Undergrads must apply and go through an interview process before they are accepted into PLSC399. There is a required discussion group component, which is run by my grad students.
Dr. Melissa Leiden Welsh Associate Clinical Professor, AGST Director	Email: drmwelsh@umd.edu Room: PLS 2130 Phone: 301.405.6969	Agricultural & Extension Education Teacher Preparation/ Mentoring Learner Centered Teaching Agricultural Literacy Motivation Experiential Learning
Dr. Shunyuan Xiao Professor	Email: xiao@umd.edu Room: PLS 5141 Phone: 240.314.6480	Plant immunity Powdery mildew pathogenesis
Caren Yglesias Lecturer (LARC 263); Architect; author of the recent book, Desert Gardens of Steve Martino (Monacelli, 2018)	Email: caren@umd.edu Room: PLS 2154B	History and theory of landscape architecture Materials and methods of construction Sustainable design
Position to be filled by February 2025		Invasive Species Biologist
Position to be filled by February 2025		Abiotic Stress Biologist

Name	Contact Information	Research Focus
Dr. Andrew Baldwin Affiliate Professor	Email: baldwin@umd.edu ENST Phone: 301.405.7855	coastal and restored wetland ecosystems Plant-microbe interactions in coastal wetlands, effects of plant species on bacterial, archaeal, and mycorrhizal communities
Dr. Benjamin Beale Affiliate Principal Agent	Email: bbeale@umd.edu St. Mary's County Phone: 301.475.4481	Southern Maryland Cluster Agronomic Crop Production Fruits & Vegetables Crops Beginning Farmer Herbicide Resistant Weed Management
Dr. Bryant Butler Affiliate Principal Agent	Email: bbutlers@umd.edu UME- Carroll County Phone: 410.386.2760	Tree Fruits Vegetables High Tunnels Small Fruit Hops and Barley
Dr. Caren Chang Affiliate Professor	Email: carenc@umd.edu Phone: 301.405.1643	ethylene hormone signaling
Dr. Priscilla Chaverri Adjunct Associate Professor	Email: pchaverr@umd.edu
Dr. David Clement Affiliate Principal Agent, Home & Garden Information Center (HGIC)	Email: clement@umd.edu Phone: 410.531.558	Plant Pathology Ornamental IPM Ornamental Diseases Ornamental Disease Management
Dr. Allen Davis Affiliate Professor	Email: apdavis@umd.edu CEE Phone: 301.405.1958
Dr. Jose Feijo Affiliate Professor	Email: jfeijo@umd.edu CMNS Phone: 301.405.4906
Dr. James Lewis Affiliate Senior Agent	Email: jlewis2@umd.edu UME-Caroline County Phone: 410.479.4030	Agronomy Caroline County Mid-Shore Cluster
Dr. Zhongchi Liu Affiliate Professor	Email: zliu@umd.edu Phone: 301.405.1586	Department of Cell Biology & Molecular Genetics
Dr. Ronald Myers Affiliate Principal Agent	Email: myersrd@umd.edu Anne Arundel County Phone: 410.222.3906	Fruits & Vegetables Crops Agronomy Field Crops Weed Science Pesticide Use & Safety No-Tillage Technology Pasture & Hay Production
Dr. Mitch Pavao- Zuckerman Affiliate Assistant Professor	Email: mpzucker@umd.edu ENST Phone: 301.405.1178	Urban ecosystems, green infrastructure function, and ecosystem services Social-ecological systems, ecosystem services, and ecological resilience
Dr. Wendy Peer Affiliate Associate Professor	Email: wapeer@umd.edu ENST Phone: 301.405.5491	Auxin homeostasis Flavonoid function Plant growth regulators/invasive species Metal-center proteins
Dr. Andrew Ristvey Affiliate Senior Agent	Email: aristvey@umd.edu Wye Research Center Phone: 410.827.8056 x 113	Commercial Horticulture Alternative Specialty Crops Green Roof Aronia Wye REC
Dr. David Tilley Affiliate Associate Professor	Email: dtilley@umd.edu ENST Phone: 301.405.1306	Ecological Design & Engineering Green Building Ecology & Design Energy Analysis of Alternatives Energy and Environmental Accounting Wetland Radiometry & Health
Dr. Kurt Vollmer Agent	Email: kvollmer@umd.edu Wye Research and Education Center Phone: 410-827-8056	Weed Management

Name	Contact Information	Research Focus
Dr. John Bouwkamp Associate Professor Emeritus	Email: jbouwkam@umd.edu	Vegetables
Dr. Steven Cohan Professor Emeritus	Email: scohan@umd.edu	Landscape Management Green Roof Stormwater Mitigation
Dr. Jose Costa Professor Emeritus	Email: costaj@umd.edu	Breeding and genetics of wheat and barley utilization of molecular markers in plant breeding Breeding of wheat and barley with improved disease resistance, high grain yield and quality
Dr. John Lea-Cox Professor Emeritus	Email: jlc@umd.edu Curriculum Vitae	Recycling of water Green Roof Systems Wireless sensor networks for resource management Water-borne pathogen management
Dr. Peter H Dernoeden Professor Emeritus	Email: pd@umd.edu Phone: 301.405.1337	Turfgrass Management Turfgrass IPM
Dr. Thomas Fretz Dean Emeritus	Email:tfretz@umd.edu
Dr. Donald Scott Glenn Associate Professor Emeritus	Email: sglenn@umd.edu
Dr. Arvydas Grybauskas Associate Professor Emeritus	Email: arvydas@umd.edu
Dr. William Kenworthy Professor Emeritus	Email: wkenwort@umd.edu	Soybean genetics and breeding
Dr. Marla McIntosh Professor Emeritus	Email: mmcintos@umd.edu
Dr. Angus Murphy Professor Emeritus	Email: asmurphy@umd.edu	Auxin Transport ABC Transporter Phototropism Membrane nanodomains Hormone/Herbicide crosstalk
Dr. Timothy J Ng Professor Emeritus	Email: binkley@umd.edu
Mr. Dennis Nola, PLA, ASLA Instructor	Email: dnola@umd.edu Room: PLS 2138 Phone: 301.405.0066	Urban agriculture and social justice of equitable urban revilatization
Dr. Ronald Ritter Professor Emeritus	Email: rlritter@umd.edu
Dr. Lester Vough Associate Professor Emeritus	Email: vough@umd.edu
Dr. Christopher Walsh Professor Emeritus	Email: cswalsh@umd.edu Room: PLS 2133 Phone: 301.405.4351	Apple Breeding for Climate Change Sustainable Fruit Production Maryland Tree Architecture Project Food Safety of fresh fruits and vegetables
Dr. Robert Wiley Professor Emeritus	Email: rwiley@umd.edu

Name	Contact Information	Research Focus
Anil Kumar Post-Doctoral Associate	Email:anilk26@g.umd.edu	Plant Biotechnology Transformation of ornamental crops
JeeEun Lee Post-Doctoral Associate	Email:jl3738@g.umd.edu	Human Behavior and Design
Rushil Ramesh Mandlik Post-Doctoral Associate	Email: rushilrm@g.umd.edu Phone: 301.405.7682	Molecular Biology Genomics
Adam William Schoen Post-Doctoral Associate	Email:awschoen@g.umd.edu	Small Grain Breeding Genetics
Pavar Kumar Sharma Post-Doctoral Associate	Email:pksharma@g.umd.edu	Computational Biologist Machine learning Database design PanGenome
Aytug Tuncel Post-doctoral Scholar	Email:atuncel@g.umd.edu	Plant Genome editing Metabolic engineering Starch metabolism Protein biochemistry
FNU Shumayla Post-Doctoral Associate	Email: fshumayl@umd.edu Phone: 301.405.6244	Tree Physiology
Zhuangji Wang Post-doctoral Scholar	Email:zwang134@umd.edu Phone: 301.405.1469	Developments of soil surface runoff, diffusive root growth and surface coupled water and heat movements modules within MIAZSIM-2DSOIL software Developments of piecewise inverse analysis of measured TDR waveforms

Name	Contact Information	Research Focus
Gen Li Assistant Research Professor	Email:gli2013@g.umd.ed	Plant Physiology Plant Biotechnology Plant Molecular Biology
Weifeng Luo Assistant Research Scientist	Email:luowf@g.umd.edu	Crops (Wheat) Genome Editing

Name

Contact Information

Research Focus

Gen Li

Assistant Research Professor

Email:gli2013@g.umd.ed

Plant Physiology
Plant Biotechnology
Plant Molecular Biology

Weifeng Luo

Assistant Research Scientist

Email:luowf@g.umd.edu

Crops (Wheat) Genome Editing

Faculty

Faculty, Lecturers and Post Doctoral Associates

Dr. Carol Allen Agent Associate in Food Safety

Dr. Craig Beyrouty Professor

Dr. Daniel Buonaiuto Assistant Professor

Dr. Mark Carroll Associate Professor and Director, Environmental Science and Policy Program

Juanita Choo Assistant Research Professor

Dr. Diana Cochran Associate Clinical Professor

Dr. Gary Coleman Associate Professor

Diana Cortez Lecturer &Faculty Specialist

Dr. James Culver Professor

Mary Christensen Lecturer

Dr. Olumide Sam Daramola Assistant Clinical Professor

Dr. Christopher Ellis Professor

Dr. John Erwin Professor and Chair

Dr. Macarena Farcuh Associate Professor and Extension Specialist

Dr. Nicole Fiorellino Associate Professor and Extension Specialist

Dr. Ana Cristina Fulladolsa Director, Maryland Plant Diagnostic Lab

Tom Flores Lecturer Fermentation Science

Jonathan Gemmell Assistant Clinical Professor

Kayla Griffith, MS, CCA Lecturer (PLSC112, PLSC113)

Dr. Mengjun Hu Associate Professor and Extension Specialist

Dr. Pierre Jacob Assistant Professor

Dr. Byoung-Suk Kweon, PLA Professor

Christine Machado, Lecturer (LARC120)

Dr. Shirley Micallef Professor, PLSC Graduate Admissions Chair

Faculty

Affiliate & Adjunct Faculty

Emeritus

Post Doctoral

Assistant Research Professors