Dr. Stephen Schoenholtz
Director, Virginia Water Resources Research Center
Professor, Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation
Stephen joined the faculty in the College of Natural Resources and Environment at Virginia Tech in 2006. He previously served on the faculties in the College of Forestry at Oregon State University and in the College of Forest Resources at Mississippi State University. He holds Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in forest soil science from Virginia Tech, and B.S. degrees in forest science and biology from the Pennsylvania State University.
Stephen has more than thirty years of research experience in biogeochemistry, soils, and hydrology. His broad interest in land management and soil and water resources have led him to develop research projects on sites that span a wide range of ecosystems, including:
- The Central Appalachian Forests of Virginia and West Virginia
- The cypress-tupelo swamps of the Mobile Tensaw Delta
- The Piney Woods of East Texas
- The Douglas-fir forests of the Pacific Northwest
- The Radiata pine forests of New Zealand
- The bottomland hardwood forests of the lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley
Melanie McMillan
Graduate Student
Melanie is pursuing a M.S. studying the effects of coal mining on headwater streams of the Appalachian region. She received a B.S. in Biology with a minor in Sustainable Development at Appalachian State in 2018. Melanie went on to explore her interest in aquatic systems in Montana studying aquifer stoneflies, Washington restoring streams, and California working to protect anadromous streams. Melanie aims to orient her future career towards the protection and restoration of watersheds as well as the biodiversity and communities that depend on their well-being.
Liz Sharp
Research Associate
Liz Sharp is a Research Assistant and lab technician with the Water Center. Her responsibilities include Water Degree planning and assistance, website development, benthic macroinvertebrate identification and counts, and lab and field work. Ms. Sharp holds a B.S. in Forest Resource Management and a M.S. in Forestry, with a specialization in Forest Soils and Hydrology, from Virginia Tech.
Megan Underwood
Research Associate
Megan earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Biological Sciences with a double minor in Entomology and Medicine in Society. She is currently taking time in order to work and do research.
Recent Graduates and Former Research Group Members
Tony Timpano
Ph.D. and Post-doctoral Research Associate
Graduation Date: August 2017
Research interests: Forest stream benthic macroinvertebrate ecology; development and application of biomonitoring tools for stream assessment; landuse impacts to forest stream ecosystems; water quality impacts and modeling, science-based policy development.
Ph.D. dissertation title: Toward improved assessment of freshwater salinization as a benthic macroinvertebrate stressor.
As a Post-doctoral Research Associate at Virginia Tech, Tony investigated ecosystem responses to coal mining in Appalachian streams, with an emphasis on salinization trends and bioaccumulation and trophic transfer of selenium. In addition, Tony assisted in design and implementation of a study to measure how selenium moves through the food web from headwaters to rivers downstream.
Update: Tony is working with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality as a Water Quality Monitoring Coordinator.
Tommy Cianciolo
M.S.
Graduation Date: May 2019
Research interests: Land use impacts on water quality, wetland hydrology, stream ecology, and monitoring of freshwater environments.
M.S. thesis title: The temporal and longitudinal extent of surface coal mining influences on water chemistry and benthic macroinvertebrates in central Appalachian headwater streams
Update: Tommy is now the Water Quality Monitoring Coordinator for Trout Unlimited in the Klamath Basin, OR.
Rachel Pence
M.S.
Graduation Date: December 2018
Research interests: Forest stream ecology, drinking water quality and access, and the anthropogenic salinization of freshwaters worldwide.
M.S. thesis title: Comparison of Quantitative and Semi-Quantitative Assessments of Benthic Macroinvertebrate Community Response to Elevated Salinity in Central Appalachian Coalfield Streams
Update: Rachel works as an Environmental Specialist with the City of Roanoke Stormwater Division. She helps with Water Quality Programs, Community Engagement, and management of the City’s Community Rating System under the National Flood Insurance Program. She also leads the Roanoke River Project, a Citizen Science Water Quality Monitoring Program that collects benthic macroinvertebrates to determine stream health in waterways in the upper Roanoke River watershed.
Damion Drover
Ph.D.
Graduation Date: May 2018
Research interests: Biogeochemistry in aquatic ecosystems; relationships between stream physical and chemical parameters (e.g. total dissolved solids, metals and metalloids, hydrology, sediment) and benthic macroinvertebrate communities in Appalachian coalfield streams.
Ph.D. dissertation title: Benthic macroinvertebrate community structure responses to multiple stressors in mining-influenced streams of central Appalachia USA.
Update: Damion is an Environmental Scientist at Parker Design Group in Roanoke, Va.
Ross Vander Vorste
Post-doctoral Research Associate
At Virginia Tech, Ross worked on an Office of Surface Mining funded project to study the process of leaf litter decomposition, a key carbon-processing function, in headwater streams affected by coal-mining activities in the Appalachian region of the USA. His work involved quantifying leaf litter decomposition as well as macroinvertebrate and microbial diversity across 24 headwater streams with the goal of determining the influence of mining-induced salinity on leaf litter decomposition.
Update: Ross is an Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse.
Kriddie Whitmore
Graduation Date: May 2017
Research interests: the effects of anthropogenic disturbances such as coal mining on stream ecology and water quality. Her Master’s project focused on selenium dynamics in headwater stream ecosystems.
M.S. thesis title: Selenium in Headwater Streams: Evaluating Enrichment and Bioaccumulation in Streams of the Central Appalachian Coalfields.
Update: Kriddie is a Ph.D. student in Geography at the University of North Carolina.
Robert (Trip) Krenz
Graduation Date: May 2015
Research Interests: I am interested in structural and functional responses of aquatic ecosystems to disturbance. My dissertation research focused on investigation of stream metabolism and nitrogen spiraling in restored headwater streams of Appalachian coalfields. In addition, I am interested in how biotic assemblage structure is affected by associated stressors, and the implications of shifts in assemblage structure on downstream ecosystems. I believe synthesis of functional and structural assessments of newly restored and created ecosystems can provide valuable information necessary to guide regulatory agencies and industry regarding mitigation efforts.
Dissertation title: Organic Matter Processes of Constructed Streams and Associated Riparian Areas in the Coalfields of Southwest Virginia.
Update: Trip is a Restoration Ecologist with the Department of the Interior, Office of Restoration and Damage Assessment, Restoration Support Unit based in Denver CO.
Daniel DeBruler
Graduation Date: August 2014
Research Interests: My research at Virginia Tech focused on the chemical mechanisms of mineral and nutrient interactions in the dynamic environment of soils. My project involved two forest stands in the Pacific Northwest that are part of a Long Term Soil Productivity Program. I assessed the effect of competing vegetative control and logging debris retention on the net productivity of these sites. The nutritional status of both the soils and foliage was analyzed to observe how management effects nutrient accumulation and distribution.
M.S. thesis title: Soil Carbon, Nutrients, and Phosphorus Fractions: Responses to Weed Control and Harvest Residual Retention in two 10-Year-Old Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) Stands of the Pacific Northwest.
Andy Neal
Graduation Date: May 2014
Research Interests: Hydrologic effects of cellulosic biofuels in the southeastern US; low-temperature aqueous geochemistry and sediment biogeochemistry; groundwater-surface water interaction; watershed modeling; climate change; biogeochemical cycling of nutrients (e.g., nitrogen, phosphorous, etc) and trace elements (e.g., arsenic); stable isotope geochemistry.
M.S. thesis title: Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics across the Hillslope-Riparian Interface in Adjacent Watersheds with Contrasting Cellulosic Biofuel Systems
Update: Andy is currently a Hydrogeologist with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.
Elizabeth Boehme
Graduation Date: May 2013
Research Interests: Benthic macroinvertebrate community response to elevated total dissolved solids in forested Appalachian streams, effects of temporal variation of TDS regimes, land use impacts on water quality, and research-based water quality standards.
M.S. thesis title: Characterizing Variability of Biological Response to Elevated TDS in Appalachian Coalfield Streams
Update: Beth is currently a Physician Assistant Specialist with Carillon New River Valley Medical Center.
Charlene Kelly
Graduation Date: May 2010
Research Interests: Watershed biogeochemistry, plant-soil relations and feedbacks, soil carbon and nitrogen cycling, hydrologic controls on forest soil nutrient retention
Dissertation Title: The role of vegetation in determining watershed nitrate retention: Spruce and native hardwoods in the Fernow Experimental Forest, West Virginia
Update: Dr. Kelly is an assistant professor at West Virginia University.
Erin Moore Lincoln
Graduation Date: June 2008
Thesis title: An analysis of solute transport on a harvested hillslope in the southern Appalachian Mountains.
Update: Erin is a Hydrologist/Regional Manager at TetraTech.
