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M.S. Graduates
Click on a graduate's name to find out what he or she is doing today.
Darin Albrecht
Year: 2005
Co-Advisors: Erik Brown and John Swenson
Thesis Title: Geochemical fingerprinting and the role of the Nemadji River in sediment transport within western Lake Superior
Chad Anderson
Year: 2008
Advisor: Ken Brooks and Joe Magner
Project Title: Ditch environmental metrics: An assessment of physical, chemical and biological data in southern Minnesota ditches.
Jesse Anderson
Year: 1997
Advisor: Jim Perry
Thesis Title: A comparison of temporal trends in ambient and compliance trace element and PCB data in Pool 2 of the Mississippi River, 1985-1995
Stanley Asah
Year: 2002
Advisor: Jim Perry
Thesis Title: The stoichiometry of detrital processing and detritivore food quality preferences in a cold spring stream
Brooke Asleson
Year: 2007
Addvisor:
Ray Hozalski and John Nieber
Thesis Title:
The development and application of a four-level rain garden assessment
Madeline Banschbach
Year: 2008
Co-Advisors: Jim Anderson and Jim Perry
Thesis title: An Evaluation of Soil Properties and Efficiency of an Infiltration Basin
Sylvia Barry (Musielewicz)
Year: 2000
Advisor: Tom Johnson
Thesis Title: Paleoclimate signals from Lake Malawi sediments
Benjamin Bertsch
Year: 2002
Advisor: Howard Mooers
Thesis Title: Groundwater flow modeling and the delineation of wellhead protection areas, Cass County, Minnesota
Adam Birr
Year: 2000
Advisor: Dave Mulla
Thesis Title: An assessment of phosphorous vulnerability at mutiple scales
David Blumer
Year: 2007
Advisor: Ray Newman
Thesis Title: Using hot water to kill Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum L) fragments
Meghan Brown (Smith)
Year: 2002
Advisor: Donn Branstrator
Project Title: A 2001 survey of crustacean zooplankton in the western arm of Lake Superior
Tara Carson
Year: 2002
Advisor: Paul Bloom
Thesis Title: The effect of sediment nutrient variation, water depth and emergent aquatic perennials on wild rice (Zizania palustris) production at the Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Yi-Wen Chiu
Year: 2006
Advisor: John Nieber
Project Title: Establishing standardized procedure for ecological engineering projects in Taiwan
Yvette Christianson
Year: 2008
Advisor: Lorin Hatch
Project Title: Application of flow duration curves on an urbanized stream
Jeffrey Christopherson
Year: 2001
Advisor: Ken Brooks
Thesis Title: Hybrid poplar plantation effects on frost depth and snow distribution on agricultural lands in northwestern Minnesota
Leah Class
Year: 2002
Advisor: Jim Perry
Project Title: Towards Watershed Development: Two case studies of soil erosion and participatory development in northwest India
Christopher Clipper
Year: 2007
Advisors: Ken Brooks and John Nieber
Project Title: Subsurface tile drainage from perennial crops and a corn-soybean rotation in south-central Minnesota
Brent Dalzell
Year:
2000
Advisor: Prasanna Gowda
Thesis Title: Modeling and evaluation of non-point source pollution in the lower Minnesota River Basin
David Davis
Year: 1998
Advisor: Dave Mulla
Thesis Title:
Simulation of tile drainage flow and nitrate loss from a clay loam soil
Pamela Davis
Year: 1998
Advisor:
Jim Perry
Thesis Title:
Invertebrate communities on large woody debris in the St. Croix River
Erin Day (Cox)
Year: 2000
Advisor:
Pat Brezonik
Thesis Title:
Landsat 5 & 7 as tools for monitoring water quality
Holly Swanson Dolliver
Year: 2007
Advisor:
Satish Gupta
Thesis Title: Using Quantitative Landscape Modeling and Scientific Visualization to Characterize Soil Hydrologic Dynamics.
Christine Dolph
Year: 2008
Advisor: Bruce Vondracek
Project Title: Reducing Uncertainty and Bounding Variability of Stream
Ecosystem Indicators
Michael Donahue
Year: 2006
Advisor: Josef Werne
Project Title: Inferred sulfate reduction rate and associtated sulfur isotope fractionation from the Caraico Basin
Jean Doyle
Year:
2004
Advisor:
Marvin Bauer
Thesis Title:
Impervious surface area classification of the Twin Cities using tasseled cap transformation and regression estimation
Martin DuSaire
Year:
2003
Advisor: John Baker
Thesis Title:
Using 2D resistivity surveys to describe variability of soil depth and corn yield
Jodi Elfering (Hreha)
Year: 2003
Advisor: Dave Biesboer
Thesis Title: Improving the design of roadside ditches to decrease transportation related surface water pollution
Sara Eliason
Year:
2000
Advisor:
Jim Perry
Project Title:
Assessment of natural resources professional continuing education needs
Katherine Erdman (Huser)
Year:
2008
Advisor: Patrick Brezonik
Thesis Title: Using High-resolution Satellite Imagery for Aquatic Vegetation Surveys
Laurie Fairchild
Year:
2004
Advisor: Dorothy Anderson
Project Title: Private landowner perspectives affecting retention of restored wetlands
Mary Kay Fox
Year: 1999
Advisor:
Jim Perry
Thesis Title:
Biomonitoring and best management practices (BMP's) in northern Minnesota: Implications for riparian management
Keith Fredrick
Year:
2003
Advisor:
Jim Perry
Thesis Title:
Impacts of forestry Best Management Practices on water quality and benthic macroinvertebrates
Peter Gessel
Year:
2001
Advisor:
Neil Hansen
Thesis Title:
Variable-rate land application of liquid hog manure: Effects on contaminant persistence and transport
Gretchen Gettel
Year: 1998
Advisor:
Anne Hershey
Thesis Title: A comparison of food-web matrix properties in top-down controlled Arctic lakes with geomorphically constrained fish assemblages
Anne Gleason (Dovciak)
Year:
1999
Advisor:
Jim Perry
Thesis Title: Macroinvertebrate communities of an agricultural river basin at reach, watershed, and ecoregion scale
Kim Grosenheider
Year: 2006
dvisor: Paul Bloom
Thesis Title:
Larry Gunderson
Year: 2009
Advisor:
Dave Mulla
Thesis Title: Relationships Between Watershed Characteristics, Agroecoregions, Ecoregions and Sediment Levels in Minnesota
Karl Hammers
Year: 2000
Advisor:
Ken Brooks
Thesis Title: Critique of the Minnesota offsite wetland mapping convention used by the Hennepin Soil and Water Conservation District
Sara Heger Christopherson
Year: 2001
Advisor: Jim Anderson
Thesis Title:
Evaluation of recirculating sand filters in Minnesota
Erik Heinen
Year:
2002
Advisor:
Jim McManus
Thesis Title:
Carbon and nutrient cycling in Lake Superior
Heather Hendrixson
Year:
2002
Advisor:
Bob Sterner
Thesis Title:
Stoichiometry of freshwater fish in relation to allometry and phylogeny, and the role of skeleton in fish stoichiometry
William Herb
Year: 2004
Advisor:
Heinz Stefan
Thesis Title:
The effect of environmental and physiological variables on the growth of submersed macrophytes in lakes
Wendy Hieb
Year:
2005
Advisor:
Randall Hicks
Thesis Title:
Identifying the sources of E. coli bacteria in Lake Superior watersheds
Patty Hoch-Melluish
Year:
1997
Advisor:
Pat Brezonik
Thesis Title:
A framework for assessing the effects of urbanization on the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area rivers and streams
Matthew Hudson
Year: 2004
advisor:
Deb Swackhamer
Thesis Title: Microbial facilitation of contaminant transfer in the Lake Superior foodweb
Melinda Huff
Year:
2006
Advisor:
Donn Branstrator
Thesis Title:
Trophic state and food web evaluation of two urban, connected lakes in notrheastern Minnesota
Jeri Huggins
Year: 2008
Advisor: Jim Perry
Project Title: Spatial and short-term temporal variation of campus groundwater quantity and quality
Ethan Jahnke
Year: 2001
Advisor:
Bruce Wilson
Thesis Title:
Modeling the impacts of urban development on a trout stream using an ArcView/ SWAT interface
Amanda Janet
Year: 2008
Advisor:
John Nieber
Project Title: Wood Creek channel enlargement and total phosphorus export to Medicine Lake, Plymouth MN
Anne Jefferson
Year: 2002
Advisor:
Pat Brezonik
Project Title:Early tertiary and modern hydrological environments of the Stenkul Fiord Area, Ellesmere Island, Canada
Brian Johnson
Year:
2004
Advisor:
Jim Cotner
Thesis Title:
Sulfate reducing bacteria and the role of nutrients in mercury methylation in sediments of Spring Lake, Minnesota
Stephanie V. Johnson
Year:
2008
(and J.D.)
Advisor:
Gary Sands
Project Title:
Assessing the barriers to and potential for wetland restoration in agricultural watersheds.
Anthony Kaster
Year:
2001
Advisor:
Ken Brooks
Project Title:
Predicting the effect of hybrid poplar trees on a water budget, Pomme de Terre Watershed, Minnesota
Julie Klejeski
Year:
2004
Advisor:
Erik Brown
Thesis Title: Nutrient budgets of urban lakes in Virginia, Minnesota
Carie Kowalski (Szalay)
Year: 1998
Advisor:
Jim Perry
Project Title:
Paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) in the St. Croix River: Population status and tentative steps toward a recovery plan
Marian Kramer
Year:
2009
Advisor:
Erik Brown
Thesis Title:
Holocene Climate and Environmental Change from White Owl Lake Sediments, White River Plateau, Colorado
Brittany Kruger
Year:
2009
Advisor:
Elizabeth Minor
Thesis Title:
Effect of Organic Matter Type and Salinity on Dissolved Organic Matter Isolation via Ultrafiltration and Solid Phase Extraction
Winfried Ksoll
Year:
2006
Advisor:
Randall Hicks
Thesis Title:
Fecal coliform bacteria in Lake Superior epilithic periphyton communities
Jeramy Kulesa
Year:
2009
Advisor:
David Mulla
Project Title:
Influence of changing climate on flows in the Minnesota River at Mankato, Minnesota
Matthew Laudon
Year: 2004
Advisor:
Bruce Vondracek
Project Title: The importance of terrestrial arthropods to trout in Valley Creek, Minnesota
Cadice Lavelle
Year: 2009
Advisor:
Peter Sorensen
Project Title: Laboratory Simulation of the Possible Effects of Environmental Estrogens on the Reproductive Health of Free-Ranging Adult Fathead Minnows
Randy Lehr
Year:
2003
Advisor:
Deb Swackhamer
Thesis Title:
Use of estrogen equivalents to explain vitellogenin induction in fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) exposed to a complex wastewater effluent
John Loomis
Year: 2008
Advisor: Bruce Vondracek
Thesis Title: The Survival and Blood Chemistry Response of Walleye Sander Vitreus to a Simulated Live-Release Fishing Tournament
Bruce Ludewig
Year: 2009
Advisor: Jay Austin
Thesis Title: Upwelling in Idealized Stratified Lakes
David Mickelson
Year:
2000
Advisor:
John Nieber
Thesis Title:
The effect of agricultural tile drainage on flood events in the Minnesota River Basin
Janell Miersch
Year:
2000
Advisor:
Jay Bell
Project Title:
Out of the creek: A wastewater decision case
Stefanie Miklovic
Year:
2002
Advisor:
Susan Galatowitsch
Thesis Title:
Effects of road salt on glacial marshes
Ryan Miller
Year:
1999
Advisor:
Ken Brooks
Thesis Title:
Hydrologic effects of wetland drainage and land use change in a tributary watershed of the Minnesota River Basin: A modeling approach
Maureen Minister
Year: 2004
Advisor:
Jim Perry
Project Title: Water quality monitoring to demonstrate accountability for storm water management: The Sarita wetland at the University of Minnesota as a case-study
Millicent Mrema
Year: 2007
Advisor: Frances Homans
Project Title: Spatial temporal analysis of causes and impacts of changes in stream flow in the Kihansi catchment
Caitrin Mullan
Year:
2009
Co-Advisors: Dorothy Anderson & Larry Baker
Project Title: Assessing Scenic Quality of Urban Waterways: Creating a foundation for developing a comprehensive scenic resource management tool for the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area
James Musielewicz
Year:
2002
Advisor:
Erik Brown
Thesis Title: Estimates of sediment transport in conjunction with the Keweenaw current using copper mine tailings as a sediment tracer
James Noren
Year:
2002
Advisor:
Patrick Brezonik
Project Title:
The effects of a change in withdrawal operations at Eau Galle Reservoir, Wisconsin (USA)
Heather Offerman (Johnson)
Year: 2006
Advisor: Satish Gupta
Thesis Title: Assessing river water quality trends in the Minnesota River Basin
Leif Olmanson
Year:
1997
Advisor:
Dwight Brown
Project Title:
Satellite remote sensing of the trophic state conditions of lakes in the Twin Cities metropolitan area
Ole Olmanson
Year: 2007
Advisor: Tyson Oschner
Project Title:
Improving the accuracy and field practicality of a thermo-time domain reflectometry sensor
Eric Otto
Year: 2006
Advisor:
John Nieber
Project Title: Two methods to evaluate the potential negative impact of stormwater BMPs on roadway infrastructure
Jeremy Pavlish
Year: 2004
Advisor: E. Calvin
Alexander
Thesis Title: Effects of sub-water table mining on the hydrogeology of a sand and gravel aquifer feeding a Clay County, Minnesota, calcareous seepage fen
Keeley Pearson-Johnson
Year: 2005
Advisor:
Josef Werne
Thesis Title: Holocence environmental change as recorded in the sedimentary organic geochemical record in Lake Superior
Barbara Peichel
Year: 2002
Advisor:
Sue Galatowitsch
Project Title: A protocol for prioritizing wetland habitat restoration in the St. Louis River Watershed
Jonathan Pundsack
Year:
2000
Co-Advisors: Richard Axler and
Randall Hicks
Thesis Title: Pathogen removal by alternative wastewater treatment systems
Andry Ranaivoson
Year:
1998
Thesis Title:
Tillage effects on sediment and runoff losses under a corn-soybean rotation
Heidi Rantala
Year: 2005
Advisor:
Howard Mooers
Thesis Title:
Landscape evolution and a relict fish community, North Shore, Alaska
Kara Raymond
Year: 2009
Co-Advisors:
Nick Jordan and Bruce Vondracek
Thesis Title:
The Effects of Rotational Grazing Systems and Continuous Grazing Systems and Continuous Grazing Systems on Stream Channels and Macroinvertebrate Communities in the Driftless Area Ecoregion
Natasha Reed (Devoe)
Year:
2000
Advisor:
Jim Anderson
Project Title:
Wetland assessment using the MnRAM method: A comparison of outcomes for calibration
Mark Riedel
Year:
1997
Advisor: Ken Brooks
Thesis Title:
Relationships between landuse and clay stream channels in the Nemadji watershed
Kari Rolf
Year:
2005
Co-Advisors:
Jeff Strock and David Mulla
Thesis Titlte:
Implications of alternative versus conventional farming practices on soil physical properties and nonpoint source pollution
Wesley Saunders-Pearce
Year:
2003
Advisor:
Jim Perry
Thesis Title: Infiltration trench assessment: Using in-situ beach sand to protect water quality
Brennon Schaefer
Year:
2006
Advisor:
John Nieber
Thesis Title:
Simulation of storm runoff using the gridded surface subsurface hydrologic analysis (GSSHA) Model
Della Schall (Young)
Year: 2008
Advisor: Jim Perry
Project Title: SWAT: A management tool for understanding phosphorus
transport in the Spring Lake Watershed
Erica Schram
Year: 2008
Co-Advisors: Jim Perry and Deb Swackhamer
Thesis Title:Nitrogen budgets for University of Minnesota St. Paul Campus water resources management and community outreach
Johanna Schussler
Year:
2005
Advisor:
Larry Baker
Thesis Title:
A comparison of phosphorous sources and fate in eleven Minnesota watersheds
William Sea
Year:
1999
Advisor:
Ken Davis
Project Title:
Fluxes in a heterogeneous terrain in a northern forest
Adam Sealock
Year: 2007
Advisor: Len Ferrington Jr.
Thesis Title: An investigation of disturbance, sampling methods, the river continuum concept, and hydroseres in Hardwood Creek a ditched Stream in Minnesota, USA
Bridget Seegers
Year: 2009
Advisor:
Robert Sterner
Thesis Title:
Lake Superior Zooplankton Community Grazing and Its Implications for the Deep Chlorophyll Maximum
Shannon Skally
Year:
2004
Advisor:
Ken Brooks
Project Title:
Hydroacoustic Surveys: Repeatability in Lakes of Varying Vegetative Structure
Helga Madrigal Solis
Year: 2007
Advisor: John Nieber and Jacques Finlay
Thesis Title: Identification and quantification of source waters to streamflow using hydrograph separation and End Member Mixing Analysis, in a paired watershed setting, Southeastern Minnesota.
Kevin Springob
Year: 2005
Advisor:
Larry Baker
Project Title:
The influence of biological factors on the effectiveness of alum treatments
David Stark
Year:
2001
Advisor:
Howard Mooers
Project Title:
Application of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation within a geographical information system for the Munising Bay Watershed, Munising, Michigan
Joseph Stauffer
Year: 1998
Advisor:
Ray Newman
Thesis Title:
Effects of riparian zones on aquatic communities in an agricultural setting
Brandon Stephens
Year: 2008
Advisor:
Elizabeth Minor
Thesis Title:
DOM characteristics along the continuum from river to reservoir: a Comparison of Freshwater and Saline Transects
Scott Stockhaus
Year: 2000
Advisor:
Ken Brooks
Project Title:
Comparisons of nutrient export among switchgrass, hybrid poplar, wheat, and aspen in northwest Minnesota
Jeffrey Strom
Year: 2007
Advisor: Erik Brown
Thesis Title: Seasonal evolution of dissolved gas concentrations in western Lake Superior: Implications for respiration, primary production and carbon cycling
Kevin Stroom
Year:
1999
Advisor:
Carl Richards
Thesis Title:
Development of macroinvertebrate biocriteria for streams of Minnesota's Lake Superior watershed
Luke Stuewe
Year:
2006
Advisor:
David Mulla
Thesis Title:
Agricultural nitrogen and phosphorous mass-balances in south-central Minnesota
Jennifer Swenson (Olson)
Year: 2005
Advisor: John Nieber
Thesis Title: Infiltration as a stormwater management technique: A catalog and inventory of infiltration practices in the Twin Cities metropolitan area and ground water mounding beneath a regional infiltration basin
Shandor Szalay
Year:
1999
Advisor:
Jim Perry
Thesis Title:
Patch dynamics of two stream macrophytes: Growth, response to disturbance, and sediment bound phosphorus detention
Philip Talmage
Year:
2000
Advisor:
Jim Perry
Thesis Title:
Relation of instream habitat and physical conditions to fish communities of agricultural streams in the northern Midwest
Jonathon Thornburg
Year:
2009
Advisor:
Paul Capel
Thesis Title:
Temporal and Spatial Variability in Nitrate and Water Quality Parameters of Subsurface Drains in an Agriculture Stream
Jason Ulrich
Year:
2005
Advisor:
Bruce Wilson
Project Title:
Analysis of stream health indicators for TMDL assessment in the Minnesota, St. Croix and Upper Mississippi River Basins of Minnesota
Dana Vanderbosch
Year:
2009
Advisor:
Sue Galatowitsch
Thesis Title:
Revegetating Lakeshores in Urban Landscapes
David VanderMeulen
Year:
2001
Advisor:
John Pastor
Thesis Title:
Plant litter quality and decomposition in northern peatlands
Scott Walz
Year:
2009
Advisor:
Ken Brooks
Thesis Title:
Water Budget of a Restored Minnesota Wetland
Binke Wang
Year:
1996
Advisor:
Bruce Wilson
Project Title:
Topographic parameterization of a watershed in China using GRASS GIS package
Jill Coleman Wasik
Year: 2008
Advisor: Dan Engstrom
Thesis Title: Chronic Effects of Atmospheric Sulfate Deposition on Mercury Methylation in a Boreal Wetland: Replication of a Global Experiment
Chris Wennen
Year: 2009
Co-Advisors: Bill Arnold & Ray Hozalsk
Thesis Title: Application of a Wireless Sensor Network for Urban Water Quality Management: Pollutant Loading in Stormwater Ponds
Valerie Were
Year: 2007
Advisor: Jim Perry
Thesis Title: Monitoring non-point source pollution using the reference condition approach: A case-study from the Minnesota River Basin
Jeffrey Werner
Year:
2004
Co-advisors:
Bill Arnold and
Kris McNeill
Project Title:
The aquatic photochemical kinetics of three acidic pharmaceuticals: Ibuprofen, clofibric acid and mefenamic acid
Marcey Westrick
Year:
2000
Advisor:
Jim Perry
Thesis Title:
The classification and prediction of macroinvertebrate communities to the upper St. Croix River Basin
Melissa Wilson
Year: 2008
Co-advisors:
John Moncrief and Carl Rosen
Thesis title: Crop Productivity and Nitrate Leaching in Coarse-Textured Soils as Affected by the Use of Polymer Coated Urea and Deep Tillage
Shannon Wing (Belmont)
Year: 2009
Advisor: David Mulla
Thesis title: Classifications of Ravine Morphometrics in the Minnesota River Basin Using GIS-based Terrain Analysis
Martijn Woltering
Year: 2008
Co-advisors: Josef Werne and Thomas Johnson
Thesis Title: Late Pleistocene temperature history of southeast Africa: A TEX86 temperature record from Lake Malawi
Joshua Woodward
Year:
2002
Advisor:
Jim Perry
Thesis Title:
The role of spatial scale in describing fish communities: Testing the watershed-agroecoregion intersection
Yuhu Yan
Year:
2004
Advisor: Mike Sydor
Project Title:
Remote sensing reflectance measurements and analysis in the Western arm of Lake Superior
Mindy Zapp (Granley)
Year:
2004
Advisor:
Jim Perry
Thesis Title: Nutrient and sediment loads and storage in a peri-urban trout stream
Jeremy ZumBerge
Year:
1999
Advisor:
Jim Perry
Thesis Title: Influence of local riparian cover and basin runoff potential on benthic invertebrate communities in the Minnesota River Basin | 
