Welcome!
Hood-Center for Coastal & Watershed Studies (Hood-CCWS) studies all aspects of coastal environments. We use science to find solutions for environmental problems in a socially responsible manner. Starting locally and expanding regionally, we work with communities and organizations to improve water quality, while fostering valuable experiential learning for our students. As a center of excellence within Hood College, we strive to connect students with coastal environments, research important issues, and provide local opportunities to make a positive change. Our work is primarily divided into three focus areas:
This Summer's Workers and Interns
The Center has been actively performing water quality analyses from local waterways as well as expanding our community outreach!
Christina Shaner ('24) is a recent graduate and has been working on vertical profiles in Lake Anita-Louise (part of the Linganore Lakes) to determine range of effects in water quality of the recently-placed aerators.
August Westdorp ('25) comes to us as a Marine Science undergraduate from St. Mary's College of Maryland. He is interning with us this summer, focusing specifically on plastic bag use in Frederick City.
Austin Kaplan ('26) is an undergraduate student worker here at Hood and has been diving into the world of fish! He has been busy this summer with analyzing fish scales to gather age-growth data from Blue-gill in ThorpeWood, a pond in the Catoctin Mountains.
Ali Werlang ('25) is an undergraduate student worker here at Hood for Frederick Food Security Network. When she is not working in the greenhouse or community gardens, she is interning with the Potomac Riverkeeper Network as a volunteer coordinator, collecting water samples for E. coli bacteria analyses!
Josephine Sasse ('26) is an undergraduate student worker here at Hood for Frederick Food Security Network! She maintains the upkeep of the greenhouses and loves providing good food for the local community.
Hood Biology makes it to the Sweet 15! The Big Dance is on!
A team of Hood students and faculty is one of 15 finalists in a national research competition known as the AlgaePrize. The competition encourages students to pursue innovative ideas for the development, design, and invention of technologies within the commercial algae value chain. The AlgaePrize is cosponsored by the US Department of Energy and the Algae Foundation. The Sweet 15 is made up of schools from throughout the country, including the University of Connecticut, UC-San Diego, and the University of Hawaii, to name a few. Our team will be conducting a year-long research project to investigate the use of magnetotectic bacteria in algal harvesting and concentration. This competition extends well beyond March Madness. In fact, it will not culminate until April 2025 at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado where all 15 teams will present their research findings for the judges. Keep up with our progress as we begin hands-on experiments in Hood's laboratories this month.
Follow us on Facebook (Center for Coastal & Watershed Studies) and Instagram (@hoodcoastalstudies) for current happenings!
Vision
Our past and future come together in coastal environments. In keeping with the best of Hood’s liberal arts tradition, our aim is to provide a framework for multi-disciplinary learning and research by students and faculty with the goal of understanding the genesis, complexities, and possible solutions to environmental and social issues that impact the coastlines and watersheds of our region, nation, and world. Simultaneously, we prepare our students to use state-of-the-art technologies and practices that can lead them into productive careers and lives of service within our communities.
 | Learn more on his Faculty Bio Page. Email: dferrier@hood.edu Phone: 301-696-3660 Office: Hodson Science & Technology Center, Room 308E Office Hours: By Appointment. |
 | Catherine has been at Hood for 5 years, serving as a Field and Lab Technician on many environmental service contracts, as well as Adjunct Lab Instructor, with a BS in Environmental Science (Washington College, '19). Email: gaudlip@hood.edu Phone: 301-696-3664 Office: Hodson Science & Technology, Room 308F Office Hours: Mon-Wed 10-11:30AM. |
| Haroun has been with Hood for 1 year as the FFSN Manager. He has had much experience in food systems operations, from gardening systems to food distributions throughout communities. He is coordinating local community partner collaboration, garden production, and food distribution in the Frederick area. Email: hallack@hood.edu Phone: Office: Hodson Science & Technology, Room 308F Office Hours: By Appointment. Feel free to reach out! |
 | Barry assists with the Coastal Studies Semester, teaching the ENSP 307 Chesapeake Bay course. Email: burch@hood.edu Office Hours: By Appointment |
.jpg) | Learn more on his Faculty Bio Page. Email: annis@hood.edu Phone: 301-696-3662 Office: Hodson Science and Technology Center, Room 149 Office Hours: By Appointment |
 | Learn more on his Faculty Bio Page. Email: kindahl@hood.edu Phone: 301-696-3659 Office: Hodson Science & Technology Center, Room 156 Office Hours: By Appointment. |
_0.jpg) | Emily Southgate was formerly a Research Associate Professor at Rutgers University, where she did research at the intersection of ecology and history. She has worked extensively with the National Park Service in their cultural parks, providing historical ecological background to guide management of their natural resources. She was a visiting scholar at Harvard University, where, together with colleagues, she integrated data from palynological research in the northeastern United States to arrive at a composite picture of changing forest composition over the last 500 years. Her book, “People and the Land Through Time. Linking Ecology and History” (Yale Univ. Press, 2019) has inspired both ecologists and environmental historians to incorporate each others’ fields in their research. She is also active in the environmental community in Virginia, serving on the Board of the Virginia Native Plant Society and as a “citizen scientist” sampling stream macroinvertebrates, birds for the Virginia Breeding Bird Atlas, and grassland vegetation. Email: ewbsouthgate@gmail.com Phone: n/a Office: n/a Office Hours: By Appointment. |
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Email: sellner@hood.edu Phone: n/a Office: n/a Office Hours: By Appointment. |
Hood's new BlazerBloom sustainability team will participate in the Department of Energy's AlgaePrize research competition
Christian Ficarra spent the summer months staying on campus to complete a 6-credit internship with the Center for Coastal & Watershed Studies, where he dove into the Environmental Services branch. His primary project focused on a small lake in the Catoctin Mountains, ThorpeWood, to determine suitable conditions for different types of fish hatcheries.
" Anyone who is going back and forth about their major… trust your gut and don’t be afraid to try new things and open up to people… you never know where they can take you."
Christina Shaner '24 collecting water samples throughout the water column on Lake Anita-Louise.
CCWS students, intern, and staff performing field work on a warm October day.
Water sampling at the Lake Merle dock.
Cyanobacteria under the microscope, found in an algal scum.
Frederick, MD – Hood College Professor of Chemistry Christopher Stromberg has been awarded a grant from the National Institute of…
Hood College Professor Emerita Dr. Ann L. Boyd, Ph.D. , has established the Dr. Ann L. Boyd Endowed Graduate School…
Hood College has received a $6.858M grant via the Maryland Independent College and University Association (MICUA) Capital Grant Program in…
Hood College is honored to have received the 2022 “Most Valuable Partner” FRED Award from the Frederick County Office of…
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