Biography

Dr. Alan D. Christian is a broadly trained aquatic ecologist with expertise in freshwater and freshwater mussel ecology and conservation. Dr. Christian’s research context ranges from near-pristine to heavily disturbed to restored systems and his research integrates across scales, disciplines, and the biological and ecological continuum supplying research directly or indirectly supporting conservation management. Dr. Christian’s most current research at Tidmarsh Farms in Plymouth, Massachusetts looks at compositional, structural, and functional components of taxonomic and ecosystem biodiversity in restored cranberry bog wetland ecosystems. Dr. Christian received a BS in Biological Sciences at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, an MS in Biological Sciences at Arkansas State University, and a Ph.D. in Zoology at Miami University. Dr. Christian went through the ranks and served as a professor for 20 years at three different institutions. During this time, Dr. Christian developed undergraduate and graduate training programs, developed and assessed curricular and co-curricular content, and took on undergraduate, graduate, and assessment program director leadership roles and responsibilities. Dr. Christian also engages in community outreach and civic engagement and provided service to campus, local, regional, national, and international organizations.