Pamela Morgan, Ph.D.
Professor of Environmental Studies
Location
I teach a variety of courses at UNE, including Gulf of Maine Field Studies, Conservation Field Skills, Wetland Conservation and Ecology, Wetland Restoration: Science and Policy, Ecological Monitoring, Plant Systematics and Conservation, Women and the Environment, Introduction to Environmental Issues and others. My approach to teaching is to help students learn by doing. We engage in projects that take place in local habitats and we interact with local communities.
Being right on the coast of Maine offers amazing opportunities to involve undergraduate students in my wetland research projects. I have projects in tidal marshes along the Saco River as well as in the red maple swamps and vernal pools in UNE's 363-acre forest.
In addition, I am involved in efforts to develop and implement nature education programs for public schools. My students are involved in this work, through classes such as the Greening the Schools seminar and the Gulf of Maine Field Studies course, as well as through internships and service projects with schools and land trusts.
Credentials
Education
Research
Current research
Much of my work has focused on coastal wetlands, and in particular the small, fringing tidal marshes that line rivers and bays. I also study freshwater wetlands, including red maple swamps and vernal pools. Learning more about these wetlands and the impacts to them (including climate change) will help us to better conserve and restore them.
My other area of scholarship is in environmental education - on developing and assessing programs designed to connect young people with the natural world.
Selected publications
Morgan, P.A. and M.D.O. Adams. Tidal marsh plant diversity and shoreline development in the Saco River estuary, Maine. Rhodora, 119(980):304-331. https://doi.org/10.3119/16-19.
Slater, M., Morgan, P.A., Tilburg, C. and S.E. Travis. 2017. Environmental variables, not Allee effects, drive patch vigor in exotic Phragmites australis stands invading the Saco River Estuary, Maine, USA. Aquatic Botany 136:220-229.
Short, F.T., Koston, S., Morgan, P.A., Malone, S. and G. Moore. 2016. Impacts of climate change on submerged and emergent wetland plants. Aquatic Botany 135:3-17.
Morgan, P.A., Dionne, M., Mackenzie, R. and M. Dionne. 2015. Exploring the effects of shoreline development on fringing salt marshes using nekton, benthic invertebrate and vegetation metrics. Estuaries and Coasts 38(4): 1274-1287.
MacKenzie, R.A., Dionne, M., Miller, J., Haas, M. and P.A. Morgan. 2015. Community structure and abundance of benthic invertebrates in Maine fringing marsh ecosystems. Estuaries and Coasts 38(4): 1317-1334.
Morgan, P.A. and C.F. Feurt, eds. 2015. The Saco River Estuary Report. Prepared for: National Science Foundation award EPS-0904155 to the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research at the University of Maine. http://www.une.edu/sites/default/files/Sustaining_the_Saco_Estuary_Final_Report_2015_0.pdf
Morgan, P.A., Burdick, D.B. and Short, F.T. 2009. The functions and values of fringing salt marshes in northern New England, USA. Estuaries and Coasts 32(3): 483-495.
Morgan, P.A., Miller, J. Dalton, C. and M. Dionne. 2007. A Comprehensive Wetland Program for Fringing Salt Marshes in the York River, Maine. Prepared for: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Date of Submission: May 31, 2007.
Morgan, P.A., L. Curci, C. Dalton and J. Miller. 2005. Assessing the Health of the Fore River and its Tributaries. Prepared for: Natural Resource Damage Trustees, Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Date of Submission: August, 2005.
Morgan, P.A., M. Dionne, R. MacKenzie and L. Curci. 2005. Ecological Functions and Values of Fringing Salt Marshes Susceptible to Oil Spills in Casco Bay, Maine. Prepared for: Maine Oil Spill Advisory Committee. Date of Submission: February 15, 2005.
Morgan, P.A. and F.T. Short. 2002. Using functional trajectories to model constructed salt marsh development in the Great Bay Estuary, ME/NH. Restoration Ecology. Vol 10 No. 3, pp. 461-473.
Short, F.T., D.M. Burdick, C.A. Short, R.C. Davis and P.A. Morgan. 2000. Developing success criteria for restored eelgrass, salt marsh and mud flat habitats. Ecological Engineering,15: 239-252;
Other scholarly activity
Feurt, C. and P. Morgan. We’re all in the same boat! Estuarine research and stakeholder engagement to sustain the Saco Estuary, Maine. New England Estuarine Research Society Salem, MA, May 1-3, 2014.
Cowles, S. and P.A. Morgan. A study of the invasive species Phragmites australis and its relationship to abiotic factors in the Saco River estuary. New England Estuarine Research Society Salem, MA, May 1-3, 2014.
Murphy, S., Perlut, and P.A. Morgan. Factors that affect tidal marsh bird diversity in the Saco Estuary of Southern Maine. New England Estuarine Research Society Salem, MA, May 1-3, 2014.
Slater, M.A. and P.A. Morgan. Transport regimes of Phragmites australis in the Saco River Estuary, Maine, USA. New England Estuarine Research Society Salem, MA, May 1-3, 2014.
Morgan, P.A. and R. Tamulonis. Plant community structure of tidal wetlands in the Saco River estuary, Maine. New England Estuarine Research Society meeting in Plymouth, MA April 12-14, 2012.
Morgan, P.A. Evolving perspectives on estuarine research: The reality of practicing sustainability science in an effort to understand and protect an estuary. Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation Conference. Daytona Beach, FL, November 8-11.
Morgan, P.A., C.B. Feurt, A. Carlson and D.L. Sargent. Sustaining quality of place in the Saco River estuary through Community Based Ecosystem Management. Atlantic Canada Coastal and Estuarine Science Society & New England Estuarine Research Society Joint Meeting, St. Andrews, N.B. Canada, May 13-16, 2010.
Marsters, J.A. and P.A. Morgan. Assessment of an impacted fringing salt marsh and an experimental approach to re-vegetation of bare patches. New England Estuarine Research Society Meeting, Block Island, RI, Oct. 16-18, 2008.
Mitchell, E. and P.A. Morgan. Comparison of disturbed/undisturbed upland-salt marsh borders and the presence of invasive/native haplotypes of Phragmites australis. New England Estuarine Research Society Meeting. Portsmouth, NH, May 1-3, 2008.
Morgan, P.A., J. Miller and C. Dalton. Indicators of fringing salt marsh ecological function that are responsive to shoreline development pressures. International Meeting of the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation. Providence, RI, Nov. 6-9, 2007.
Research interests
Salt marsh conservation and ecology; Wetlands and climate change; Environmental education