Environment and Sustainability
Alan D. Christian
Adjunct Professor
Dr. Alan D. Christian earned his BS in Biological Sciences at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, his MS in Biological Sciences at Arkansas State University Jonesboro, and his Ph.D. in Zoology at Miami University. He did his postdoc and visiting instructorship at Arkansas State University (ASU) and was later hired as an Assistant Professor before being promoted to Associate Professor in 2008. In 2009, he joined the University of Massachusetts Boston (UMB) as an Associate Professor of Biology and Director of the Environmental Studies Program. In his role as Environmental Studies Program Director and Graduate Program Director in Biology at UMB, he developed, implemented, and assessed transdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate environmental programs. He later served as the Undergraduate Program Director in the School for the Environment from 2015 to 2019. At UMB, he worked collaboratively across all units on campus to synthesize and catalyze environmental expertise and programs, transforming how environmental leaders are developed through hands-on practical experiences in environmental problem-solving. In 2019, he was hired as the Director of Student Learning Outcomes Assessment and Professor of Biology at Clarkson University. After transitioning into a full-time faculty position in the Biology Department, he served as the Chair of the Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Committee, the Clarkson University Common Experience Committee, and served as the Associate Director of the Honors Program.
Dr. Christian has been involved in various federally funded research and training programs, including serving as the PI and Director of the GK12 Program at ASU, leading the implementation of conservation and wildlife GIS programming at ASU, and being the PI/Co-PI and Director of the NSF Funded Coastal Research in Environmental Science and Technology Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program at UMB for nine years. He also served as the PI and Director of the NSF-funded Aquatic Sciences, Engineering, and Technology REU at Clarkson University for two years.
Dr. Christian has been recognized for his leadership in undergraduate research, experiential learning, and broadening participation in STEM. He also has been involved in national and international service, including leadership of the National Science Foundation BIO REU Principal Investigators Workshop program and being an At-Large Member of the Council for Environmental Deans and Directors Executive Committee. Additionally, he has been honored as a Science Education for a New Civic Engagement and Responsibility (SENCER) Fellow, working with local and state government and non-government organizations and providing assessment support to higher education and research programs.
Dr. Christian’s molecular-to-ecosystem research focuses on the basic and applied aspects of aquatic ecology, including population genetics, population, community, ecosystem, and landscape ecology, and human impacts on aquatic ecosystems. His applied research integrates ecological assessment of freshwater habitats with geospatial analysis of land use and human perturbation of landscapes using GIS and statistical approaches. One of his focus organisms is freshwater mussels, for which he does research on their biology, ecology, and conservation.
Department
Recent Work
Recent Peer-reviewed Publications (** undergraduate student, * graduate student; career total = 46):
Risen, Q., Haque, A., Baki, A.B., Holsen, T.M., Christian, A.D. and Jork, J. 2024. Effect of Wastewater Treatment Plants on Microplastics in Mussels and Their Surrounding Environment. In World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2024 (pp. 348-355).
Pieri, A.M., Harris, J.L., Matthews, M.W., Hodges, S.W., Rodman, A.R., Bouldin, J.L., and Christian, A.D. 2024. Comparisons of Twelve Freshwater Mussel Bed Assemblages Quantitatively Sampled at a 15-year Interval in the Buffalo National River, Arkansas, USA. Ecologies, 5, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.3390/ecologies5010001
Ijaz*, U., Baki, A. B., Abdul-Aziz, O. I., Zhang, W., and Christian, A. D. 2023. The effects of large roughness elements on the in-stream transport and retention of polystyrene microplastics. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 6522.
Henderson*, N.D. and A.D. Christian. 2022. Freshwater invertebrate assemblage composition and water quality of an urban coastal watershed in the context of land-use land-cover and reach-scale physical habitat. Ecologies 3: 376-394. https://doi.org/10.3390/ecologies3030028
Tota**, A., A. B. M. Baki, A. D. Christian, A. Golpira*, I. Montgomery**, A. Falkenstein**, and N. Orellana**. 2022. Experimental Investigation of Flow Characteristics within Mussel’s Mesohabiats. In World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2022, pp. 311-323.
Heidkamp*, L.C. and A.D. Christian. 2022. A case study evaluating water quality and reach, buffer, and watershed-scale explanatory variables of an Urban Coastal Watershed. Urban Science 6(17) https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci6010017
McCanty, S.E*., T.F. Dimino*, and A.D. Christian. 2021. Near-term changes to reach scale habitat features following headwater stream restoration in a southeastern Massachusetts former cranberry bog. Diversity. 13. https://doi.org/10.3390/d13060235
Hiler*, W., S.E. Trauth, B. Wheeler, A. Courtmanche**, M. Radanovic**, J. Milanovich, and A.D. Christian. 2021. Stable isotope analysis of Ozark Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis bishopi) living and preserved museum tissue reveals a shift in their generalist diet composition. Ecologies. 2: 187-202. https://doi.org/10.3390/ecologies202001
Christian, A.D., S.T. McCanty*, T. Dimino*,S. McMurry, and J.L. Harris. 2021. Ordination analysis reveals three distinct freshwater mussel assemblages correlated with river mile and agriculture in the Black River, Missouri and Arkansas. Freshwater Mollusk Biology and Conservation. 24(1): 1-6. DOI:10.31931/fmbc-d-19-00039
Christian, A.D., S.E. McCanty*, S. Poudal*, S.W.A. Chordas, and J.L. Harris. 2021. Inventory and assemblage classification of freshwater mussels (Mollusca: Unionidae) of the Strawberry River, Arkansas, USA with implications for conservation planning. Diversity. 13 (2),86. https://doi.org/10.3390/d13020086
Christian, A.D.; Peck*, A.J.; Allen**, R.; Lawson**, R.; Edwards**, W.; Marable**, G.; Seagraves**, S.; and Harris, J.L. 2020. Freshwater Mussel Bed Habitat in an Alluvial Sand-Bed-Material-Dominated Large River: A Core Flow Sediment Refugium? Diversity 12: 174. https://doi.org/10.3390/d12050174
Rosenfeld*, N.F. and A.D. Christian. 2020. Ecological stoichiometry and consumer-driven nutrient recycling of two freshwater mussels in a Northeastern Coastal Zone Pond. Northeastern Naturalist 27(1): 90-114. https://doi.org/10.1656/045.027.0108
Christian, A.D., A. Atwood**, D. Bethel**, T. Dimino*, N. Garner**, J.R. Garrison**, L.C. Gulich*, and S. McCanty*. 2019. Qualitative and quantitative mussel surveys of the Mill River System, Massachusetts: Pre-final dam removal baselines. Freshwater Mollusk Biology and Conservation. 22(1):1-11. https://molluskconservation.org/PUBLICATIONS/FMBC/FMBC_Vol22/FMBC_Volume22-1.pdf