Two faculty in the Odum School of Ecology have been recognized with named professorships based on their long-standing commitments to excellence in research, education and service at UGA. Craig Osenberg was named UGA Athletic Association Professor in Ecology, and Amy Rosemond was named UGA Foundation Professor in Ecology.
With their appointments, approved in October by the Board of Regents, the Odum School holds four Athletic Association professorships. Osenberg joins Associate Dean Jeb Byers, SREL Director Gene Rhodes and Associate Dean/Regents’ Professor Pej Rohani as the school’s Athletic Association professors. Rosemond is the school’s sole UGA Foundation professor.
“Professors Rosemond and Osenberg are both internationally recognized for their groundbreaking research in ecology,” said Dean Mark D. Hunter. “They are also fantastic teachers who make a real difference in the lives of our students. Their work serves to safeguard the natural environment for generations to come, and I’m delighted that they are both being recognized with these prestigious named professorships.”
Osenberg, who serves as graduate coordinator for Ecology, studies population and community ecology across a diversity of habitats (terrestrial, freshwater, estuarine and marine) and organisms (fish, amphibians, plants and invertebrates). His research is organized around several interrelated themes: the role of stage-structure and density dependence in fish population dynamics; development and application of statistical tools designed to quantify impacts of human activities on ecological systems (e.g., the establishment of marine reserves); development and application of meta-analysis; and coral reef dynamics, especially the role of species interactions on the growth and survival of corals and the resulting feedbacks on coral-associated organisms.
His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, U.S. Departments of the Interior and Energy, Sea Grant, French-American Cultural Exchange, and the European Union. He and his students have published more than 180 papers.
Osenberg was elected a Fellow of the Ecological Society of America in 2015. He served as Chair of the Aquatic Section of ESA, was editor-in-chief of Oecologia, served on the editorial boards of Ecology, Ecological Monographs and Frontiers in Marine Science, and was a member of the Science Advisory Board to the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis. He has served as a consultant to groups applying science to environmental issues including human impacts in marine systems, design and assessment of marine-protected areas in Costa Rica and the Mediterranean, and restoration of the Everglades and the Gulf of Mexico.
“I greatly appreciate the support of my colleagues in the Odum School, UGA and the Athletic Association,” Osenberg said. “I’m also very fortunate to have a great group of current and past graduate students. In fact, one of my most important goals and accomplishments is the success of my graduate students, so I plan to use my professorship to support my current and future students to further their professional aspirations.”
Rosemond, who is a UGA Distinguished Research Professor, studies the effects of land-use change and climate change on the health and vitality of streams and rivers. Her research program is motivated by society’s need for healthy, resilient freshwater ecosystems, equitable access to their goods and services, and the long-term sustainability of aquatic life. Current studies focus on how elevated temperature and nutrient pollution affect stream functions. Rosemond and colleagues have conducted experiments at unprecedented scales to discern how real systems and whole food webs will respond to environmental change. Her research goals are ultimately to inform sustainable management of ecosystems for future generations.
She teaches freshwater and ecosystems courses at UGA and has served as major advisor to more than 20 graduate students and postdocs. With her collaborators and students, Rosemond has published more than 100 peer-reviewed publications on a broad range of topics that examine the effects and mechanisms of global change stressors on streams and rivers. Her research has received funding from the NSF, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Defense and Georgia Water Resources Institute, among others.
Rosemond was elected a Fellow of the Ecological Society of America in 2018 and received UGA’s Creative Research Medal in Natural Sciences and Engineering that same year. She served as president of the Society for Freshwater Science for 2019-2020 and is lead principal investigator/project director of the Emerge program, conducted in conjunction with SFS to broaden participation and leadership in the field of freshwater science.
“I have been so fortunate to benefit from and contribute to the amazing community of scholars in the Odum School of Ecology for most of my career. I am honored to be part of Odum and recognized by this professorship,” Rosemond said. “There is an intellectual vibrancy and passion here that has supported me and continues to support the most important thing to us all: the next generation of ecological leaders.”