Pam Morgan, Ph.D.
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 and nonprofit organizations.
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. Currently we are working with U.S. Fish and Wildlife to restore a large salt marsh adjacent to the campus. Students are involved in all of my research projects.
In addition, I am committed to helping communities mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. I serve on my town’s Climate Task Force and am on the Board of Directors for The Climate Initiative, a nonprofit organization working to educate, activate and empower youth. I am passionate about working with young people to address the challenges we face related to both climate change and the loss of biodiversity.
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
Dowling, T.M., Travis, S.E., Morgan, P.A. and Zogg, G.P. 2023. Can the marsh migrate? Factors influencing the growth of Spartina patens under upland conditions. Wetlands Ecology and Management, pp.1-11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-023-09958-9
Morgan, P.A. and M.D.O. Adams. 2017. 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;
Funded grants
Recent grants:
- Morgan, P.A., Feurt, C. (Co-PIs) The Saco River Watershed Collaborative.
- Adamowicz, S. (PI) and Morgan, P. Biddeford Pool Salt Marsh Enhancement. Maine Natural Resources Conservation Program.
- Morgan, P.A. (PI), Duddy, M. 2023. Creating an Arboricultural Management Plan for the University of New England. Project Canopy, Maine Forest Service.
Research interests
Salt marsh conservation and ecology; Wetlands and climate change; Environmental education