DURHAM, N.C. -- Emily Bernhardt, Jerry G. and Patricia Crawford Hubbard Professor of biogeochemistry at Duke University, was named an Ecological Society of America (ESA) Fellow on Thursday.

She is one of 28 ESA members honored for their contributions to advancing ecological knowledge in academics, government, non-profit organizations and the broader society.

Bernhardt, who holds faculty appointments in both the Department of Biology and the Nicholas School of the Environment, is cited for her work on watershed biogeochemistry, the impacts of global environmental change and human activities on aquatic ecosystems, and the applications of ecology to management and policy.

She’s the author of numerous widely-cited studies, including those on the effects of mountaintop-removal coal mining on water quality as well as how global environmental changes – including urbanization and rising CO2 – affects rivers, wetlands and watersheds.

Bernhardt is the sixth current or former Nicholas School faculty member to be elected as ESA Fellows since the program was established in 2012. James S. Clark, Norman L. Christensen, Robert B. Jackson, William S. Schlesinger, John Terborgh and Alan Townsend have previously been honored. Appointment is for life.

ESA is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization of scientists founded in 1915 to promote ecological sciences and raise policymakers’ and the public’s awareness of the importance of ecology in everyday life. The society has more than 10,000 members.

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