Agricultural Economics and Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences
W. Douglass Shaw, professor, joined the Departments of Agricultural Economics and Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences in 2004.
Dr. Shaw received his doctorate in economics from the University of Colorado in December 1985.
His expertise is the area of valuation of water quality and quantity changes, with an emphasis on health risks and uncertainty, value of health risk reductions associated with arsenic in drinking water and value of increased water supply at recreation areas.
Specific research includes arsenic in drinking water. A competitive grant from the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency will assess perceived risks that households have relating to arsenic exposure. The focus is on children’s health risks.
Another research project involves the economics of perceived risks, which is an investigation into economic risk models that incorporate the idea that individuals often have difficulty expressing and processing information relating to risks and uncertainty.
Two of his recent papers involving research on arsenic in drinking water are published in the Journal of Water and Health (September 2005), and Risk Analysis (December 2005).
Biological and Agricultural Engineering
Dr. R. Karthikeyan joined the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering in 2005 as an assistant professor.
Dr. Karthikeyan received his bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in 1993 and his master’s degree in 1997 from the University of Georgia. His doctoral degree in engineering is from Kansas State University in 2001.
His research involves application of spatial science tools (GIS and remote sensing) in agriculture, biological and homeland security, disease (human and animal) tracking and control, disaster management and response, natural resources management and water quality. He is also involved in research in the fate, transport, and removal of contaminant’s in terrestrial and aquatic environments.
Rangeland Ecology and Management
Dr. Georgianne Moore, an assistant professor with expertise in ecohydrology and woody vegetation management, joined the Department of Rangeland Ecology and Management in February 2005.
She received her bachelor’s degree in applied biology from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1995 with emphases in ecology and environmental science; and her doctorate in interdisciplinary environmental sciences in 2003 with an emphasis in small watershed hydrology and forest ecology.
Her particular interest is the role of vegetation in the water cycle and how vegetation management/change affects water resources. Dr.Moore is conducting research in Texas and New Mexico comparing water use by native and invasive woody species in riparian ecosystems under different management regimes. She is also investigating the effects of brush clearing on spring flow and surface runoff from small watersheds and initial and long-term effects of root plowing mesquite on groundwater dynamics and aquifer recharge.
Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences
Dr. Tarla Rai Peterson joined the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences as the Boone and Crockett Wildlife and Conservation Policy Chair at Texas A&M University in January 2006.
The chair was established with a $500,000 gift from the Boone and Crockett Club and a matching $500,000 from the Texas A&M Development Foundation. The purpose of the chair is to help to close the gap between the knowledge of wildlife science and the implementation of wildlife policy, according to Dr. Robert Brown, department head for the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences.
Dr. Peterson was chosen for the Texas A&M position because of her academic background; her successes in teaching, grantsmanship, publication and graduate student mentorship; and her enthusiasm and dedication to sustainable conservation and sound wildlife policy on private lands, Brown said.
Peterson received a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Idaho in 1976. She earned a master’s degree in speech communication in 1980 and a doctorate through the interdisciplinary program in environmental conflict in 1986, both from Washington State University.
