Professor Director of the UGA Marine Institute on Sapelo Island Education Ph.D. 1992, Boston University, Boston B.S. 1981, Duke University, Durham, NC Research Research Areas: Climate Change Research Interests: Marine ecology of nearshore environments; estuarine food webs; impacts of freshwater withdrawal on coastal systems; models of estuarine flushing times; biological characteristics and fate of suspended sediments in estuaries; human impacts in the coastal zone; interactions between science and policy Selected Publications C.J. Burns, C. Alexander and M. Alber. Assessing long-term trends in lateral salt marsh shoreline change along a US east coast latitudinal gradient. Journal of Coastal Research (in press) C. Mobilian, N.I.Wisnoski, J.T. Lennon, M. Alber, S. Widney and C.B. Craft. Microbial community composition is affected by press, but not pulse, seawater intrusion. Limnology and Oceanography Letters (in press) A.K. Langston, C. Alexander, M. Alber, and M.L. Kirwan. Beyond 2100: Salt marsh vulnerability to sea level rise in Georgia, USA. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Sciences (in press) J.C. Zinnert, J.B. Nippert,…M. Alber and others (23 authors). Future trajectories for ecosystems in the U.S. Long Term Ecological Research Network: the importance of state changes. Ecosphere (in press) C.J. Burns, M. Alber and C. Alexander. 2020 Historical changes in the vegetated area of salt marshes. Estuaries and Coasts DOI: 10.1007/s12237-020-00781-6 R.A. Feagin, I. Forbrich…M. Alber and others (28 authors). 2020 Tidal wetland Gross Primary Production across the continental United States, 2000-2018. Global Biogeochemical Cycles DOI:10.1029/2019GB006349 J.O’Connell, M. Alber and S. Pennings. 2020 Microspatial differences in soil temperature cause phenology change on par with long-term climate warming in salt marshes. Ecosystems. 23: 498-510. DOI: 10.1029/2019GL082374 Alber, M. and J.L. O’Connell. 2019 Temperature drives gradients in surface soil temperature within salt marshes. Geophysical Research Letters 46: 5313-5322. DOI: 10.1029/2019GL082374 Rudd, M.A., A.F.P. Moore….M. Alber and others (48 authors). 2018 Climate research priorities for policy-makers, practitioners, and scientists in Georgia, USA. Environmental Management. 62: 190-209. Gehman, A-L., N. McLenaghan, J.Byers, C. Alexander, S. Pennings, and M. Alber 2018 Effects of small-scale armoring and residential development on the salt marsh/upland ecotone. Estuaries and Coasts. 41: 54-67 J.E. Dugan, K.A. Emery, M. Alber, C. Alexander, J.E. Byers, A. Gehman, N. McLenaghan, and S. Sojka. 2018 Generalizing effects of shoreline armoring across soft sediment environments. Estuaries and Coasts. 41:180-186 Courses Regularly Taught MARS 8210