UNH Today

UNH environmental science professor William McDowell has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). A biogeochemist, McDowell is being recognized for his contributions to the field of ecosystem ecology. Election as an AAAS Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers.

“Bill is a model of excellence in his field and the distinction is well deserved. This honor reinforces UNH’s role as an international leader in environmental science research.”

McDowell will be recognized during a ceremony for the 416 new fellows Saturday, Feb. 16, 2019, during the 2019 AAAS annual meeting in Washington, D.C. for their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.

“We are very proud of Bill for receiving this significant honor and being nationally recognized for his work,” said Jan Nisbet, senior vice provost for research at UNH. “Bill is a model of excellence in his field and the distinction is well deserved. Only a small percentage of researchers are elected as new fellows each year and this honor reinforces UNH’s role as an international leader in environmental science research.”

According to the AAAS, McDowell is being recognized for his “contributions to the field of ecosystem ecology, particularly for advances in understanding the role of small streams in global carbon and nitrogen cycles.” His research in this area focuses on understanding how the cycling of carbon and nitrogen interact to control the delivery of these biologically important elements to downstream systems and to the atmosphere. His long-term studies describe the effects of major droughts, rain storms, urbanization and hurricanes on stream chemistry. His current research looks at long-term effects of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. He received UNH’s Distinguished Professor Award in 2017.

UNH faculty members Steve Frolking (research professor of Earth sciences), Nathan Schwadron (the Norman S. and Anna Marie Waite Professor of physics), Stacia Sower (professor emerita of molecular, cellular and biomedical sciences) and Harlan Spence (director of the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space and professor of physics) are also AAAS fellows.

AAAS is the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science. Founded in 1848, AAAS includes nearly 250 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world.