Changwoo Ahn, PhD

Changwoo Ahn, PhD

Professor, Department of Environmental Science and Policy

Faculty Directory

Research Focus

My research centers on a long-term study of functional development and design elements for created mitigation wetlands, which includes biodgeochemistry, ecological modeling, constructed wetlands, urban green infrastructure, soil carbon and nitrogen, denitrification and water quality, plant and microbial communities, and system ecology.

Current Projects

■ Design elements for creating wetlands to restore ecosystem functions and services (i.e., N cycling for water quality in wetlands and plant community productivity and carbon cycling)

■ Ecological modeling and system ecology (e.g., STELLA system modeling and analysis)

■ Microbial community indicators for ecological functions in wetlands (e.g., soil microbial community structure and biogeochemical signatures)

■ The Rain Project: Students participated in a project-based learning approach aimed at developing innovative interdisciplinary education and scholarship in “The Rain Project”, launching a 1,700-plant floating wetland on Mason Pond in May 2015. The year-long project brought together art, science and engineering students to clean the stormwater pond as well as to spur ecological awareness and literacy. The Rain Project, designed and directed by Professor Changwoo Ahn of Environmental Science and Policy, has been featured as an exemplary case for cross-disciplinary collaboration for community impact in National Academies’ s recent report (2018), titled “The Integration of the Humanities and Arts with Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Higher Education- Branches from the Same Tree, David Skorton and Ashley Bear (Eds.).

■ The Dirt Project: Unearthing the story of soil through their colors as affected by climate change and urbanization

Select Publications

■ Ahn, C., & Schmidt, S. (2019). Designing wetlands as an essential infrastructural element for urban development in the era of climate change. Sustainability, 11(7), 1920.

■ McAndrew, B., & Ahn, C. (2017). Developing an ecosystem model of a floating wetland for water quality improvement on a stormwater pond. Journal of Environmental Management, 202, 198-207.

■ Korol, A. R., et al. (2016). Richness, biomass, and nutrient content of a wetland macrophyte community affect soil nitrogen cycling in a diversity-ecosystem functioning experiment. Ecological Engineering, 95, 252-265.

 

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Contact

Phone: 703-993-3978

Email: cahn@gmu.edu

Website: https://www.changwooahn.com/