Dr. Ahn's general research interests and experiences include ecological functions of created wetlands, wetland system ecology, water quality, wetland creation and restoration, nutrient dynamics (N, P), and ecological modeling. He also has recently begun to apply the techniques of environmental molecular biology in his research to study the linkages between sediment microbial community patterns and nutrient processes in wetlands.
Currently his lab, Wetland Ecosystem Laboratory, at GMU has two main topics of study: wetland creation/restoration techniques (i.e., microtopography relations), ecological monitoring of mitigation wetlands, and microbial community patterns along biogeochemical gradients in constructed wetlands.
Through his postdoctoral work at the Illinois Water Resources Center of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Dr. Ahn focused on developing a dynamic model to predict vegetation responses to many different scenarios of river hydrology being manipulated for the restoration of Illinois floodplain-river ecosystem. Through this project, Dr. Ahn worked with a number of stakeholders, including The Nature Conservancy and National Science Foundation.
EDUCATION
2001 Ph. D. Environmental Science Graduate Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
Advisor: Dr. William J. Mitsch
1994 M.S. Environmental Planning, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Seoul National University, South Korea
Advisor: Dr. Dowon Lee
1992 B.S. Forest Resources, summa cum laude, Seoul National University, South Korea
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2003 – present Assistant Professor, Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason
University, Fairfax, Virginia
2001 – 2003 Postdoctoral Research Associate, Illinois Water Resources Center,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)
-Project: Strategic Renewal of Large Floodplain Rivers: Integrated Analysis, National Science Foundation (NSF), 2001 -2005
-Modeling Floodplain Vegetation Dynamics in the Illinois Floodplain-River Ecosystem Restoration
The Nature Conservancy (TNC), 2001-2003
Supervisor: Dr. Richard E. Sparks
2001 Postdoctoral researcher, School of Natural Resources, The Ohio State
University
Project: A long-term ecological study of a created freshwater wetland at
the Olentangy River Wetland Research Park, Columbus, OH
Supervisor: Dr. William J. Mitsch
Full CV (PDF)
RESEARCH PROJECTS:
Hydrology, vegetation development, and soil properties of a created mitigation wetland in the piedmont area of Virginia.
Microtopography effects on vegetative and biogeochemical patterns in created wetlands: a comparative study to provide guidance for wetland creation and restoration.
Soil microbial community diversity, field indicators, and physicochemistry in created and natural forested wetlands in the piedmont and coastal regions of the southeastern U.S.
The effects of hydrologic connectivity, related soil properties, and functional design elements on nitrogen dynamics in created and natural wetlands in the piedmont region of the southeastern U.S.
Above - and below -ground vegetative response to prescribed fire rotations in Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge.
Compensatory wetland mitigation banks to restore ecosystem services in Virginia.
Linking soil microbial communities and key operational variables of treatment wetlands for phosphorus removal.
Detailed information on projects at
The Ahn Wetland Ecosystem Laboratory.
