Looking Ahead to Maryland 2050: Living in Our Environment

Abstracts

Panel II:  Maryland in a Changing World

Changing Role of Agriculture

Bruce James, Professor and Director, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources & Environmental Science and Policy

Abstract
Agriculture in Maryland will undergo changes in response to the imminent transition to the post-petroleum era, to limitations on the quantities and quality of freshwater resources, and in response to concerns about land-water interactions related to water quality of the Chesapeake Bay.  Coupled to these transitions will likely be a major shift from a principal product base on the Eastern Shore related to poultry to more diverse agricultural products for regional and local markets, such as biofuels and organically-grown produce.  Questions surrounding the balance of  land uses among forest lands, human habitation, and agriculture will need to be addressed by the University, by State legislators, and by the public at large.  Maryland presently comprises approximately 40% each of agricultural and forest land, and 20% urbanized regions.  How we change this distribution of land uses and the interfaces between them will influence the role of agriculture in Maryland during the next century.

Speaker information
Dr. James specializes in research related to the oxidation-reduction processes of natural waters and of wild, domesticated, and engineered soils. His research has been published in the Journal of Environmental Quality, the Soil Science Society of America Journal, Environmental Science and Technology, and the Journal of Soil Contamination. He has also written several invited book chapters; and contributed to work performed by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the US Geological Service. He teaches both graduate students and undergraduates regularly, and has won numerous awards for his scholarship, teaching, and professional contributions, including the Lilly-CTE Teaching Fellow Award (1993-1994), the College of Agriculture's Teaching Excellence Award (1996), and the university's Distinguished Scholar-Teacher Award (2004-2005). Dr. James' courses include Introduction to Environmental Science; the Capstone in Environmental Science and Policy; Soil Chemistry; Crops, Soils, and Civilization; and Advanced Soil Chemistry. He is also an affiliate faculty member in the Department of Geology; and Director of the College Park Scholars - Environmental Studies Program.

Dr. James earned his B.S. in Chemistry & Environmental Studies from Williams College; and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Soil Chemistry from the University of Vermont. He has been at the University of Maryland since completing post-doctoral studies at Cornell University in 1986. His love of the environment grew out of his hobbies while in college and his work with the Appalachian Mountain Club in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, biking, camping and kayaking with his wife and three sons.