The UMD Environmental Science Center has a new director.

A prominent ecosystem hydrologist has been hired as director of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.

Fernando Miralles Wilhelm, dean and professor at George Mason University, will serve as the university system’s vice president for sustainability starting July 1.

“It will be difficult to top Dr. Miralles Wilhelm’s career,” University System of Maryland Chancellor Jay A. Perman said in a news release. “His priorities and plans for national and international environmental leadership align very well with what we have heard from UMCES faculty, staff, and students.”

Miralles-Wilhelm has more than 30 years of experience researching water resources and watersheds, ecosystem restoration, biodiversity, and conservation science around the world, and has led more than $300 million in NASA-sponsored research, according to the announcement. Serves as principal researcher. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Agency for International Development, and World Bank.

The University of Maryland Environmental Science Center is comprised of 12 institutions: Bowie State University, Coppin State University, Frostburg State University, Salisbury University, Towson University, and the University of Baltimore. Baltimore, Maryland. Baltimore County, Maryland. Maryland Environmental Science Center. College Park, Maryland. Eastern Shore, Maryland. and Maryland Global Campus.

Prior to joining George Mason, Miralles-Wilhelm served on the faculty at Northeastern University, the University of Miami, Florida International University, and the University of Maryland, College Park, where he served as professor and chair of the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, and as professor. I served. Climate and Satellite Collaborative Research Institute.

Miralles-Wilhelm will replace Peter Goodwin, who retired last year. UMCES Vice President Bill Dennison has been serving as interim president since September 2023.

Miralles-Wilhelm received his Ph.D. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil and environmental engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in engineering from the University of California, Irvine, and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Universidad Simón Bolívar in Venezuela. He is fluent in English and Spanish.

“I am thrilled and humbled by the opportunity to lead UMCES and its global sustainability portfolio.” [University System of Maryland]” Mirales-Wilhelm said in the release. “The environmental challenges we face as a society are more pressing today than ever before, and UMCES and USM are well positioned to address these challenges in our state, nation, and world at large through research, education, and service.” I am in a position.”

The University of Maryland Environmental Science Center operates the Appalachian Laboratory in the mountains of western Maryland, the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory at the mouth of the Patuxent River, the Horn Point Laboratory on the East Coast, and the Marine Environmental Technology Laboratory in Baltimore. . , according to a news release.