Dr. Joe Maser is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Science at Portland State University. Prior joining Portland State in the Spring quarter of 1996, he was an environmental consultant for 17 years preparing numerous environmental impact statements, water quality studies, wetland studies and wildlife studies throughout the United States. Before becoming an environmental consultant, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology.
Dr. Maser is interested in the general areas of wetland ecology and regulations. In particular, his research interests are focused on the effectiveness of wetland mitigation projects to compensate for ecological functions lost due to anthropogenic activities. The mitigation sites he has studied were upland areas designed and constructed to mimic existing wetland areas. The studies, done in New Jersey, New York, Delaware and Oregon, measured hydrological activity, vegetative community structure and species composition and wildlife use at the mitigation sites. These measured functions were compared to control areas (upland areas similar to pre-mitigation conditions) and existing wetlands which were mimicked by the mitigation design.
He is also interested in the effect of wetland regulations on land use and development patterns and the effect of wetland mitigation policies on ecological functions at a landscape level.