I am a Forestry Professor and also the Assistant Director at Clemson’s Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology and Forest Science in Georgetown, SC. My research interests include freshwater and saltwater forested wetland ecology; wetland management; wetland creation and restoration; effects of man and nature on natural environments; dendrochronology; wetlands for wastewater treatment, estuarine/upland connections; changing land-use impacts on natural systems; and historical ecology. I have been involved in forested wetland research for over 40 years and continue to do research throughout the South. I received a B.S. in biology at Virginia Tech (1973); a M.S. in marine science at LSU (1976); and a Ph.D. in Forestry at LSU (1988). I served as a member of the Louisiana Governor’s Coastal Wetland Forest Conservation and Use Science Working Group in 2004-2005. That work is widely recognized as being an important contribution to changing the way the Southern U.S. manages and conserves cypress and tupelo forests. I have authored or edited 2 books, 1 special issue of Wetland Ecology and Management, 14 book chapters; 76 refereed journal papers, and 78 other scientific papers and reports. I have made over 250 presentations at regional, national, and international meetings. AS a result of my research I have received the following honors: elected as a Fellow in the Society of Wetland Scientists in 2007; received Clemson University’s Highest Agricultural Honor, the Godley-Snell Award for Excellence in Agricultural Research in 2010; selected as LSU’s School of Renewable Natural Resources Alumnus of the Year in 2010; elected as a Fellow of the Clemson University Institute for Parks in 2012; and received the Society of Wetland Scientists President’s Service Award in 2013.