To Whom This May Concern

February 6, 2008 Garden Club of America

To Whom This May Concern:

This letter is written to enthusiastically recommend Ms. Kristen Wilson from the University of Maine Graduate Program in Ecology and the Environment for a Garden Club of America Award in Coastal Wetlands. I have known Kristen for 5 years, beginning as her marine policy thesis advisor in the School of Marine Sciences’ Dual Degree program in Marine Policy and Marine Biology. She has taken three graduate classes with me; I have worked with her in the field and seen her speak in classes and at professional meetings many times. She is presently my Ph. D. student in the Graduate Program in Ecology and the Environment at the University of Maine and will graduate in 2010. Kristen’s Master’s and Ph. D. theses on salt marshes came about through a discussion we had when she first arrived. She has been very self-motivated to study coastal wetlands and I have learned a lot from her originality and in-depth reading on a subject I thought I knew well. She learned the field aspects of the work from me very easily, in part because she has a good botany background. She then went into the field alone for weeks and gathered her Master’s thesis data. Her thinking on her thesis topic was exceptionally original and her Masters research is ready for submission to the journal, Estuaries. Her continuing Ph. D. research on the ecogeomorphology of salt marsh pools is one of the first really new directions I have seen in salt marsh ecology in many years. After considering the pattern of wetland loss in Louisiana during a graduate class, she wondered if Maine and other areas were seeing the same impact at an early stage (little pools get bigger, merge and then fragment the marsh). She has methodically learned through careful identification of pool sediment signature in cores, that pool formation and draining creates THE primary stratigraphic record in marshes. Though long avoided by scientists, pools evolve over time and drive the dynamics of coastal wetlands in their effort to keep pace with rising sea level. Pools may presage the breakup of a marsh, but until they cross an as yet undefined threshold, salt pools are critical, though neglected habitats in salt marshes. Kristin is now exploring the ecological evolution that accompanies the geomorphic dynamics of pools as well as the physical/chemical changes that occur seasonally in pools. I believe that Kristin’s broad interdisciplinary work (geology, ecology, chemistry, GIS/remote sensing, statistics) will soon open eyes to the central role that pools play in marsh ecology. She is already beginning to talk of how to better incorporate pools into restoration efforts. Kristin’s is one of the 5 most independent students (of more than 50) that I have worked with in 20 years at the University of Maine. Her background at this early stage in her career is very broad, sweeping from significant work experience in wetlands, forests, ground fisheries and coral reefs. She integrates her previous experiences into her work in a creative manner that is unusual to find in a student. She is the best public speaker I have seen as a graduate student and develops wonderful presentations for professional talks. At the most recent Geological Society of America meeting, a member of the audience got up after her presentation on coastal wetland evolution and said that hers was the best talk he had seen at a professional meeting in years. She needs no prodding to do field or lab work and is clearly on track for an academic career focused on wetlands and their management. I could not recommend her more highly.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Dr. Joseph T. Kelley Professor of Marine Geology Department of Earth Sciences, Chair