My Wonderful Team

Mustapha Alhassan, Ph.D.

Dr. Alhassan’s research addresses environmental and natural resources sustainability issues. He is currently an Economist with the Water, Environmental, & Ecosystems Division of the United States Bureau of Reclamation in Denver, Colorado. In his current position, he conducts economic analyses of projects involving water and related resources within the framework of Principles, Requirements and Guidelines for Water and Land Related Resources Implementation Studies (PR&Gs).

Mustapha's email: mustapa@clemson.edu

webpage: https://www.clemson.edu/cafls/faculty_staff/profiles/mustapa

Miah Maye M. Pormon, Ph.D. Student

She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Forest Resources in Clemson University. She is mainly involved in designing instruments to analyze the market for the climate smart forestry products in South Carolina. She is also doing a research project on land use changes impacts on selected ecosystem services (i.e crop pollination, nutrient delivery and water quality) in Santee River Basin Network.

Miah’s been involved in various scientific research projects, particularly in the areas of climate change, climate education, impact assessments, fisheries, energy economics and disaster studies. Her publications are related to climate change impact on education, climate change and natural disaster impacts on socio-economic behavior and socio-economic assessment to disasters. Her experiences include: assessment of ecosystem services provided by a lake, socio-economic assessment of farmers and fisherfolks towards climate change and natural disasters and climate change education for primary students. She is an economist wanted to learn a lot of things particularly on how the economy and the environment are intertwined to attain sustainability.

She finished her degree in Master of Arts in Economics from the School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman and Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of the Philippines Visayas.

Miah’s email: mpormon@g.clemson.edu

Joan U. Ureta, Post-Doctoral Fellow

As a Post-Doctoral Fellow, Joan is currently designing valuation studies to assess the marketability of climate smart wood products in the Southeastern US as part of the USDA-funded project “Climate Smart Grown in SC”. Apart from this project, she is working closely with forestland owners in Edisto and Santee River Basins, SC to develop an Ecological Business Portfolio (EBP) that outlines the cost of their desired sustainable practices and the corresponding changes to ecosystem services (ES). She also utilizes ecosystem-based and geospatial models such as TERRSET, InVEST, and ArcGIS Pro for ES quantification. These methods were directed towards developing a Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) framework in South Carolina.

Joan's email: joanu@g.clemson.edu

Lucas Clay, Former MS. Student - Current Ph.D. Candidate, student of Dr. Thomas O'Halloran

Lucas obtained a M.S. degree in Forest Resources and he is a Ph.D. student under my colleague. Dr. Thomas O'Halloran.

His research interests include understanding and manipulating different forest management techniques that will ultimately impact the carbon sequestration of a forest stand. Furthermore, these management activities will help South Carolina landowners sell carbon credits to the California Cap and Trade Market.

Lucas’ previous research includes studying phytoremediation methods for the remediation of oil and gas produced wastewater. Contaminated media often include soil or water. Specific plants have the potential to uptake both hydrocarbons and heavy metals. This method of remediation is often rapid, cost effective, and less invasive than tradition methods of remediation or disposal of contaminated media. He is interested in how different methods of remediation and carbon capture can reduce air, water, and soil contamination to decrease environmental degradation.

Lucas previously attended Ball State University in Muncie, IN, obtaining a B.S. in Natural Resources and Environmental Management. He completed his Honors Thesis entitled Rhizofiltration for Treatment of Oil and Gas Produced Water.

Lucas's email: clay9@clemson.edu

Maggie Wilkinson Williamson, Research Technician

Maggie graduated from Clemson University in December 2016 with a Bachelor's of Science in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology and a minor in Education. In February 2017, she joined a Baruch collaboration and began working on a RAPID grant to determine the effects of Hurricane Matthew. In 2018, Maggie joined the Clemson Baruch team as a permanent research technician. Throughout her career and studies she has worked on numerous projects.

Some of these projects include:

- Impoundment invertebrate and grass study for Ducks

- American Alligator growth, reproduction, and nesting studies

- Hurricane impact studies including Hurricanes Matthew, Irma, and flooding from Florence

- Saltwater intrusion study focusing on coastal wetlands and cypress swamps

- Savannah river vegetation study

- Numerous Natural Resource Economic surveys

Maggie's wide range research background makes her an asset to any team with her knowledge of the field, lab, and data management.

Maggie's email: mwilki4@g.clemson.edu