Ivan Fernandez

Career: Dr. Ivan Fernandez retired as the
Distinguished Maine Professor of Soil Science in the School of Forest Resources
at the University of Maine in 2023. He served on the faculty at UMaine for 40
years. Prior to UMaine, he was a research forester at the National Council of
the Paper Industry for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI) (1981-1983)

Education: He has a Bachelor of Arts in Biology
from Hartwick College (1975), a MS in Plant & Soil Sciences (1978) from
UMaine and a PhD in Forest Resources from UMaine (1981).

Research: Ivan is trained as a soil scientist
with interests in the biogeochemistry of forested ecosystems in a changing
chemical and physical climate.  His research program has focused on the
underlying mechanisms governing the biogeochemical response of forests and
forested watersheds to management, air pollution, and climate change.  His
research emphasizes exploring the processes of ecosystem acidification,
nitrogen saturation, alterations in phosphorus cycling, base cation depletion,
the role of climate (i.e., temperature change and moisture stress) in altering
the ecological stoichiometry of these ecosystems, and carbon sequestration in
forested landscapes.  Dr. Fernandez helped establish the Bear Brook
Watershed in Maine research program, which is internationally recognized for
its contributions to our understanding of the effects of elevated atmospheric
nitrogen and sulfur deposition in forests. According to Google Scholar, Dr.
Fernandez has received 14,840 citations over his career.

Service: Ivan has served on numerous
boards  or advisory councils including the Maine Conservation Alliance,
the Schoodic Institute, the Forest Society of Maine. He is a member of the
Maine Climate Council (MCC), the Co-Chair of the MCC’s Science and Technical
Subcommittee, and a member of the MCC’s Natural and Working Lands Working Group
and Governor’s Forest Carbon Program Task Force.  He has served on several
USEPA science advisory board committees.

Awards: Dr. Fernandez was awarded the
Distinguished Maine Professor award in 2007, and the UMaine Presidential Public
Service Award in 2018. He was named Fellow and received the Sergei A. Wilde
Distinguished Lectureship in Forest Soils from the Soil Science Society of
America in 2010. In 2021, he received the Conservation Leadership Award from
the Natural Resources Council of Maine.