Wetlands Ecology
Wetlands play a critical role in natural and human environments by mitigating floods, improving water quality, and providing habitat for wildlife. There is a growing need for scientists to manage, conserve, and restore wetlands across non-profit, private, and government sectors. In the Wetlands Ecology concentration at the College of Coastal Georgia, students will gain comprehensive knowledge about wetland ecosystems. Through classes, students gain specific wetlands background, but also learn highly employable skills in monitoring, management, restoration, and delineation of wetlands hands-on field-based experiences. Additionally, students will learn about a broad array of related topics including aquatic ecology, marine biology, hydrology, various topics in geology, and soils.
Why study “Wetlands” at Coastal Georgia?
The Georgia coast is an amazing living laboratory for wetland science! The Coastal Georgia campus is located minutes away from extensive saltmarshes associated with St. Simons Island and Jekyll Island. Our students frequently visit important locations in the development of wetland sciences such as Teal Marsh on Sapelo Island and Okefenokee Swamp for class field trips. Students also have the opportunity to contribute specimens to the growing collection of wetland plant species in the Coastal Georgia Herbarium. Additionally, our curriculum is specifically designed to help graduates pursue the certification through the Society for Wetland Scientists.
What will I learn?
In this concentration of the B.S. in Environmental Science, students build on a foundation of Earth and environmental sciences by learning the fundamentals of wetland science as well as highly employable skills in wetland plant identification and wetland delineation. Students gain in-depth experience in wetland delineation, functional assessment and regulation of wetlands, wetland restoration and creation techniques, wetland plant taxonomy, and wetland ecology.
What can I do when I graduate?
Graduates of this concentration are prepared for employment in wetlands delineation and wetlands research as well as wetlands education and outreach. Overall, our graduates become employed in a variety of private, state, academic, or NGO roles related to wetlands. Additionally, this concentration program includes courses necessary to become a Wetland Professional in Training as a preliminary step toward full Professional Wetland Scientist licensure through the Society of Wetland Scientists.
Each year in the spring semester, students in wetlands ecology/wetlands restoration classes participate in a multi-course field trip to the Everglades!
Every other year, the College hosts the Biennial Okefenokee Science Symposium (inaugural offering in Fall 2026).
Contact Information:
Dr. James Deemy
Education
Ph.D. in Forest Resources (Hydrology, Water Resources), Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia (2017)
M.S. in Environmental Studies (Wetland Restoration), Center for Environmental Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University (2012)
B.S. Environmental Studies, Center for Environmental Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University (2010)
B.S. Biology, College of Humanities and Sciences, Virginia Commonwealth University (2010)
Teaching and Research Interests / Recent Publications or Scholarly Output
Deemy, JB, Besterman, A., Tyler, KN, Hall, BM, Takagi, KT, 2022. Nutrient cycling and trophic dynamics in tropical and subtropical freshwater wetlands. In: eds. Dalu, T, and Wasserman, RJ. Fundamentals of Tropical Freshwater Wetlands: From Ecology to Conservation Management. Elsevier.
Deemy, JB, Hall, BM, Takagi, KT, Tyler, KN, Ramussen, TC. 2022. Physicochemical environment of Tropical and Subtropical freshwater wetlands. In: eds. Dalu, T, and Wasserman, RJ. Fundamentals of Tropical Freshwater Wetlands: From Ecology to Conservation Management. Elsevier.
Deemy, JB, Takagi, KT, McLachlan, RL, Ramussen, TC, Wright, SG, Tyler, KN, Garner, MG. 2022. Wetlands Hydrology, Geomorphology, and Soils: An Overview. In: eds. Dalu, T, and Wasserman, RJ. Fundamentals of Tropical Freshwater Wetlands: From Ecology to Conservation Management. Elsevier.
Deemy, J.B., T.C. Rasmussen, K.K. Takagi. 2020 Hydrologic Connectivity of Isolated Wetlands: Episodic Flows. In Encyclopedia of Water: Science, Technology, and Society. Eds. P. A. Maurice and C. Strickland. John Wiley and Sons Inc.