- Phone:
- (812) 856-1837
- Email:
- ccraft@indiana.edu
- Room Number:
- MSBII 408
- Areas of Interest:
- Wetland restoration and ecosystem development ,
- Wetlands and water quality ,
- Wetlands and climate change, including carbon sequestration and peat accretion
Education
- Ph.D., Soil Science, North Carolina State University, 1987
- M.S., Ecology, University of Tennessee, 1983
- B.A., Biology, University of North Carolina-Asheville, 1980
Courses
- Applied Ecology
- Environment & People
- Restoration Ecology
- Wetlands Ecology
Biography
Dr. Christopher Craft, a professional wetland scientist, has been with O'Neill since 1999 and is the Duey Professor of Rural Land Policy. For the past 30 years, Craft has studied the effects of climate change, eutrophication, and other human activities on estuarine and freshwater wetlands and the restoration of those ecosystems. In 2012, he received the National Wetlands Award for Science Research. Craft has been a visiting professor with senior international scientists of the Chinese Academy of Sciences since 2010.
Craft's research projects span North America, Europe, and China. He focuses his work on the linkages between vegetation, soils, and soil fauna and the effects of human activities on these linkages. Craft also studies the effects of climate change on U.S. wetlands, the natural carbon sequestering capabilities of wetlands, and the ability and importance of wetlands restoration for maintenance and enhancement of water quality.
Craft's current work on carbon storage rates in wetlands has made an important contribution to the study of the global carbon cycle, while many of his long-term restoration studies in salt marshes are considered some of the best research to date in the field of restoration science.
Highlights
- Research grant from the Ecosystem Studies Program at the National Science Foundation (2015)
- Society of Wetland Scientists Fellow (2015)
- National Wetlands Award for Science Research (2012), sponsored by the Environmental Law Institute
- Professional Wetland Scientist
- Visiting Professor, Senior International Scientists of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
- President, Society of Wetland Scientists (2008-2009)
- Hugh Hammond Bennett Award in Soil Conservation and Environmental Quality, North Carolina Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, 1987
In the News
- "Georgia’s Vanishing Coast: With stronger storms, higher tides, and rising sea levels, how high will the water go?" - Atlanta, July 5, 2018
- “Sea Level Rise is Unlocking Decades-Old Pollution” – Hakai Magazine, January 10, 2018
- "Take a look inside a sea level rise time machine" - PBS Newshour, September 18, 2015
- "IU environmental scientist part of team awarded NSF grant for tidal marsh study" - IUB Newsroom, Sept. 2, 2015
- "Net gain? Indiana University Researchers Answer Thorny Question About Wetlands Management" - The Compleat Wetlander, July 30, 2015
- "IU researchers: Isolated wetlands have significant impact on water quality" - IUB Newsroom, Feb. 25, 2015
Selected Works
- "Enhancing protection of vulnerable waters," (with 24 co-authors) Nature Geoscience, (10) 809–815 (2017)
- "Marsh vulnerability to sea-level rise," (letter, with R.W. Parkinson, R.D. DeLaune, J.F. Donoghue, M. Kearney, J.F. Meeder, J. Morris, and R.E. Turner), Nature Climate Change, (7) 756 (2017)
- Wetland Soils: Genesis, Hydrology, Landscapes, and Classification, Second Edition, ed. (with Michael J. Vepraskas), CRC Press (December 8, 2015)
- Creating and Restoring Wetlands: From Theory to Practice, First Edition, Elsevier (2015)
- "Geographically Isolated Wetlands are Important Biogeochemical Reactors on the Landscape," (with J.M. Marton, I.F. Creed, D.B. Lewis, C.R. Lane, N.B. Basu, and M.J. Cohen) BioScience, doi:10.1093/biosci/biv009 (February 25, 2015)
- "USDA conservation practices increase carbon storage and water quality improvement functions: An example from Ohio," (with M.S. Fennessy and J. M. Marton), Restoration Ecology, 22(1): 117-124 (2014)
- "Functional differences between natural and restored wetlands in the Glaciated Interior Plains," (with S. Fennessy and J. J. Marton), Journal of Environmental Quality,43(1): 409-417 (2014)
- "The impact of the change in vegetation structure on the ecological functions of salt marshes: The example of the Yangtze estuary," (with X. Li, Y. Liu, U. Mander, L. Ren and S. Tang), Regional Environmental Change, 14: 623-632 (2013)
- "Managed disturbance enhances biodiversity of restored wetlands in the agricultural Midwest," (with A. Hopple), Ecological Engineering,61: 505-510 (2012)
- "Tidal freshwater forest accretion does not keep pace with sea level rise,"Global Change Biology 18:3615-3623 (2012)