Education History

  • B.S. Biology, Towson University
  • M.A. Geography and Environmental Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University
  • Geography & Environmental Engineering Paleoecology, The Johns Hopkins University

Work Experience

Adjunct Faculty, JHU Whiting School of Engineering

Publications

Publications:

Hilgartner, W.B., D. Merritts, R. Walter, M. Rahnis, C. Bernhardt, and E. Cranmer. (Manuscript in prep.). Paleoenivonment of a Persistent Holocene Tussock Sedge Meadow in a Northern Piedmont River Valley (Maryland, USA).

Merritts D., R. Walter, C. Grand Pre, M. Rahnis, W. Hilgartner, A. Blair, K. Schulte, E. Markey and S. Feibel. 2015. Post-glacial Holocene wetlands developed on permafrost-thaw sediments along valley bottoms in unglaciated Pennsylvania and Maryland. GSA Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD.

Merritts, D., R. Walter, M. Rahnis, J. Hartranff, S. Cox, A. Gellis, N. Potter, W. B. Hilgartner, M. Langland, L. Manion, C. Lippincott, S. Siddiqui, Z. Rehman, C. Schied, Kratz, A. Shilling, M. Jenschke, K. Datin, E. Cranmer, A. Reed, D. Matuszewski, M. Voli, , E. Ohlson, A. Neugebauer, A. Ahamed, C. Neal, A. Winter and Steven Becker. 2011. Anthropocene Streams and base-level controls from historic dams in the unglaciated mid-Atlantic region, USA. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 369:976-1009.

Hilgartner, W., D. Merritts, R. Walter and M. Rahnis. 2010. Pre-settlement habitat stability and post-settlement burial of a tussock sedge (Carex stricta) wetland in a Piedmont river valley. In 95th ESA Annual Meeting. Pittsburgh, PA. (see http://eco.confex.com/eco/2010/techprogram/P25343.htm

Hilgartner, W.B., M. Nejako and R. Casey. 2009. A 200-yr paleoecological record of Pinus virginiana, trace metals, sedimentation and mining disturbance in a Maryland serpentine barren. The Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 136(2):257-271.

Voli, M., D. Merritts, R. Walter, E. Ohlson, K.Datin, M. Rahnis, L. Kratz, W. Deng, W. Hilgartner, J. Hartranff. 2009. Preliminary reconstruction of a pre-European settlement valley bottom wetland, southeastern Pennsylvania. Water Resources IMPACT 11 (5): 11-13.

Hilgartner, W.B. and G. S. Brush. 2006. Prehistoric habitat stability and post-settlement habitat change in a Chesapeake Bay freshwater tidal wetland. The Holocene 16(4):479-494.

Pasternack, G.B., G.S. Brush and W.B. Hilgartner. 2001. Impact of historic land-use change on sediment delivery to an estuarine delta. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 26:409-427.

Brush, G.S. and W.B. Hilgartner. 2000. Paleogeography of submerged aquatic macrophytes in Chesapeake Bay. Ecological Monographs 70(4):645-667.

Pasternack,G.B., W.B. Hilgartner and G.S. Brush. 2000. Biogeomorphology of an upper Chesapeake Bay river-mouth tidal freshwater marsh. Wetlands 20(3):520-537.

Steadman, D.W. and W.B. Hilgartner. 1999. A new species of extinct barn owl (Aves: Tyto ) from Barbuda, Lesser Antilles. In Storrs L. Olson, ed. Avian paleontology at the close of the 20th Century: Proceedings of the 4th International Meeting of the Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution, Washington, D.C. 4-7 June 1996. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology, No. 89. Pp. 75-83.
Pregill, G.K., R.I. Crombie, D.W. Steadman, L.K. Gordon, F.W. Davis and W.B. Hilgartner. 1991. Living and late Holocene fossil vertebrates and the vegetation of the Cockpit Country, Jamaica. Atoll Research Bulletin 53:1-9.

Olson, S.L., G.K. Pregill and W.B. Hilgartner. 1990. Studies on fossil and extant vertebrates from San Salvador (Watling’s) Island, Bahamas. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology 508:1-15.

Davis, F.W., W.B. Hilgartner and D.W. Steadman. 1985. Notes on the diets of Geotrygon montana and Columba caribaea in Jamaica. Bull. Brit. Ornith. Club 105:130-133.

Olson, S.L. and W.B. Hilgartner. 1982. Fossil and subfossil birds from the Bahamas. In Storrs L. Olson, ed., Fossil vertebrates from the Bahamas. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology, 48:22-56.

CONFERENCES AND PRESENTATIONS (last 15 years):

Hilgartner, W.B. 2018. Ecological Restoration and the Fossil Record. Manor Conservancy Annual Members’ Meeting, 10/18/2018.

Hilgartner, W.B. 2014. Wetland Stasis and Change in the Piedmont of Pennsylvania and Maryland: Insights from the Fossil Record. Maryland Stream Information Exchange, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Millersville , MD. (Guest Speaker 12/12/2014).

Hilgartner, W.B. 2012. Prehistoric Herbaceous Plants of the Baltimore Region.Maryland Native Plant Society Annual Meeting, 9/29/2012, Baltimore, MD

John Lawrence and William Hilgartner. 2012. Issues in Late Woodland Period
Subsistence on the Delaware River: Results from the Scudder Falls Bridge Project. Byways to the Past XIII, Heritage Partnership Conference XXXIV and TRB ADC50, Lancaster, PA. July 16th 2012.

Hilgartner, W.B., Dorothy Merritts, Robert Walter, Michael Rahnis, Christopher
Bernhardt, Jeff Hartranft, Ali Neugebauer, Mark Voli, Hanna Jantzi, Amy Moser, and
Candace Grand Pre. 2012. Millennial Pre-settlement Stability of Sedge Meadow
Habitats in Two Piedmont River Valleys. 9th INTECOL International Wetlands Conference, Orlando, FL, June 3-8, 2012. (Presentation 6/7).

Dorothy Merritts, Robert Walter, Allen Gellis, Jeff Hartranft, William Hilgartner,
Michael Langland, Paul Mayer, Ward Oberholtzer, Michael Rahnis. 2012. Widespread 18th-20th c. burial of Holocene wet meadows in the Mid-Atlantic Region, USA and their
restoration potential. 9th INTECOL International Wetlands Conference, Orlando, FL,
June 3-8, 2012. (Presentation 6/7).
.
Hilgartner, W.B., D. Merritts, R. Walter, M. Rahnis and C. Bernhardt. 2011. Pre-settlement habitat stability and post-settlement burial of a tussock sedge (Carex stricta) wetland in a Maryland Piedmont river valley. Bog Turtle Recovery Meeting, November 15-17, 2011, Langhorne, PA. (Presentation 11/16).

Hilgartner, W.B., D. Merritts, R. Walter, M. Rahnis, and C. Bernhardt. 2011. Pre-settlement habitat stability and post-settlement burial of a tussock sedge (Carex stricta) wetland in a Maryland Piedmont river valley. Third Maryland Streams Symposium, August 10-13, 2011, Westminster, MD

Hilgartner, W.B., D. Merritts, R. Walter & M. Rahnis. 2010. Pre-settlement habitat stability and post-settlement burial of a tussock sedge (Carex stricta) wetland in a Maryland Piedmont river valley.The 95th ESA Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA. Available at http://eco.confex.com/eco/2010/techprogram/P25343.HTM

Hilgartner, W.B. 2001.The fossil history of submerged aquatic vegetation in Otter Point Creek, upper Chesapeake Bay, with Grace Brush. Chesapeake Bay Program, SAV Task Group Meeting, 7 February 2001. (Presentation).

Hilgartner, W.B. 1999. Importance of natural history education and field trips: Implications for nature centers and lower school through graduate school. Jug Bay Wetlands Dedication Ceremony, Lothian, MD, 2 October 1999. (Guest Speaker).

Honors and Awards

  • • Exceptional Online Course Design Award, 2019, Part-time Programs in Engineering and Applied Science (EP), Whiting School of Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University (2019)
  • Excellence in Teaching Award, 2002, Part-time Programs in Engineering and Applied Science, Whiting School of Engineering, JHU (2002)

Professional Organizations

Geological Society of America
Torrey Botanical Society
Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution
Society for Ecological Restoration
Maryland Native Plant Society
Valley Planning Council, Inc.
The Manor Conservancy