Professor of Biology

Teaching Area(s)

Biology / Environmental Studies

Education

• PhD, Environmental Science, Duke University
• BS, Principia College

Contact

• 618.374.5284
• Send a message to Dr. Bruland

Dr. Greg Bruland's areas of expertise include natural resource management, soil science, soil and water conservation, wetland ecology, freshwater ecology, restoration ecology, statistics, watershed management, water quality, and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. He currently serves as the math and natural sciences representative on the Committee for the Assessment of Student Learning (CASL), and has served as the chair of the College Curriculum Committee. Before joining the faculty at Principia College, Bruland served as an assistant and associate professor in the Natural Resources and Environmental Management Department at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UHM). Prior to working at UHM, he was a post-doctoral research associate with the Soil and Water Science Department at the University of Florida.

"One of the reasons I enjoy teaching is that I continue to learn along with the students. Teaching is similar to parenting in that it is one of the most challenging but also most rewarding activities."

SCHOLARLY INTERESTS

Bruland's scholarly interests are broad and collaborative, and they encompass multiple spatial scales from the micro (i.e., soil core) to the macro (i.e., watershed) levels. They span a range of related topics including soil and water conservation, watershed management, soil science, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, geostatistics, wetland biogeochemistry, and coastal ecology.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO FIELD

Throughout his career Bruland has secured funding from various competitive federal agencies, published his research in numerous scholarly journals, taught many graduate and undergraduate courses at multiple institutions, and advised students at the PhD, MS, and undergraduate levels. Additionally, he has been a PI or co-PI for grants totaling over $2 million dollars. He has authored or co-authored more than 45 papers in the top peer-reviewed journals in his field, such as Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Environmental Science and Technology. He has also given more than 100 presentations at national and international scientific meetings.

MEMBERSHIPS AND AFFILIATIONS

• Soil Science Society of America
• Society of Wetland Scientists

AWARDS

In 2021 Bruland was awarded the Horace Edwin Harper Jr. and Evelyn Wright Harper Award for Teaching Excellence.  In 2012 he was part of the Governor’s Award for Team of the Year along with other faculty and staff from the Natural Resources and Environmental Management Department at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS

• Lauria, A.M., and G.L. Bruland.  2020. Comparison of Soil Properties between Paired No-till and Conventional Tillage Systems in Central Illinois.  Transactions of the Illinois State Academy of Sciences 113:9-15.

• Bookout, T., and G.L. Bruland.  2019.  Assessment of a restored wetland in West-Central Illinois.  Northeastern Naturalist 26(2):392-409.

• Strauch, A.M., R.A. MacKenzie, C.P. Giardina, G.L. Bruland.  2018.  Climate influences on sediment and particulate carbon yields from tropical island watersheds.  Geomorphology 306:28-39.  DOI: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2017.12.030.

• Strauch, A.M., C.P. Giardina, R.A. MacKenzie, C. Heider, E. Salminen, T. Giambelluca, and G.L. Bruland.  2017.  Modeled effects of climate change and plant invasion on watershed function across a steep tropical rainfall gradient.  Ecosystems 20(3):583-600.  DOI: 10.1007/s10021-016-0038-3.

• Boyer-Rechlin, N.J., G.L. Bruland, and M.A. Rechlin.  2016.  The Effects of agricultural land use on benthic macroinvertebrate communities and the applicability of family level bioassessment metrics in Southern Illinois headwater streams.  Transactions of the Illinois State Academy of Sciences 109:49-56.

For additional publications and presentations, please see the CV below.

Dr. Greg Bruland CV