HRI’s Dr. Michael Wetz Promoted to Professor
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — HRI Chair for Coastal Ecosystem Processes Dr. Michael Wetz was recently promoted to professor by the Texas A&M University System Board of regents. University President Dr. Kelly Miller announced the promotion, along with promotions for Texas A&M University-Corpus faculty campus-wide, on Thursday, May 14, in a campus-wide email.
Wetz, a broadly trained marine scientist, with expertise in phytoplankton ecology, harmful algal blooms, and water quality studies, was hired at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi as an assistant professor in the Department of Life Sciences in 2010. In 2018, Wetz joined the research leadership at the Harte Research Institute chairing his newly created Coastal Ecosystem Processes Lab.
Wetz is known for applied coastal ecology research that aims to solve complex and pressing regional environmental problems. He led a volunteer water quality sampling program in Baffin Bay for four years that arose from citizen concerns about water quality in the area. Results from that study are now guiding Baffin Bay’s watershed restoration and protection efforts.