My program focuses on integrated, watershed-based, and sustainable water resource management. My research, extension and teaching all revolve around different facets of this topic. Currently, I have a funded program investigating how networks of roadside ditches that criss-cross watersheds contribute to flooding, droughts, and degraded water quality in downstream waters. I recently received additional USDA NRI grant support to investigate additional aspects of ditch contributions to pathogen movement. My broader research centers on an examination of the interaction of plants with groundwater at the land-water interface. I find it fascinating to consider that a large part of the landscape is made up of lakeshores, streamsides, and wetlands, which have groundwater bathing, and frequently flowing through, their root zones. This process has important theoretical questions concerning evapotranspiration - groundwater interactions, root controls on shoreline erosion, and groundwater biogeochemistry. It also has considerable relevance to watershed management because the flow of groundwater links the terrestrial landscape with the aquatic one. Over the past several years, I have worked with students and collaborators and developed a successful research program that addresses both the theoretical and applied sides of plant –groundwater interactions. The research findings have been translated into several extension programs aimed at improving streamside protection and aquatic weed management in New York, and improved environmental management in several eastern European countries. I have also developed a successful companion undergraduate course that teaches the broader set of ecological issues associated with water resource management.