Gerbi named associate dean for research

Christopher Gerbi has been named associate dean for research in the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture, and associate director of the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station.

Gerbi joined the School of Earth and Climate Sciences as faculty in 2007 and will be promoted to the role of professor on Sept. 1. He will retain his faculty position part time, continuing with both teaching and research. The college plans to announce a second part-time associate dean for research this summer.

Gerbi succeeds Jessica Leahy, who served as interim associate dean and director following Frederick Servello’s promotion to dean of the college and director of the experiment station.

In his new role, Gerbi will work with Servello on strategic initiatives to enhance the college’s research scope, quality and capacity.

“I look forward to working with the college’s units and facilitating interdisciplinary research across campus to expand and strengthen our wonderful research programs. The faculty, staff and students within the college already contribute a great deal to the state, and even more opportunities are on the horizon,” Gerbi said.

Gerbi’s teaching and research focus on the material properties of rocks and ice, with recent field sites in Maine, Ontario and Alaska. He has also worked on teams to develop modeling software that calculates the properties of polycrystalline materials. In 2014, he received the college’s graduate mentor award.

Prior to joining UMaine’s faculty, Gerbi was a visiting assistant professor at Bowdoin College and Norwich University. He earned his doctorate at the University of Maine, his master’s degree from University of California, Davis, and his bachelor’s degree from Amherst College.