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CORVALLIS, Ore. - Roy Haggerty, the Hollis M. Dole Professor of Environmental Geology at Oregon State University, has been named interim dean of OSU's College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences.

He succeeds Mark Abbott, who earlier this summer accepted a position as president and director of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, effective Oct. 1. Oregon State will launch a national search for a new dean in September, according to Sabah Randhawa, OSU provost and executive vice president.

"I am delighted that Roy has agreed to serve as interim dean," Randhawa said. "He is known as a leader with integrity and as a bridge builder, and his candidacy generated a great sense of enthusiasm across the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences."

Haggerty has been on the OSU faculty since 1996 and served as head of the geology program from 2003-06 in the Department of Geosciences, before it was merged with the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences. With more than 100 faculty members and nearly a thousand graduate and undergraduate students the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences is one of the largest and strongest programs of its kind in North America.

An expert in hydrology, Haggerty's research has addressed transport of nutrients, carbon and heat in streams, nuclear waste disposal issues in the United States and Sweden, and other forms of groundwater contamination.

In his two decades at OSU, his work has been supported by more than $9 million in grants and contracts from the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S.D.A. Forest Service and other organizations. He has taught at all levels, from introductory earth sciences to advanced classes in hydrology.

He is the principal investigator for the Willamette Water 2100 project, sponsored by the NSF, and involving 20 faculty members at OSU, University of Oregon, Portland State University and the University of California, Santa Barbara. The project seeks to understand how climate change, population growth and human activity may affect water scarcity in the Willamette Basin throughout the 21st century.

Haggerty is a graduate of the University of Alberta and has master's and doctoral degrees in hydrogeology from Stanford University.