Amanda Bevans is a postdoctoral research fellow at Morgan State University’s Patuxent Environmental and Aquatic Research Laboratory (PEARL), where her research focuses on the development and application of methods for assessing estuarine ecosystems, fisheries, and invasive species (e.g., Blue Catfish). Her work emphasizes integrating ecosystem-based information into fisheries science and stock assessment to improve the management of regionally important species, particularly under changing environmental and ecological conditions. To date, her research has primarily focused on Blue Crab and the Chesapeake Bay system.

As part of her dissertation research, she developed an ecosystem model of the York River and assisted in the development of a second model for the Piankatank River in Virginia using Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE). These models were used to examine how changes in biogenic habitats—specifically oyster reefs and seagrass—affect living resources. Her research also includes the ecological and fishery dynamics of Chesapeake Bay blue crab, drawing on long-term data from the fishery-independent PEARL Blue Crab Survey to evaluate trends in abundance, size structure, and relationships with environmental drivers.

Publications: 

Bevans, A. (2025). Habitat and Population Change in the Chesapeake Bay: Impacts on the Ecosystem, Fisheries, and Regional Economy (Order No. 32278080). ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (3290617999). http://proxy-ms.researchport.umd.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/habitat-population-change-chesapeake-bay-impacts/docview/3290617999/se-2

Woodstock, M. S., Bevans, A. T., Sulyman, M., Maples, J., Knoche, S., & Ihde, T. F. (2024). The economic impacts of living habitat changes in the Virginia Middle Peninsula, Chesapeake Bay. Ecological Modelling, 498, 110914. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2024.110914