Opportunities for new students
Support is available for graduate students (PhD) in the areas of ecosystem nutrient cycling and forest health, to start in fall 2008 or spring 2009. You can download relevant research proposals if you are interested in learning more about any of these opportunities. For the user ID and password, please contact Heather Engelman <forestecology@esf.edu>.
Nutrient concentration and content of litterfall: Litterfall is a very important nutrient flux that is difficult to measure accurately, because the chemistry of leaves changes during senescence. We have been collecting litter at frequent intervals at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire, and analysis of these data awaits a good student. Measuring N and P resorption would also allow tests of hypotheses regarding changes in nutrient limitation as stands age. In addition to Hubbard Brook, we have sites in stands of different ages at the Bartlett Experimental Forest, also in New Hampshire. We are planning to begin fertilization experiments, and following foliar nutrients will be an important part of this effort as well.
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Projects available for independent study
Title: Phosphorus concentrations in forest streams in response to flow and harvesting
Type of work:
laboratory, data analysis, and manuscript writing
Qualifications: experience with technical writing, SAS, and Excel
Background:
Concentrations of P in streams draining forested catchments are so low (ppb) as to be below the detection limit of analytical techniques used for monitoring P in agricultural settings (ppm). Patterns of P concentration and discharge from streams in forests are therefore poorly known, although P is a limiting nutrient to aquatic organisms.
Project Description:
We have a large collection of stream water samples from the Catskill Mountains of NY State and access to similar samples from the White Mountains of New Hampshire. These samples allow questions to be posed concerning the relation of P concentration to discharge (based on samples collected during storm events) and the effects of forest harvest (comparisons of clearcutting, partial cutting, or no cutting). The project would be based in the Soil Fertility Laboratory at SUNY-ESF. The first challenge will be to get the method running again; it used to work for us, but the last person who tried it could not get a good standards curve. Visiting other labs in Syracuse that successfully measure P at ppb concentrations might be an important step.
Type of work: laboratory, data analysis, and manuscript writing
Qualifications: experience with technical writing, SAS, and Excel
Background: Sugar maple is the most abundant species in the northern hardwood forest, the most widespread forest type in the Northern Forest. Where sugar maple has failed to regenerate in recent years (Jenkins 1997, Beaudet et al. 1999, Didier and Porter 2003), causes have not been fully ascertained. Factors commonly suggested include competition from interfering plants (Hane 2003), herbivory (Didier and Porter 2003, Gardescu 2003), and soil calcium depletion due to acid rain (Jenkins 1997). These causes must yet be evaluated in conjunction with natural factors such as the availability of a seed source and degree of overstory shading.
Project Description: We will assess the current status of sugar maple regeneration across the region, and compare present conditions to those recorded in the past through the USFS Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA), the North American Maple Project (NAMP), and surveys by the Wilderness Conservation Society (WCS). We will evaluate the importance of factors such as stand age, canopy density, interfering plants (e.g., beech and ferns), deer browsing, landscape position, and soil conditions (e.g., drainage class, acidity, and calcium availability) for explaining spatial patterns in the distribution of sugar maple regeneration. Additionally, we will evaluate the use of sugar maple regeneration as a bio-indicator of soil acidification and associated loss of biodiversity.
Title: Comparison of Nutrient Uptake Models (FORTRAN programming)
Type of work: FORTRAN programming
Qualifications: Experience with FORTRAN, modeling
Background:
This project compares two approaches to modeling nutrient uptake at the root surface: a steady-state approach (Nye and Tinker, Yanai, Smethurst and Comerford), which fails to represent initial conditions, and a time-dependent approach (Barber, Cushman), which makes assumptions about initial conditions and doesn't allow time-varying input. A third model simulates uptake using a finite-difference approach, rather than an analytical solution.
Project Description:
The problem is that the time step of the finite difference model must be very small when the rate of solute flux is large relative to the compartment size. To run the entire model at this time step would be prohibitively slow. The next task, therefore, is to embed the model in a shell that would optimize the time step for each soil compartment as the model runs.
Three sets of model parameters have been developed, representing Mg, K, and P uptake by red spruce seedlings. The analytical models have already been run. The comparison of models should be publishable if only the programming problem of optimizing the time step can be solved.
Relevant Papers:
Yanai, R.D., H. Majdi, and B.B. Park. 2003. Measured and modeled nutrient concentrations in
bulk and rhizosphere soil in a Norway spruce stand. Plant Soil 257: 133-142.
Title: Trace Metal Cycling
Type of work: data analysis
Qualifications: open to anyone
Background:
We have data on trace metals in various components of northern hardwood forest ecosystems. These data are generated when samples of plant tissues or soils are analyzed for other purposes, and they represent an untapped source of information about elements that are not much studied. Zinc is a micronutrient that is required in trace amounts by plants, but some species (notably birch species) have high concentrations of Zn, for unknown reasons. We have leaf litter concentrations by species in 13 stands of different ages, along with forest floor concentrations; for 6 of these stands, we will also have soils data. Similarly, manganese is an element that is little studied, though it has been implicated in sugar maple decline.
Other Projects: Please feel free to develop a research topic that would fit your interests and relate to or expand upon our current research.
Fellowships are available to support participation in the National Science Foundation's Graduates in K-12 Education program through the ESF in the High School program (http://www.esf.edu/outreach/esfhs):
The State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) seeks to award graduate fellowships for the 2007-2008 academic year to support participation in the National Science Foundation's Graduates in K-12 Education program (GK12). Fellows will participate in the ESF Science Corps and will work collaboratively with teachers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to integrate research content and processes into high school learning experiences. This project links the acknowledged excellence of U.S. graduate education with the excitement and critical needs of K-12 learning and teaching and promotes interest in teaching and learning practices at all educational levels. Building upon the ESF in the High School program (www.esf.edu/outreach/esfhs), the project seeks to enrich student science learning, enhance teacher professional development in science, and further school/college partnerships.
Benefits: The stipend for a Graduate Fellow will be approximately $30,000 (based on 2005-06 funding levels) for 12-months; tuition and project expenses are paid. Graduate students will participate in several professional development activities at no cost.
Expected Time Duration: one year; possible renewal for up to 2 years.
Qualifications: U.S. citizen or permanent resident; acceptance in a SUNY ESF graduate program; a baccalaureate degree; excellent verbal, written, interpersonal, and organizational skills, and valid NYS driver's license required. We have been encouraged by NSF to recruit, retain and mentor fellows that are women, underrepresented minorities, or persons with disabilities.
Description of Duties: Graduate Fellows will spend approximately ten hours per week working directly with participating high school teachers and students, five hours preparation outside of the classroom, and 5 hours in professional development experiences.
For more information: contact Dr. Rick Beal (rebeal@esf.edu), Dr. Don Leopold (djleopold@esf.edu), or Dr. Dudley Raynal (djraynal@esf.edu).
Teaching assistantships are also available to support professors teaching undergraduate and graduate courses (department: http://www.esf.edu/for/gradfund.htm; application information at http://www.esf.edu/graduate/awards.htm).
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