Ecology Area of Study for M.S., M.P.S. or Ph.D. in Environmental and Forest Biology
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This integrative study area allows students to investigate the relationships of organisms to their environment and those factors that affect their distribution and abundance. Both the practical and theoretical applications of ecology are emphasized through courses and research.
There are four major areas in ecology: organismal ecology, population-evolutionary ecology, community ecology and systems ecology. In consultation with the student’s steering committee, courses are chosen from these areas, as well as other disciplines. Specific research may encompass any of the four major areas of ecology and entail the study of the distribution and abundance of organisms, community structure including trophic relationships, diversity, succession and ecosystem properties, such as patterns of energy transfer and biogeochemical cycling.
Participating Faculty
- Jerrold L. Belant; jbelant@esf.edu
wildlife ecology and management, carnivore conservation, human-wildlife conflicts, ecological plasticity, international conservation - Martin Dovciak; mdovciak@esf.edu
Plant Ecology, Forest Ecosystems, Biodiversity, Global Change, Ecosystem Management and Restoration - Cynthia J. Downs; cjdowns@esf.edu
Animal Physiology, ecoimmunology, physiological trade-offs, organismal ecology, scaling, allometry, Ecological and evolutionary consequences of variation in physiological phenotypes - Shannon Farrell; sfarrell@esf.edu
Wildlife ecology, wildlife-habitat relationships, management planning for endangered and threatened species, human impacts on wildlife, ecosystem services, endangered species act policy innovations, birds, bats - John M. Farrell; jmfarrell@esf.edu
Fisheries Science and Management, Aquatic Ecology, Wetlands Restoration, Invasive Species. - Danilo D. Fernando; dfernando@esf.edu
plant structure and development, reproductive biology of conifers, pollen transformation, genomics and proteomics of pine pollen tube development, willow flowering and tissue culture, genetic diversity of rare and endangered ferns, and plant evolution, diversity and conservation. - Melissa K. Fierke; mkfierke@esf.edu
forest entomology, forest ecology, invasive forest pests, insect-tree interactions, tree defenses - Jacqueline Frair; jfrair@esf.edu
wildlife ecology and management, ecology of large herbivores and predators, animal movements, resource selection, population demography, quantitative methods in conservation, landscape ecology - James Gibbs; jpgibbs@esf.edu
herpetology, vertebrate conservation biology, genetics and ecology in birds, reptiles and amphibians, songbirds, giant tortoise, statistics, wildlife population monitoring, galapagos islands, conservation biology, ecological monitoring, population genetics, applied demography, undergraduate conservation education - Thomas R. Horton; trhorton@esf.edu
mycorrhizal plant ecology, molecular ecology, ecology, fungal communities, mycology, fire ecology - Robin W. Kimmerer; rkimmer@esf.edu
plant restoration ecology, bryology, bryoecology, restoration ecology, ethnobotany, conservation biology and bryophyte ecology, traditional ecological knowledge - Donald J. Leopold; djleopold@esf.edu
forest and freshwater wetland ecology, conservation, and restoration, peatland ecology and conservation, local and regional controls of species richness and rarity, dynamics of plant communities as affected by man and environment, management for unique communities and rare species, dendrology, native plants, restoration ecology, rare species conservation - Brian F. Leydet; bfleydet@esf.edu
infectious and vector-borne diseases, arthropods of veterinary and medical importance, vector biology, vector-pathogen-host interactions, disease ecology, molecular biology, epidemiology of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases - Karin E. Limburg; klimburg@esf.edu
riverine fish and estuarine ecology, fisheries ecology, watershed ecology, systems ecology, ecological economics, fisheries and ecosystem science, coupled human-natural systems, biogeochemistry, fisheries ecology, ecosystem ecology, biogeochemical tracers, modeling - Mark V. Lomolino; island@esf.edu
conservation biology, wildlife, ecology, evolution and biogeography - Gregory McGee; ggmcgee@esf.edu
ecology, management and restoration of forest ecosystems; STEM education - Stacy A. McNulty; smcnulty@esf.edu
forest ecology, phenology, vertebrate ecology. exploration of long-term changes, biodiversity conservation, and relationship of human land use planning, recreation, and forest management to ecosystem function in the northern forest. - Dylan Parry; dparry@esf.edu
Biological invasion, climate change, and conservation, primarily in the context of insects in forested ecosystems. - Neil H. Ringler; nhringle@esf.edu
fish ecology and behavior, foraging behavior of fishes, salmon reproduction, vertebrate anatomy, aquatic insect ecology, stream ecology and management, aquatic and fisheries restoration, aquatic entomology - Rebecca Rundell; rrundell@esf.edu
evolutionary biology, conservation biology, speciation, adaptive and nonadaptive radiations, biogeography, phylogenetics, systematics, Pacific island radiations and biodiversity conservation, land snails, marine/aquatic microscopic invertebrates - Kimberly L. Schulz; kschulz@esf.edu
nutrient and exotic species effects on aquatic ecosystems, ecological stoichiometry, aquatic community and ecosystem ecology, bioenergetics, nutrient cycling, lower food web studies, great lakes, finger lakes, plankton, limnology, aquatic ecology, biogeochemistry, invasive species - Michael L. Schummer; mlschumm@esf.edu
Waterfowl Ecology, Waterfowl Management, Waterfowl Conservation, Wetlands Management, Wetlands Conservation, Ornithology, Plant-Animal Associations, Conservation Biology, Wildlife Ecology, Wetlands Ecology, Wildlife-habitat relationships, ecology, climate change, human dimensions of wildlife, avian toxicology - John C. Stella; stella@esf.edu
riparian and stream ecology, restoration ecology, watershed management, ecological modeling, tree-ring science, river restoration, arid-land and Mediterranean ecosystems - Donald Stewart; djstewart@esf.edu
ecology and systematics, lake systems ecology, aquatic ecology, fish conservation, ecology and population biology in tropical and temperate systems, fish ecology and fisheries management, ecological energetics, modeling predation and production processes, Great Lakes ecosystems, Amazonian ecosystems, ecology and systematics of neotropical freshwater fishes - Alexander Weir; aweir@esf.edu
conservation mycology, fungal biodiversity and conservation, fungal-arthropod interactions, biology of parasites and symbionts, systematics and evolutionary biology of fungi, fungi and humans, biology of parasites and symbionts
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Current Graduate Students in Ecology
Current Students Only currently registered students appear — new names appear at start of academic year
Graduate Research Topic
I am interested in reconstructing the phylogenetic history and shell evolution of endodontoid land snails in the Western Pacific.
Previous Graduate Study: Bangor University (Ecology )
Graduate Research Topic
Fall swarming and spatial ecology of bat species in coastal Massachusetts, with a particular focus on the federally listed Northern long eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis).
Previous Graduate Study: University of Missouri Columbia*
Personal Statement
My research interests are mainly population and quantitative ecology. For my Master's research, I studied behavior and demography of greater white-fronted geese in North America and western Europe.
Graduate Research Topic
Demography of fisher populations in northern New York. I am interested in spatial and temporal trends of abundance and vital rates.
Graduate Research Topic
My research utilizes molecular and chemical analyses to study complete ammonia oxidizing bacteria (comammox) and the conditions in which they live, in Adirondack forest soils.
Favorite Quote
"I was taught that the way of progress was neither swift nor easy."
-Marie Curie
Previous Graduate Study: Nottingham Trent University (MRes Biodiversity Conservation )
Links
Web Link
Personal Statement
My prior research has largely been focused on jaguar ecology and conservation in Brazil. For my Masters research I studied how environmental factors and interspecific interactions affect carnivore coexistence in the Brazilian Pantanal. I have been a member of the Jaguar Conservation Fund for a number of years where I assisted with long term monitoring projects in two biomes of Brazil; additionally I worked with a tiger conflict mitigation project in India and assisted with research on a large carnivore project in South Africa. My research interests include large carnivore ecology, conflict mitigation and conservation
Graduate Research Topic
Brown bear and elk resource use in relation to timber harvest on Afognak Island, Alaska
Graduate Research Topic
I am currently developing a research project that aims to investigate population dynamics and abundance of American Robins on a rural to urban gradient. I plan to conduct research on the ecology of these birds, looking at their distribution on a broad to local scale and gain insight into their role in wildlife diseases such as Lyme disease. With this research, we will hopefully expand the knowledge of birds as part of the pathogen-vector-host cycle in the distribution and dispersal of ticks.
Favorite Quote
"A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise."
- Aldo Leopold
Graduate Research Topic
Conservation genetic study of the endangered ferns
Personal Statement
Bozho nikanek, Getsimnajeknwet ndeznekas. Bodewadmi kwe endow. Vermont ne dotchbya. Hello friends, my name is Susannah Howard, and I am a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. I am from Thetford, Vermont located on the western bank of the Connecticut River. In May 2019, I graduated from Smith College (Northampton, Massachusetts) with a BA in Environmental Geosciences and certificate in Native American and Indigenous Studies. At SUNY ESF, I continue to pursue an interdisciplinary approach to science through the lens of Indigneous peoples as a Sloan Scholar in the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment. I am studying how the culturally important plants of the Potawatomi are and will be impacted by climate change, and how these impacts might be mitigated through intertribal collaborations among the Potawatomi Nations in the future.
Graduate Research Topic
Indigenous Ecological Knowledge (esp. Potawatomi & Anishnaabe_, Biocultural Restoration, Climate Change, Culturally Important Plants & Cultural Keystone Species
Links
Web Link
Graduate Research Topic
Understory forest ecology in post-agricultural secondary forests in central New York.
Graduate Research Topic
Marginal plant species for use on green roofs and the effects of species composition on green roof functioning for stormwater reduction
Undergraduate Study
University of Pittsburgh (Ecology and Evolution, Linguistics)
Social Media
@mslissecologist on Instagram and Twitter
Graduate Research Topic
I study body size evolution in Pacific island land snails. I'm particularly interested in how phylogenetic history, abiotic pressures like microclimate and nutrient availability, and immigrant selection impact land snail body size. Comparing body sizes between snails of very different shapes has motivated me to develop new methods for measuring shell size. I am also interested in gastropod terrestrialization and land snail conservation. My undergraduate work at Pomona College (BA, Biology) examined estivation physiology and microhabitat use in southern California helminthoglypt land snails. I am a co-originator of the Not White Dudes Malacology Reading List (NWDMRL).
Lab Website
Web Link
Terrestrialization Talk
Web Link
Estivation Speed Talk
Web Link
NWD Malacology Reading List
Web Link
Graduate Research Topic
I'm interested in examining the effects of the invasive macroalga Nitellopsis obtusa (starry stonewort) on the epiphytic community of New York lakes. This aquatic invasive species has recently been spreading in New York and across the Great Lakes Region in the US and Canada. It often forms dense monocultures by outcompeting and displacing native macrophyte species. Previous research has primarily focused on the distribution of starry stonewort, but little has explored its potential ecological impacts.
Previous Graduate Study: University of Michigan Ann Arbor* (Natural Resources an)
Graduate Research Topic
Effects of tree species responses to global environmental changes and biotic controls on tree species distributions in the northeastern United States.
Graduate Research Topic
Rare plant ecology and conservation: my dissertation focuses on the conservation of federally-listed Houghton's goldenrod (Oligoneuron houghtonii). I am also working with Dr. Sara Scanga (Utica College) to monitor population trends of globally rare Trollius laxus in upstate NY.
Twitter
@Justine_Weber
Graduate Research Topic
Environmental DNA (eDNA) as a tool to improve monitoring efforts for rare, invasive, and difficult to detect organisms in a variety of habitats. Current projects focus on river otter and muskellunge.
