Ecology & Evolution Area of Study for M.S., M.P.S. or Ph.D. in Environmental 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
- Stewart Diemont; sdiemont@esf.edu
systems ecology, ecological engineering, traditional ecological knowledge, Latin America, ecosystem restoration, sustainability analysis, natural wastewater treatment systems and re-use, less-developed countries, agroecology - 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 - Joshua A. Drew; jadrew@esf.edu
- 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 - Eliezer Gurarie; egurarie@esf.edu
Quantitative wildlife ecology, animal movements, spatial ecology, habitat use, behavior, cognition, population ecology, statistical methods, mathematical modeling, co-production of knowledge. - 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 - Dylan Parry; dparry@esf.edu
Biological invasion, climate change, and conservation, primarily in the context of insects in forested ecosystems. - 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 - 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
EB Graduate Study Links
- EB Graduate Study Home
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Current Graduate Students in Ecology
Current Students Only currently registered students appear — new names appear at start of academic year
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.
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.
Links
Web Link
Personal Statement
Katy started a PhD program at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in fall 2020. She works with Dr. Joshua Drew, a conservation ecologist, and Dr. Rebecca Rundell, an evolutionary biologist. Katy's research is funded by a 2020 National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship. Katy's research involves marine invertebrate biodiversity in the western Pacific. Her interests include marine invasions, invertebrate taxonomy, social-biological interaction, scuba, and biodiversity conservation.
Katy worked as a Research Technician for the Marine Invasions Lab at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) in Edgewater, MD. She worked for the lab from April 2015 to August 2020. Katy graduated with a B.A. in Environmental Science and Maritime Studies from Williams College in Williamstown, MA in 2014. She has worked in many places including Alaska, Pacific Northwest, San Francisco Bay, Southern California, Panama, Florida Keys, Chesapeake Bay, New England Coast, Maine Coast, and Northeastern Australia.
Originally from Macon, GA, Katy now lives in Syracuse, NY. She was a member of the SERC Women in Science Committee, a scholarship recipient from the Women Divers Hall of Fame, and was the intern coordinator for the Our World Underwater Lee Somers AAUS Dive Training Internship (2017-2019).
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
Previous Graduate Study: Arkansas State University of St Univ (Biology )
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.
Graduate Research Topic
My dissertation research is focused on the inland salt marshes of the northeastern United States. I am performing the first thorough survey of the halophytic flora of Central New York's inland salt marshes in over 40 years and using my findings to assess how it has changed over time. It is unknown how halophytes native to these rare disjunct wetlands came to occupy them: by dispersal or vicariance events, and from eastern or western populations. I am addressing this question by investigating the phylogeography of the widespread halophyte Schoenoplectus americanus (Cyperaceae) as a case study.
Favorite Quote
"There is a kind of lazy pleasure in useless and out-of-the-way erudition." -Jorge Luis Borges
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.
