Plant Science and BiotechnologyArea of Study for M.S., M.P.S. or Ph.D. in Environmental and Forest Biology

Plants, as the base for ecological food chains, serve as the structural and functional foundation of natural and managed systems. The study of plant science and biotechnology provides opportunity in a broad range of specialties fundamental to the understanding of plants and their interaction with other organisms and for specializing in plant biotechnology.

Emphasis is on forests and related plant systems. Current research interests include dynamics of plant communities as affected by humans and the environment; mechanisms of plant succession; epidemiology of forest and urban tree diseases; taxonomy, physiology, growth and ultrastructure of fungi; heritability of wood properties and disease resistance of trees; biochemistry and physiology of plant stress response; photosynthesis; mycorrhizae; plant reproductive biology; genetic engineering; transformation; molecular evolution; phylogenetics; taxonomy; plant-pathogen interactions, tissue culture and study of ancient DNA.

Participating Faculty

• John D. Castello; jdcastello@esf.edu
  plant virology, viruses and mycoplasma in urban and forest tree decline, forest pathology, microbiology, insect vectors
• Martin Dovciak; mdovciak@esf.edu
  Plant Ecology, Forest Ecosystems, Biodiversity, Global Change, Ecosystem Management and Restoration
• 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.
• Hyatt Green; hgreen@esf.edu
  molecular microbial ecology, microbial water quality, microbial source-tracking, microbial biogeography, host-microbe co-evolution, forest soil nitrification, Hg-methylation, eDNA, rapid evolution, fermentation microbiology
• 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
• Gregory McGee; ggmcgee@esf.edu
  ecology, management and restoration of forest ecosystems; STEM education
• Lee Newman; lanewman@esf.edu
  phytoremediation, molecular and cellular biology, horticultural therapy, food and health
• William A. Powell; wapowell@esf.edu
  forest biotechnology, molecular plant-microbe interactions, genetic engineering in plant conservation, antimicrobial peptide design, plant gene design, plant pathology, molecular biology
• 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

Yokshitha Reddy Bathula

Erik Carlson

Tyler Desmarais

Lukas Evans

Adam Hoffman

Amalia Kenyon

Masoumeh Khodaverdi

Dakota Matthews

Justin McMullen

Joseph Nasta

Andrew Newhouse

Hannah Pilkey

Xueqing Xiong