Faculty Profile
Christopher Nowak
Professor 12 Months and Chair of FNRM
319 Bray Hall
Education
Ph.D., SUNY-ESF (Forest Resources Management -- Vegetation Management / Silviculture), 1992.
M.S., SUNY-ESF (Forest Resources Management -- Forest Soils / Silviculture), 1986.
B.S., SUNY-ESF (Forest Resources Management), 1985.
A.A.S., SUNY-ESF (Forest Technology), 1979.
Areas of Study
Vegetation Management, Silviculture and Forest Ecology, Production Ecology and Plant Ecophysiology, Invasive Exotic Plant Control, Biogeography and Cultural Landscapes, Sustainable Management and Certification Systems
Courses Taught
FOR 304 Adirondack Field Studies (Spring-Summer)
FOR 321 / 521 Forest Ecology and Silviculture (Fall)
FOR 490 Integrated Resources Management (Natural Resources Management) (Spring)
Recent Publication List
Nowak, C.A., and C.J. Peck. (in preparation). Large oriental bittersweet vines can be killed by cutting alone. Invasive Plant Science and Management.
Nowak, C.A. 2014. Natural herbicides are generally not efficacious or effective at controlling roadside right-of-way vegetation. Proceedings 10th International Symposium Environmental Concerns in Rights-of-Way Management, International Society of Arboriculture, DesMoines, IA.
Nowak, C.A. 2014. Testing the efficacy of alternatives to herbicides in controlling undesirable plants on NYSDOT roadside rights-of-way. New York State Department of Transportation Technical Report (number pending), Albany, NY.
Nowak, C.A. 2014. What is this Integrated Vegetation Management, this IVM – Now, Today, and into the future? Proceedings 10th International Symposium Environmental Concerns in Rights-of-Way Management, International Society of Arboriculture, DesMoines, IA.
Nowak, C.A., and C.J. Peck. 2014. Efficacy of using glyphosate on cut stumps of large, forest-grown oriental bittersweet. New York State Department of Transportation Technical Report (number pending), Albany, NY.
Nowak, C.A., B.D. Ballard, and P.V. Hofmeyer. 2014. Plant community development on electric transmission line rights-of-way with/without attention to controlling invasive, exotic plants: A long-term collaborative research project with FirstEnergy on the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Technical Report No. 3002002750, Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA.
Nowak, C.A., C.S. Bartholomew, and E. Bevilacqua. 2014. Natural woodlands on the Roosevelt and Vanderbilt National Historic Sites: Current conditions and opportunities to demonstrate forest management and silviculture. National Park Service Report (number pending), Hyde Park, NY.
Nowak, C., J. Quant, E. Hopper, C. Bartholomew and M. Dovciak. 2013. Cost effectiveness of cleaning techniques for controlling human-based transport of invasive exotic plants on electric transmission line rights-of-way. Second Technical Update, Report No. 3002001189, Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA.
Nowak, C., and T. Sullivan. 2013. ROW Steward pilot audit report for Arizona Public Service. Technical Report No. 3002002272, Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA.
Nowak, C.A. 2012. Cost-effectiveness analysis for comparing vegetation management alternatives on electric transmission line rights-of-way: An illustrative guide. Technical Report 1025379, Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA.
Nowak, C.A. 2012. Herbicide use safety for vegetation management on powerline corridors: Improvement of work practices between utilities and their contractors. Technical Report 1023752, Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA.
Nowak, C. and M. Dovciak. 2012. Cost effectiveness of cleaning techniques for controlling human-based transport of invasive, exotic plants on electric transmission line rights-of-way across New York. Technical Update 1025380, Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA.
Treyger, A.L. and C.A. Nowak. 2012. Tree community dynamics on powerline corridors coincident with global climate change in New York State. p. 105-114 In J.M. Evans, J.W. Goodrich-Mahoney, D. Mutrie, and J. Reineman (eds.), Proceedings 9th International Symposium Environmental Concerns in Rights-of-Way Management, International Society of Arboriculture, DesMoines, IA.
Ballard, B.D., H. L. Luszak, and C.A. Nowak. 2011. Northeastern shrub and short tree identification-A guide for right-of-way vegetation management, 2nd edition. Research Foundation of SUNY, Liverpool Litho, Liverpool, NY. ISBN 978-0615-54370-3
Nowak, C.A. 2011. Management of riparian areas on electric transmission line rights-of-way. Technical Report 1019879, Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, California.
Nowak, C.A. 2011. Contemporary descriptions of the historic tree plantations at the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Sites. National Park Service, Denver Technical Information Center Report NPS 384/106767.2011.
Nowak, C. 2012. The Summer Program at Wanakena – 20 years of enjoyment (but, not fun), learning and growth at the Ranger School. Invited book chapter, p. 124-128 In J. Coufal, A. Lanckton and B. Woodward (eds.), The Ranger School: A Century in the Forest, Dog Ear Publishing, Indianapolis, IN.
Nowak, C.A., R.H. Germain, and A.P. Drew. 2011. Timber harvesting, silviculture and forest management: an axe does not a forester make. Chapter 8, p. 247-276 In (J.D. Castello and S.A. Teale, eds.), Forest Health: An Integrated Perspective, Cambridge University Press.
Treyger, A.L. and C.A. Nowak. 2011. Changes in tree sapling composition within powerline corridors appear to be consistent with climatic change in New York. Global Change Biology 17: 3439-3452.
Nowak, C.A. 2010. Importance, identification and assessment of both danger and hazard trees located outside electric transmission line rights-of-way. Technical Report 1019879, Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, California.
Nowak, C.A. 2010. A viewshed management plan for the home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site: Reastablishing the river and mountain views from the South Lawn. Final Report, National Park Service, March 2010.
Ballard, B.D., C.A. Nowak, and A.B. Kline. 2009. Willow (Salix) Identification in New York State. Research Foundation of SUNY, Liverpool Litho, Liverpool, NY. ISBN: 978-0-615-31665-9
Nowak, C.A. 2009. SUSTAINABILITY: A central principle for the electric industry available through vegetation management on transmission rights-of-way. Technical Report 1017963, Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, California.
Past Graduate Students
Benjamin Ballard: Ph.D. Forest Ecosystem Science and Application, Major Professor, graduated 2006, Dissertation: Managing shrubs on powerline corridors in Central New York: Findings from the environmental complex
Anne (Lennox) Barlow: M.S. Forest Ecosystem Science and Applications, Major Professor, graduated 2003, Thesis: Improvement cutting in degraded northern hardwoods: Results of a 30-year replicated field experiment in Upstate New York
Elizabeth Canal: M.P.S. Natural Resources Management, Major Professor, graduated 2009
Michael Farrell: M.P.S. Forest Resources Management, Major Professor, graduated 2003
Ian Freeburg: M.S. Forest Ecosystem Science and Applications, Major Professor, graduate 2013, Thesis: Financial analysis of rehabilitation cutting in degraded northern hardwoods.
Philip Hofmeyer: M.S. Forest Ecosystem Science and Applications, Major Professor, graduated 2004, Thesis: Sawtimber production with thinning in stratified, mixed-species, even-aged northern hardwoods
Samuel Jackson: M.S. Forest Ecosystem Science and Applications, Major Professor, graduated 2004 Thesis: Establishing willow, poplar, and other vegetation on a brownfield site in Utica, New York
Thomas Kane: M.P.S. Forest Resources Management, Major Professor, graduated 2003
Asa Kline: M.S. Forest Ecosystem Science and Applications, Major Professor, graduated December 2008, Thesis: Hydraulic control in willow phytoremediation systems at Fort Drum, New York
Ariusz Kornacki: M.S. Forest Ecosystem Science and Applications, Co-Major Professor with Dr. Russ Briggs, graduated Summer 2005 , Thesis: First-year survival and growth of select willow clones in saturated, PAH-contaminated seeps
Seth LaPierre: M.S. Forest Ecosystem Science and Applications, Co-Major Professor with Dr. René Germain, graduated 2005, Thesis: Watershed management in the New York City watershed
Eric Lema: M.S. Forest Ecosystem Science and Applications, Major Professor, graduated 2007, Thesis: Evaluation of operational control efforts for Japanese knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum Sieb & Zucc.) along roadside rights-of-way in central Adirondack State Park, New York
Gavin MacKellar: M.F., Major Professor, graduated 2012
Evan McDivitt: M.F., Major Professor, graduated 2008
Rebecca McGuire: M.S. Forest Ecosystem Science and Applications, Co-Major Professor with Dr. Russ Briggs, graduated 2008, Thesis: A retrospective on anthropogenic forest disturbances: Patterns and response in two Hudson River Valley hardwood stands
Katie Moller: M.S. Forest Ecosystem Science and Applications, Major Professor, graduate 2003, Thesis: Potassium accumulation under aggrading red pine at the Charles Lathrop Pack Demonstration Forest, Warrensburg, New York
Bryon Salladin: M.S. Forest Ecosystem Science and Applications, Major Professor, graduated 2005, Thesis: Establishing select willow clones on a water-saturated, PAH-contaminated site using various innovative site improvement techniques
Jeremy Stitt: M.P.S. Forest Resources Management, Major Professor, graduated 2004
Pradeep Tharakan: Ph.D. Forest Ecosystem Science and Applications, Major Professor, graduated 2003, Dissertation: Production ecology of willow clones in biomass plantations
Artem Treyger: Ph.D. Forest Ecosystem Science and Applications, Major Professor, graduated 2012, Dissertation: Climate change is already affecting tree regeneration in the Eastern United States: Evidence from powerline corridors in New York State
William Van Gorp: M.P.S. Forest Ecosystem Science and Applications, graduated 2012
Jason Wagner: M.S. Forest Ecosystem Science and Applications, Major Professor, graduated 2000, Thesis: Pre-emergent herbicide screening trials for willow biomass crops
Heather Whittier: M.S. Forest Ecosystem Science and Applications, Major Professor , graduated 2003, Thesis: Vascular plant species diversity on an electric transmission right-of-way in Upstate New York
Ryan Wynne: M.P.S. Natural Resources Management, Co-Major Professor with Dr. Diane Kuehn, graduated 2010