Faculty Profile
Andrew Newhouse
Senior Staff Assistant
Department of Environmental Biology
319 Illick Hall
Research Interests
I direct ESF's American Chestnut Research and Restoration Project and related tree restoration activities. My experience includes molecular biology lab work, environmental studies on transgenic trees, social considerations for the use of biotechnology in conservation, and federal biotechnology regulatory policy.
My team and I are currently studying restoration considerations for American chestnut, and working to apply biotechnological tools toward protecting other threatened trees such as Ozark chinquapin (also threatened by chestnut blight), American beech (Beech Leaf Disease), and American elm (Dutch elm disease and elm yellows). We are always looking for motivated undergraduate and graduate students to participate in this and related research!
Publications
Current Graduate Advisees
Erik Carlson
ehcarlso@syr.edu
- Degree Sought: PHD
- Graduate Advisor(s): Newhouse and Newhouse
- Area of Study: EFB Plant Science & Biotechnology
Graduate Research Topic
Characterization and utilization of biotechnologies in American Chestnut (Castanea dentata).
Undergraduate Study:
University of North Dakota (Biology)
Madi Montalvo
memontal@syr.edu
- Degree Sought: MS
- Graduate Advisor(s): Newhouse
- Area of Study: Environmental & Forest Biology
Maya Niesz Kutsch
mlnieszk@syr.edu
- Degree Sought: MS
- Graduate Advisor(s): Newhouse
- Area of Study: Environmental & Forest Biology
Graduate Research Topic
Bark traits of the American chestnut and how they inform the fire tolerance of the American chestnut, and the viable pollination distance of the American chestnut
Sophia Suriano
sgsurian@syr.edu
- Degree Sought: MS
- Graduate Advisor(s): Lynch and Newhouse
- Area of Study: Environmental & Forest Biology
Personal Statement
I am passionate about plant disease, microbiology, and fungal pathogens. I received my B.S. from the University of Maine in 2023 in Botany and Microbiology, where i worked as an undergraduate research assistant in Dr. Seanna Annis' Fungal Pathology lab. At ESF, I have been investigating a potential mode of transmission for Beech Leaf Disease (BLD) by collecting infected leaf litter and extracting the BLD causing nematodes. This is to asses their population in the litter and their survival in desiccated leaves. I am also studying the below-ground microbiomes associated with transgenic American chestnuts and the soil microbiomes of potential restoration sites to assess the microbial diversity and abundance between communities. My goals is that these studies increase scientific knowledge and inform best management practices to preserve and restore northeastern forests.
Graduate Research Topic
-Soil Microbiome Analysis of the American Chestnut and Potential Restoration Sites -Seasonal Survival of Beech Leaf Disease-Causing Nematodes in Beech Tree Leaf Litter
Amy Twohig
altwohig@syr.edu
- Degree Sought: MS
- Graduate Advisor(s): Parry and Newhouse
- Area of Study: Environmental & Forest Biology
Graduate Research Topic
My research focuses on the pathogen-vector complexes of forest tree diseases. Specifically, I am studying the spread of oak wilt disease via beetle vector, which is affecting chestnut trees known to be resistant to the lethal chestnut blight.