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Ecology grad students

Current Ecology graduate students, listed in alphabetical order of last name, together with a brief summary of their research. Links take you to the student's personal or lab website.

All students in the program are automatically members of the EGSO, the Ecology Graduate Student Organization.

Photo Name E-mail / phone Interests include
Thomas Adams Adams, Thomas
814-865-0373
   (University Park)

Root Ecology - specifically, the ecology of root lifespan in North American temperate trees. [Advisor: Eissenstat]

Kristine Averill Averill, Kristine    (University Park)

Ecosystem services and disservices of exotic plants and their management.  [Advisor: David Mortensen]

Tom Bentley Bentley, Tom
814-863-3088
   (University Park)

Behavioral ecology, insect physiology, and plant-insect interactions. [Advisor: Mescher]

Bradley Carlson Carlson, Bradley    (University Park)

[Advisor: Tracy Langkilde]

Lawrence Chien Chien, Lawrence    (University Park)

[Advisor: Bjornstad / Grenfell]

Nelson DeBarros DeBarros, Nelson
814-863-7638
   (University Park)

Assessing biodiversity within agricultural landscapes and managing non-crop areas with native flowering species to increase the activity of beneficial insects within agricultural fields. [Advisor: Mortensen]

Quanying Du Du, Quanying
814-863-7717
   (University Park)

Controls and constraints on root turnover rate, mostly how elevated nitrogen level affects root longevity. [Advisor: Eissenstat]

Franklin Egan Egan, Franklin
814-865-6679
   (University Park)

Weed ecology and functions of biodiversity in agricultural systems. [Advisor: Mortensen]

Christopher Fernandez Fernandez, Christopher    (University Park)

Community structure and functioning of ectomycorrhizal fungi. [Advisor: Roger Koide]

Marc Goebel Goebel, Marc
814-863-7717
   (University Park)

Fine root decomposition, belowground carbon and nutrient cycling of temperate forest ecosystems, soil dynamics, plant soil interaction [Advisor: Eissenstat]

Laurie Goodrich Goodrich, Laurie    (University Park)

The ecology of migratory birds, particularly raptors and forest songbirds. I have focused recently on the stopover ecology of migrating raptors, particularly their behavior and use of habitats. [Advisor: Brittingham]

Kristen Granger Granger, Kristen
  • Program Service Assistant
814-865-9883
   (University Park)

Weed eco-physiology. How environmental conditions during seed maturation affect resource allocation and seed persistence in the soil. [Advisor: Gallagher]

Dan Grear Grear, Dan
814-863-5895
   (University Park)

Mechanisms that cause heterogeneities in disease transmission. These heterogeneities appear to result in key hosts that harbor a majority of parasites and account for a majority of transmission. [Advisor: Hudson]

Jason Hill Hill, Jason    (University Park)

Demographic response of grassland birds to management practices and habitat manipulation. [Advisor: Deifenbach]

Cara Hotchkin Hotchkin, Cara    (University Park)

Behavioral ecology and bioacoustics of marine mammals. [Advisor: Parks]

Sarah Johnson Johnson, Sarah
814-865-3049
   (University Park)

The role of Native American land-use legacies and indicator species in assessing potential archaeological sensitivity and integrity of sites. [Advisor: Abrams]

Jeffrey Kerby Kerby, Jeffrey    (University Park)

[Advisor:  Eric Post]

No photo available for this person Kuhns (Hohlfeld), Emily    (University Park)

Plant defense research for creating eco-friendly pest management strategies. [Advisor: Tumlinson]

Jeffrey Law Law, Jeffrey
814-865-8831
   (University Park)

[Advisor: Rob Gallagher]

Stephanie Lessard-Pilon Lessard-Pilon, Stephanie
  • EGSO President
814-863-8360
   (University Park)

Chemosynthetic communities at cold seeps (>1000 m) and deep coral sites (300-700m) in the Gulf of Mexico. Marine community ecology, especially how communities change over time and the environmental factors that affect this change. [Advisor: Fisher]