Ecology graduate student list

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

[Advisor:  David Mortensen]

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

[Advisor: Tracy Langkilde]

[Advisor: Bjornstad / Grenfell]

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]

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

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

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

Landscape management and restoration of freshwater wetland resources. [Advisor: Brooks]

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

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]

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

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]

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

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

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

[Advisor:  Eric Post]

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

[Advisor: Cole]

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]

My research aims to (a) quantitatively describe how environmental factors affect hantavirus dynamics in its reservoir host in Montana; and (b) to create an ecological model which could predict epizootics. [Advisor: Bjornstad/Hudson]

Plant root ecology, physiology, and global change biology. [Advisor: Eissenstat]

Avian ecology and conservation. My research focuses identifying potential conflict between eastern Golden Eagles and wind power development throughout the annual cycle. [Advisor: Brooks]

Aquatic and wetland ecology. My research focuses on trying to understand how the spatial variation in plant communities, microtopography, and soil properties impact microbial community composition and processes. [Advisor: Wardrop]

Global climate change, disturbance and biogeochemical cycling in forests, soil organic matter dynamics. [Advisor: Eissenstat]

Invasive plant species, particularly Japanese stiltgrass, an annual grass invasive in forested ecosystems throughout the eastern US. How environmental factors influence its population growth and efficacy of management practices. [Advisor: Mortensen]

[Advisors: Alan Taylor/Roger Koide]

Molecular Ecology and Conservation Biology. [Advisor: Baums]

[Advisor: Denice Wardrop]

The potential effects of climate change on early-successional and understory forest vegetation and especially invasive species. [Advisor: M Kaye]

[Advisor: Stauffer]

[Advisor: Katriona Shea]

Ecology of freshwater systems including: fish and macroinvertebrate taxonomy; bioassessment; water quality; stream restoration processes. [Advisor: Carline]

Diatoms in streams as indicator species for environmental variables. [Advisor: Carrick]

Integrating ecology with economics to evaluate public land management within forested ecosystems. [Advisor: Steiner]

[Advisor: Paul Bartell]

[Advisor: Tracy Langkilde]

[Advisor: Katriona Shea]

[Advisor:  Susan Parks]

[Advisor: Victoria Braithwaite]

Forest ecosystems and climate change. Currently, I am working on a project that utilizes ecophysiology and seedling allometry to examine competition and potential for species migration under predicted climate changes in PA forests. [Advisor: M. Kaye]

The use of geospatial technologies including GPS, GIS and 3d visualization to analyze large scale landscape patterns. Historic development patterns within a regulatory context and subsequent assessment of ecological impacts over time. [Advisor: Day]

Hunting sustainability in the Amazon, how the impacts of hunting affect primates demographics, and how these changes in turn affect primate population dynamics and population growth. [Advisor: Beckerman]

Evolutionary roles of root plasticity and root-root interactions such as competition and facilitation with an emphasis on agroecology. Functional diversity of root system architecture and its effect on ecosystem functioning. [Advisor: Lynch]