- 2014
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Caitlin McDonough MacKenzie of Boston University.
I am still a graduate student at Boston University. I am happily preparing for my fifth field season in Acadia National Park — can't wait to get back out on the ridges of Mount Desert Island in April to start looking at flower and leaf phenology. I will monitoring spring phenology along observational transects and in my experimental transplant gardens in Acadia, as well as launching a citizen science program that will give hikers the opportunity to participate in this research.
Eva Dannenberg of Antioch University New England.
I am still working on finishing my thesis (it is written, but is in the process of being revised; I hope to be finished with it and graduate from Antioch New England by May). I am presently looking for work related to my field-- plant ecology-- in northern Vermont or nearby areas of New England. I'm working temporarily at the Pringle Herbarium at the University of Vermont assisting with their herbarium specimen digitization project, and am also interning as a social media/marketing/general assistant with a small local food company called Vermont Switchel.
I am, with my thesis chair Prof. Peter Palmiotto, planning to write up my thesis research (which was supported by the Research Award) and submit it to Rhodora in the coming year. Nothing has been published so far. We are also hoping to present my research at the NEBC Research Conference in June.
- 2012
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Leif Richardson of Dartmouth College.
I completed a PhD at Dartmouth College in December 2014. While at Dartmouth, I studied the influence of floral nectar chemistry on foraging behavior and parasite infection of bumble bees. The field component of my research focused on turtlehead (Chelone glabra) and its pollinators, a system I proposed research on when I applied for the NEBC Graduate Research Award. The NEBC money was very valuable in paying for research costs in my first two field seasons! I recently began a two-year job as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Gund Institute for Environmental Economics, University of Vermont, where I work with Dr. Taylor Ricketts. My research is funded by a USDA National Institutes of Food and Agriculture postdoctoral research fellowship. I am studying the effect of multiple mutualisms on a crop plant--specifically, the direct and indirect effects of ericoid mycorrhizal fungi and wild bee pollinators on highbush blueberry.
Richardson, L.L., L.S. Adler, A.S. Leonard, J. Andicoechea, K.H. Regan, W.E. Anthony, J.S. Manson and R.E. Irwin. 2015. Secondary metabolites in floral nectar reduce parasite loads in bumble bees. 2015 Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 282 (1803). doi:10.1098/rspb.2014.2471.
Richardson, L.L., R.E. Irwin and M.D. Bowers. 2015. Nectar chemistry mediates the behavior of parasitized bees: consequences for plant fitness. Submitted.
Richardson L.L. and R.E. Irwin. Costs and benefits of secondary metabolite consumption by parasitized bumble bees. In prep.
Richardson, L.L. and R.E. Irwin. Floral ecology of turtlehead (Chelone glabra L.; Plantaginaceae). In prep.
- 2008
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Sydne Record of the University of Massachusetts.
Assistant Professor of Computational Ecology at Bryn Mawr College. My lab uses computational methods to understand the past, present, and future states of the natural world in order to better understand the services that ecosystems afford to society.
Record, S. 2011. Plant species associated with a regionally rare hemiparasitic plant, Pedicularis lanceolata (Orobanchaceae), throughout its geographic range. Rhodora 113:125-159.
Record, S. 2011. A world of opportunists, the parasitic plants. Massachusetts Wildlife Magazine. 3: 4-11.
- 2007
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Benjamin E. Wolfe of Harvard University.
I am now an assistant professor at Tufts University (started in Sept 2014).
Wolfe, BE, RE Tulloss, and A Pringle. 2012. The irreversible loss of a decomposition pathway marks the single origin of an ectomycorrhizal symbiosis. PLoS One 7(7): e39597.
Wolfe, BE, M. Kuo, and A Pringle. 2012. Amanita thiersii is saprotrophic and expanding its range in the United States. Mycologia 104: 22-33.
Wolfe, BE, and A Pringle. 2012. Geographically structured host specificity is caused by the range expansions and host shifts of a symbiotic fungus. The ISME Journal 6: 745-755.
Wolfe, BE, F Richard, HB Cross, and A Pringle. 2010. Distribution and abundance of the introduced ectomycorrhizal fungus Amanita phalloides in North America. New Phytologist 185: 803-816.
- 2006
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Jonathon Schramm of Rutgers University.
Currently working as an assistant professor at Goshen College in Goshen, IN; working out of their field station, the Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center. I work with graduate and undergraduate students studying sustainability and environmental education, and conduct research with students in those same areas, as well as plant community ecology.
Schramm JW and JG Ehrenfeld. 2010. Leaf litter and understory canopy shade limit the establishment, growth and reproduction of Microstegium vimineum. Biological Invasions 12: 3195-3204.
Schramm JW and JG Ehrenfeld. 2012. Patterns of patch colonization and expansion in the non-native annual grass Microstegium vimineum (Poaceae). Rhodora 114: 1-20.
- 2005
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Sara Scanga of the State University of New York.
I'm an Associate Professor of Biology at Utica College, in Utica, NY. I teach General Biology, Conservation Biology, Botany, Research Methods, and a few other courses. I have continued my research on the rare plant Trollius laxus, while also branching out into other fields of inquiry, including boreal bird habitat selection and Adirondack forest recovery from acid rain.
Scanga, S. E. 2014. Feasibility of out-planting small populations of spreading globeflower Trollius laxus in a forested fen in central New York, USA. Conservation Evidence 11:48-52.
Scanga, S. E. and D. J. Leopold. 2012. Managing wetland plant populations: lessons learned in Europe may apply to North American fens. Biological Conservation 148:69-78.
Scanga, S. E. 2011. Effects of light intensity and groundwater depth on the growth of a globally rare fen plant. Wetlands 31:773-781.
Scanga, S. E. and D. J. Leopold. 2010. Population vigor of a rare, wetland, understory herb in relation to light and hydrology. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 137:297-311.
- 2004
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Krissa Skogen of the University of Connecticut.
I am currently a conservation scientist at the Chicago Botanic Garden and manager the Conservation and Land Management Internship Program. I advise graduate students through the Plant Biology and Conservation Program, a joint grad program between the Chicago Botanic Garden and Northwestern University. My current research focusses on the rich diversity of flowering plants (angiosperms) and the insects that interact with them - both pollinators and antagonists (herbivores, seed predators, etc.) - and how these interactions may help explain the great diversity we see today. Much of my work focuses on differences between hawk moth- and bee-pollinated plant species and the implications for floral phenotypes (shape, color, size, scent), population connectivity, and species boundaries. I'm also fascinated by the role that antagonists may play, especially those that are attracted to the same floral cues that attract pollinators (including color and scent) given the opposing, negative impacts of floral antagonists on plant fitness. Much of this work uses the Geographic Mosaic Theory of Coevolution as a model to explain the evolutionary relationships between members of the evening primrose family, Onagraceae, their hawk moth and bee pollinators, and antagonist microlepidoptera in the genus Mompha (more info here http://www.onagmoth.org).
I am also committed to plant conservation efforts, including investigating the impacts of anthropogenic factors on plants and pollinators. My previous work has investigated the impact of land use change on an endemic, hawk moth-pollinated evening primrose, Oenothera harringtonii and the role that atmospheric nitrogen deposition may have played in the decline of the nitrogen-fixing legume, Desmodium cuspidatum.
Skogen, K., K. H. Holsinger, and Z. G. Cardon. 2011. Nitrogen deposition and the decline of a regionally threatened legume, Desmodium cuspidatum. Oecologia. 165(1):261-269.
Skogen, K., L. Senack, and K. Holsinger. 2010. Dormancy, small seed size and low germination rates contribute to low recruitment in Desmodium cuspidatum (Fabaceae). Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society. 137(4):355-365.
- 2002
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Isabel Ashton of the State University of New York - Stony Brook.
I am an Ecologist with the National Park Service. Currently, I serve as the Director of the Continental Divide Research Learning Center. My job is to support research activities in Rocky Mountain National Park and to help translate research to park managers and students.
Ashton, Isabel W., and Manuel T. Lerdau. Tolerance to herbivory, and not resistance, may explain differential success of invasive, naturalized, and native North American temperate vines. Diversity and Distributions 14.2 (2008): 169-178.
Ashton, Isabel Willoughby. The influences of physiology, allocation, and natural enemies on the success and failure of exotic woody vines in northeastern forests. Diss. Stony Brook University, 2005.
- 1999
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Joel Gerwein of University of Massachusetts - Boston.
I work at the California State Coastal Conservancy managing environmental projects, including wetland restorations, sea level rise adaptation planning, invasives control, protection of land for parks, and public access development.
Gerwein, J.B. and R.V. Kesseli. 2006. Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Quercus rubra (Fagaceae) in old-growth and secondary forests in Southern New England. Rhodora 108: 933, 1-18.
- 1998
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David Moeller of Cornell University.
I am currently an Assistant Professor of Plant Biology at the University of Minnesota. My laboratory studies the evolution and ecology of geographic range limits, mechanisms of speciation, and species' responses to climate change.
Wheelwright, N.T., E. Dukeshire, J. Fontaine, S. Gutow, D.A. Moeller, J.G. Schuetz, T.M. Smith, S. Rodgers, & A.G. Zink. 2006. Pollinator limitation, autogamy, and minimal inbreeding depression in insect-pollinated plants on a boreal island. American Midland Naturalist 155:19-38.
- 1997
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Tatyana Rand of Brown University.
I am currently a Research Ecologist, with the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Sidney, Montana, USA. My research has centered on identifying key drivers of spatial variation trophic interaction strength and its implications for conservation and agriculture. Currently, my research examines how changes in landscape structure interact with local scale biotic and abiotic variables to mediate the intensity and outcome of interaction based ecosystems services (i.e. biological control of arthropod pests and weeds). This information is critical to informing conservation biological control measures aimed at maximizing enemy impacts on key pests while minimizing potential non-target effects. Current projects include: quantifying the impact of landscape changes associated with landuse intensification on biological control in crops and weed spread and impact in rangeland; identifying interactions between management approaches such as plant resistance breeding and conservation biological control; and assessing climate impacts on natural enemy-prey interactions. I have extensive experience in field research involving insects and plants, including the design implementation and analysis of spatially explicit experiments and sampling protocols, and the quantification of food web structure, species interaction strengths and associated ecosystem services.
Rand, T.A. 2000. Seed dispersal, habitat suitability and the distribution of halophytes across a salt marsh tidal gradient. Journal of Ecology 88:608-621.
Rand, T.A. 1999. Effects of environmental context on the susceptibility of Atriplex patula to attack by herbivorous beetles. Oecologia 121:39-46.
- 1996
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Bruce Henning Lindwall of University of Massachusetts - Amherst.
I have remained a member of the NEBC almost without interruption since the late 90's, and enjoy staying informed about what's happening at meetings, etc. Following my graduation from UMass my career made an abrupt transition from research to teaching. It was my dissertation research on habitat fragmentation that was supported by NEBC. I began working with the Audubon Expedition Institute in 1999 and have remained with the organization through the name change to Expedition Education Institute (EEI). We work in partnership with Marlboro College in Marlboro, Vermont to provide graduate and undergraduate field semesters for students. Ours is a very multidisciplinary program centered broadly around the topic of Environmental Leadership. As a faculty member I spend the full semester traveling with students in whatever region we are studying for the semester. Basically we study the natural environment and how every individual can take an active role in protecting it.
- 1989
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Scott Shumway of Brown University.
Although one of the most interesting aspects of my graduate work, the research funded by NEBC was never published in a journal. I presented the talk "Reproductive bottlenecks in a colonizing population of the clonal marsh grass Spartina alterniflora," at a joint meeting of the Population Biologists of New England and the Southeastern Ecological Genetics Group (Virginia Tech, 1990).
I received my PhD from Brown University in 1991 and have been teaching at Wheaton College in Norton, MA ever since. I am Professor of Biology and currently hold the Jennings Chair in the Natural Sciences. In 2008 I published "Naturalist's Guide to the Atlantic Seashore: Beach Ecology from the Gulf of Maine to Cape Hatteras" (Globe Pequot Press). I am the co-author (with Susan Letcher of Purchase U.) of "RainforestPlants", a web-based tool to teach undergraduates about tropical botany. The website features the 65 most common families of plants found at the lowland rainforest of the La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica. I am currently writing a natural history guide to the La Selva rainforest. I recently returned from Belize and Costa Rica where I taught tropical field biology to 15 students from Wheaton College. I am continuing the tradition established by my undergraduate professor, Dr. Norton Nickerson, of introducing undergraduates to tropical ecology.
- 1986
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Debra Dunlop of University of New Hampshire.
I have been a Professor of Biology at New England College for 26 years and currently serve as the Associate Dean of Natural and Social Science Division. I still enjoy teaching Tropical Marine Biology for non-majors with field work in Belize and New England Natural History, a field course for majors.
Dunlop, D. A. and G. E. Crow. 1999. The taxonomy of Carex section Scirpinae (Cyperaceae). Rhodora 101: 163-199.
Dunlop, D. A. 1997. Taxonomic changes in Carex (section Scirpinae), Cyperaceae). Novon 7:355-356.
Dunlop, D. A. 1997. Carex section Scirpinae. Contribution to The Flora of North America. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, pp. 20.