School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science

Assistant Professor

I am interested in the study of evolutionary forces acting on plant populations and species during their history and in the evolution of adaptive and species-specific characters. On the other hand, the evolutionary adaptive potential of long-lived tree species is decisive to react to fluctuating and changing environments in the near future. I think that work on genetic variation controlling complex adaptive traits in keystone species both in manipulative environments and under natural conditions will help . . .

Associate Professor

The purpose of the Isle Royale wolf-moose project has been to observe and understand the dynamic fluctuations of Isle Royale’s wolves and moose, in the hope that such knowledge will inspire a new, flourishing relationship with nature. I seek to understand, but thinking that I understand destroys understanding. My approach to this paradox is to wake up every morning and hope to be shown how something - the more basic the better - is not what I . . .

Associate Professor; Director, Ecosystem Science Center

Forest ecosystems have constantly changed through time. The difficulty today is understanding the influence of man relative to the background of natural change. We impact our forests both intentionally through management and unintentionally by creating pollution, introducing exotic pests, and altering our atmosphere. Are these impacts so severe that our forest ecosystems cannot be sustained? Will large-scale declines in forest health and productivity occur, or will our forests simply undergo gradual changes in composition as they . . .

Forester/Instructor

As societal demands on forests continue to intensify, true stewards of the land must develop creative management solutions based on a long-term perspective and promoting a wide variety of tangible benefits. As a forester for Michigan Tech, I work with other faculty to conduct research and demonstration to provide a variety of examples of sustainable forest management on university lands and partnering properties.

I have adopted a teaching philosophy, which stresses the development of a necessary set of . . .

Associate Professor

A teacher of mine once claimed that there is no longer such a thing as an unmanaged ecosystem; every corner of the globe is impacted by human activity in some fashion. My research and teaching is driven by the perspective that we must manage our interrelationship with our environment, even in places where we seek to minimize change. Clear, quantitative assessments of current and future condition are key to sensible management and informed decision making.

My research . . .

Professor

My research focuses on how organisms interact with their environment with particular attention to human altered ecosystems and those species that are most sensitive to such changes. I am interested in spatial aspects of habitats such as the arrangement of patches in the landscape and how these can influence demographic traits of species. I have worked to understand how birds are influenced by forest management directly through nesting proximity to forest openings. I also study the . . .

Assistant Professor

The ecological significance of a species is a story worth telling. Telling such stories has required working among the fields of population biology, community ecology, and ecosystem science. Understanding the relationship between species and ecosystem processes is important because it critically informs management decisions and conservation science. I value and have used experimental, empirical, and theoretical approaches in my research. My preference is to develop robust empirical approaches that are designed for long-term data collection, and . . .