The School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science has welcomed many extraordinary ecologists to its Distinguished Ecologist Series. These past speakers embody the integrity of this series and we hope will encourage you to attend this year's series of lectures by distinguished ecologists.
Peter Hogberg — September 29, 2011
Professor in Soil Science, Head of the Forest Ecology and Management department at SLU, Umeå, Sweden
Broadly, Dr. Högberg’s research concerns the cycles of nitrogen and carbon through forests, especially interactions among trees, mycorrhizal fungi, and soils. Through novel applications of whole-ecosystem carbon and nitrogen isotopic labeling experiments, as well as tree girdling experiments, Dr.Högberg and colleagues have contributed tremendous insight as to how forests allocate resources, and how this affects the cycling of nutrients in the ecosystem.
Harri Vassander — October 6, 2011
Professor in Peatland Forestry; Department of Forest Sciences; University of Helsinki
Dr. Vasander is broadly interested in peatland classification, production, and C dynamics of boreal and tropical peatlands.In addition to an extensive peer-reviewed publication record, he is also co-author to many instructional and field identification guides, including, “The Intricate Beauty of Sphagnum Mosses – a Finnish Guide to Identification”.
Green Fire - October 20, 2011 at 7 p.m. in G002 U.J. Noblet Forestry Bldg.
The first full-length, high-definition documentary film ever made about legendary environmentalist Aldo Leopold, Green Fire highlights Leopold’s extraordinary career, tracing how he shaped and influenced the modern environmental movement. Leopold remains relevant today, inspiring projects all over the country that connect people and land.http://www.greenfiremovie.com/
Stan Temple - October 21, 2011
Aldo Leopold, Phenology and Climate Change --- 11:00a.m. in the room 146 (the wildlife teaching lab)
Aldo Leopold, best known as the author of A Sand County Almanac, was a keen observer of the natural world. Throughout his life he kept daily journals recording observations of seasonal events, especially those occuring at his beloved "shack" on the Leopold farm which was the setting for many essays in A Sand County Almanac. Leopold's meticulous phenological observations have provided us with an unparalleled record of when plants bloomed, birds migrated and other natural events. Comparing his observations of hundreds of natural events to recent records helps us understand how climate change is affecting the ecological community. One lesson of Leopold's journals is clear: For those who love nature and take time to observe it closely, keeping records enhances the enjoyment and value of our time and effort, both now and in the future.
Things I've learned: Insights from a 40-year Career in Conservation --- 4:00p.m. in the room 146 (the wildlife teaching lab)
Find out how an early interest in birds lead to a childhood friendship with Rachel Carson, helping write the Endangered Species Act, developing recovery programs some of the world's rarest species, preserving some really important natural areas, helping launch the field of conservation biology, and walking in Aldo Leopold's footsteps. And along the way there were the near-death experiences, the CIA connection, skirmishes with the World Bank, hate mail from animal-rights activists, and other assorted side stories.
Oswald J. Schmitz — October 27, 2011
Oastler Professor of Population and Community Ecology; Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies; Yale Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Professor Schmitz’s research examines the dynamics and structure of terrestrial food webs. His specific focus is on plant-herbivore interactions and how they are shaped by carnivores and soil-nutrient levels, both at the level of herbivore foraging ecology and plant-herbivore population dynamics. He is also examining how natural systems are resistant and resilient to natural and human-induced disturbances. His approach involves developing mathematical theories of species interactions in food webs and testing these theories through field experiments. The work deals with a variety of ecosystems and herbivore species, ranging from moose deer and snowshoe hare in northern Canadian forests to insects in New England old-field ecosystems.
Virginia Dale — November 11, 2011
Landscape Ecology & Regional Analysis Group, Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Adjunct professor at the University of Tennessee
Dr. Dale’s primary research interests are in a landscape design for bioenergy, environmental decision making, land-use change, landscape ecology, and ecological modeling. She has worked on developing tools for resource management, vegetation recovery subsequent to disturbances; effects of climate change on forests; and integrating socioeconomic and ecological models of land-use change.Her current research involves working closely with resource managers to identify indicators of ecological change at different scales and to design models that can project regional changes in environmental conditions.
Dr. Cindy Prescott
University of British Columbia
Faculty and associate dean of graduate studies and research.
September 2010
Dr. Oswald Schmitz
Yale University
Professor and director of the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation Science
The Ecology of Fear and the Ecosystem: How Predation Risk Drives Stoichiometry and Ecosystem Nutrient Dynamics
October 2010
Dr. David Mladenoff
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Dept. of Forest Ecology and Management
The Value of Historical Data for Ecological Questions of the Present and Future.
October 2009
Dr. Knute Nadelhoffer
University of Michigan
Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Decadal-scale 15N Tracer Recoveries Constrain Nitrogen Deposition as a Driver of Forest Carbon Sequestration
November 2009
Dr. Alison Brody
University of Vermont
Understanding Nature through Species Interactions: from Colorado to Kenya.
October 2008
Dr. Elizabeth Losos
Duke University
Seeing the Forest for the Trees: Changing Tropical Ecosystems
October 2007
Dr. Paul Beier
Northern Arizona University
Cougars, Corridors, and Missing Linkages: 20 years of Science, Conservation, and Advocacy
October 2007
Julio L Betancourt
US Geological Survey
An Environmental History of the Atacama Desert: Nature's Experiment at the Edge of Life
September 2006
Dr. Sarah Hobbie
University of Minnesota
The Influence of Tree Species on Biogeochemistry: Interactions among Litter Chemistry, Earthworms, and Microbes.
September 2005
Dr. Rick Lindroth
University of Wisconsin - Madison
What Can Chemistry Tell Us about Ecology? Insights into the Evolutionary and Ecological 'Success' of a Principal North American Tree Species.
September 2005
Dr. Sam McNaughton
Syracuse University
Thirty-one Years of Continuous Research on the Serengeti Grazing Ecosystem
September 2004
Dr. Joy Zedler
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Wetland Degradation and Restoration: Challenges in the Great Lakes Region
October 2004
Peter B. Reich
University of Minnesota
Causes and Consequences of Plant Functional Diversity: From Functional Convergence to Ecosystem Engineering.
October 2003
Dr. Gary King
University of Maine
Trace Gas Microbiology and Biogeochemistry—Seeing the Forest and the Trees
September 2002
Dr. David Read
University of Sheffield
Lifelines in the Soil—the Role of Mycorrhizae in Ecosystem Processes.
October 2002
Dr. Per Angelstam
University of Agricultural Sciences, Skinnskatteberg, Sweden
Professor in the School for Forest Engineers
October 2010
Dr. Susan L. Stout
Research Project Leader
USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station
A Road Less Taken: Surprises from Long-term Research
October 2009
Dr. Randy Schaetzl
Michigan State University
Unraveling the Relationships among Soils, Vegetation and Climate on the Sandy Uplands of Michigan's Northern Lower Peninsula.
September 2008
Aaron Ellison
Harvard University
Plants that Build Environments: a Tale of Two Foundation Species
October 2008
Dr. Jennifer Harden
USGS, Menlo Park California
A Paradigm for Soil Resilience
October 2007
Svata Louda
University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Biological Control: A Double-edged Sword
September 2006
Richard Mack
Washington State University
Invasion! Immigration Routes and Ecological Genetics of Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass) in North America
October 2006
Dr. Carolyn Bledsoe
University of California - Davis
Frontiers in Mycorrhizal Research: Functional Diversity of ectomycorrhizas in Oak Woodlands.
September 2005
Dr. James Tiedje
Michigan State University
Genomic Insights into Environmental Microbiology
September 2004
Dr. Mike Ryan
USDA Forest Service
Rocky Mountain Research Station
Carbon Allocation in Forest Ecosystems
September 2004
Rob Jackson
Duke University
Global Consequences of Vegetation Change: Linking Ecosystem Changes Above- and Below-Ground.
October 2, 2003
Bob Naiman
University of Washington
The Ecology of Interfaces: New Perspectives from Pacific Coastal Riparian Systems.
October 2003
Dr. Dan Binkley
Colorado State University
Connecting Resource Supply with Forest Growth—Brazil to the Colorado Rockies
October 2002