Members

Our members come from an array of colleges and departments at MTU and partner organizations. Scroll down to look through the entire list.

Center Director and Staff


  • Professor, Biological Sciences
  • Director, Ecosystem Science Center
  • Director, Aquatic Analysis (AQUA) Shared Facility

Research Interests

  • Limnology
  • Ecosystem Ecology of Streams and Rivers
  • Biogeochemistry
  • Center Manager, Ecosystem Science Center

Links of Interest

Specialties

  • Proposal Writing and Grant Management
  • Aquatic Invasive Species Policy
  • Environmental Planning
  • Natural Resources Law

Members


Hannah Abbotts

Hannah Abbotts

  • Research Scientist
  • Content Manager, USDA Climate Hubs and FS Climate Change Resource Center
  • Assistant Professor of Economics, College of Business

Teaching Interests

  • Principles of Economics
  • Microeconomics
  • Environmental and Natural Resource Economics

Research Interests

  • Coupled human and environmental systems
  • Fishery economics and management
  • Computable General Equilibrium Modeling
  • Regional Natural Resource Economic Modeling 

Tara L. Bal

  • Assistant Professor, Forest Health
  • Master of Forestry Degree Program Director
  • Wood Protection Group, Microbiology/Pathology Lab Leader

Teaching Interests

  • Forest Health
  • Forest Entomology
  • Forest Pathology
  • Wild Foods, Maple Syrup & Culture
  • Professionalism

Areas of Expertise

  • Forest Health Management and Monitoring
  • Forest Education, Diversity and Inclusion in Forestry and Natural Resources
  • Invasion Ecology
  • Wood Decay Testing and Pathology
  • Insect, Fungi, and Environmental Education, Pedagogy
Megan Berberich

Megan Berberich

  • ANF-RCN Research Scientist

Expertise

  • Biogeochemistry
  • Ecosystem Ecology
Parth Bhatt
"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."
—Gandhi

Parth Bhatt

  • Assistant Teaching Professor/Researcher

Areas of Expertise

  • Geographical Information Systems
  • Remote Sensing
  • Digital Image Processing (Multispectral, LiDAR, UAV, Hyperspectral)
  • Land use/cover Mapping
  • Invasive Species Mapping
  • Forest Health and Natural Resource Management
  • Spatial Data Analysis
  • Web GIS/ArcGIS Online
  • Associate Professor, Computer Science
  • Associate Dean, Data Science Initiatives, College of Computing
  • Director, Data Science, M.S. and B.S. Programs

Area of Expertise

  • Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
  • Data Mining and Data Science
  • Applications of AI and ML to Energy (microgrids, power systems), Health, and other domains
  • Assistant Professor

Areas of Expertise

  • Conservation genetics
  • Canid genomics
  • Noninvasive methods in wildlife management
  • Wildlife immuno- & epi- genetics
  • Applied conservation in Central Africa

 

Andrew Burton
"Every day in the woods is a good day - don't get so caught up in the work at hand that you forget to look around and appreciate where you are."
  • Distinguished Professor
  • Interim Associate Dean for Research
  • Coordinator of Interdisciplinary, Multi-Institutional Research

Areas of Expertise

  • Forest responses to global change factors
  • Belowground processes
  • Carbon and nutrient cycling
  • Physiological ecology of tree roots
  • Undergraduate involvement in research
Julia Burton
"There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace."
—Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac

Julia I. Burton

  • Associate Professor, Silviculture

Areas of Expertise

  • Silviculture
  • Functional ecology
  • Conservation of biodiversity in managed forests
  • Climate change adaptation and mitigation
  • Forest community and stand dynamics
  • Disturbance ecology
  • Associate Professor, Environmental/Energy Justice
  • On Sabbatical Fall 2023-Spring 2024

Areas of Expertise

  • Environmental & rural sociology
  • Community-based and participatory research
  • Social movements and social change
  • Gender & ecofeminism
  • Agrifood systems
Molly Cavaleri
"The wonder is that we can see these trees and not wonder more."
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
  • Interim Associate Dean & Professor
  • Director of Graduate Studies

Links of Interest

Areas of Expertise

  • Forest canopy structure and function
  • Forest response to global change
  • Carbon and water cycling through forests
  • Tree ecophysiology
  • Stable isotope ecology
  • Invasive tree species
Rodney Chimner
"We are what we imagine ourselves to be."
—Kurt Vonnegut, Jr
  • Professor

Areas of Expertise

  • Peatland and wetland restoration
  • Peatland and wetland carbon cycling
  • Mountain wetlands
  • Tropical peatlands
  • Ecosystem carbon cycling
  • Wetland ecohydrology

Stacy R Cotey

  • Assistant Teaching Professor

Areas of Expertise

  • Mesocarnivore ecology
  • Landscape ecology
  • Wildlife-habitat relationships
  • Conservation planning
  • Science communication
  • Citizen science
  • Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics

Areas of Expertise

  • Solar photovoltaic and thermal power plants
  • Electricity grid operational modeling
  • Energy-water nexus

Research Interests

  • Impacts of climate change on electric power systems
  • Energy transitions in cold climates
  • Solar photovoltaic design for cold climates
  • Heat pump performance
  • Thermal power plant modeling
Jennifer Eikenberry

Jennifer Eikenberry

  • Assistant Research Scientist

Areas of Expertise

  • Stable isotopes
  • Forest ecology
  • Mass spectrometry
  • Interim Dean & Professor
  • Director of Undergraduate Programs

Areas of Expertise

  • Conservation biology
  • Avian ecology and reproduction
  • Cascading effects of deer overbrowse
  • Island ecology
  • Director, University-Indigenous Community Partnerships, Great Lakes Research Center
  • Assistant Professor, College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science
  • Affiliated Assistant Professor, Humanities

Research Interests

  • University-Community Partnerships, research engagement, and equitable practice and design
  • Environmental Justice and Policy, toxic substances, risk management, and promoting holistic health
  • Indigenous / Native American Studies, treaties and the government-to-government relationship, food sovereignty, and Indigenous wisdom in the Great Lakes region
  • Environmental Stewardship and the Seven Generations Philosophy
  • Assistant Professor, Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering

Research Interests

  • Qualitative and quantitative mass spectrometry application
  • Persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic pollutants (PBTs) monitoring
  • Fate and transport of PBTs in aquatic environment
  • Biomarkers of DNA damage induced by carcinogens
  • Associate Vice President for Research Development
  • University Professor of Natural Resource Policy
  • Joint Appointment in Social Sciences and CFRES

Areas of Expertise

  • Climate change mitigation policy
  • Arctic climate change impacts
  • Energy conservation policy
  • Renewable energy policy
  • Indigeneity and climate policy
  • Senior Research Engineer, Chemical Engineering
  • Adjunct Assistant Professor, Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering
  • Faculty Advisor, Green Campus Enterprise

Research Interests

  • Sustainable water and energy systems
  • Life-cycle assessment
  • Bioproducts and bioenergy
  • Sustainable materials and manufacturing
  • Aquaponics and hydroponics
  • Ecosystem services
  • Center Manager, Ecosystem Science Center

Links of Interest

Specialties

  • Proposal Writing and Grant Management
  • Aquatic Invasive Species Policy
  • Environmental Planning
  • Natural Resources Law
Sarah Hoy

Sarah Hoy

  • Research Assistant Professor

Specialties

  • Predator-prey interactions
  • Animal ecology and conservation
  • Population biology
  • Life-history trade-offs
  • Interim Department Chair, Biological Sciences
  • Professor, Biological Sciences

Links of Interest

Google Scholar Profile

Research Expertise

  • Ecology of lakes, streams, and their riparian interface with terrestrial systems
  • Fish ecology, biology, functional morphology
  • effects of land use on ecological systems
  • Biomonitoring for research and restoration
  • Effects of Invasive Species
Mike Hyslop
"A good map tells a multitude of little white lies; it suppresses truth to help the user see what needs to be seen. ...the value of a map depends on how well its content reflects a chosen aspect of reality."
—Mark Monmonier
  • Teaching Professor
  • Master of Geographic Information Science Degree Program Director

Areas of Expertise

  • Geographic information systems
  • Cartography
  • Global positioning systems
  • Great Lakes Quaternary (glacial) geomorphology
  • Deputy Director, Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science, USFS

Links of Interest

Specialties

  • Translating science related to climate change and carbon into usable information, resources, and tools for forestry and conservation professionals.
Mickey Jarvi
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference"
—Robert Frost
  • Assistant Teaching Professor

Areas of Expertise

  • Forest ecology with an emphasis on belowground processes
  • Ecophysiology
  • Forest response to global climate change
  • Tree species native range differences in nutrient cycling
  • Forestry and natural resource issues identified through the use of multispectral and hyperspectral imagery attached to unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) 
Chandrashekhar Joshi
"Cellulose is the fiber of human civilization."
  • Emeritus Research Professor, Biological Sciences
  • Affiliated Professor, CFRES

Research Interests: Biological Sciences

  • Plant Molecular Genetics

Areas of Expertise: Biology and Forestry

  • Cellulose and lignin biosynthesis in trees
  • Wood formation
  • Tree growth and development
  • Engineering trees
  • Forest bioinformatics/computational biology
Martin Jurgensen
"Soil is the basis of all terrestrial life."
  • Research Professor

Links of Interest

Areas of Expertise

  • Forest soil productivity, management and sustainability
  • Global climate change impact on soil biology
  • Organic matter decomposition and ecosystem nutrient cycling
  • Professor

Areas of Expertise

  • Soil carbon
  • Plant/soil relationships
  • Decomposition
  • Dissolved organic carbon
  • Wildfire
  • Black carbon
Carsten Külheim
"Forestry will become a major provider of key materials; from construction to high-tech to biofuels. It is our job to ensure trees thrive."
  • Associate Professor

Links of Interest

Kuelheim Laboratory

Areas of Expertise

  • Genetic basis of trait variation
  • Plant adaptation to local environment
  • Plant secondary metabolism
  • Chemical ecology including plant –herbivore interactions
  • Functional genomics of plant defences
  • Professor, Computer Science
  • Associate Dean for Research, College of Computing
  • Associate Director, ICC

Research Interests

  • Bioinformatics
  • Data Science
  • Machine Learning/Deep Learning
  • High-performance Computing
Adrienne Keller

Adrienne Keller

  • Climate Adaptation Specialist, NIACS

Areas of Expertise

  • Climate change
  • Land management
  • Terrestrial ecosystem ecology
  • Soil carbon science
  • Assistant Professor, Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering

Research Interests

  • Photogrammetry
  • Remote Sensing
  • GIS
  • Geospatial Cyberinfrastructure
  • Application of geospatial technology to agriculture and environmental science
Angela Lafuente

Angela Lafuente

  • Post-Doctoral Researcher, CFRES

Areas of Expertise

  • Climate Change
  • Soil Ecology
  • Soil Respiration
  • Biogeochemical Cycling
  • Distinguished Professor of Environmental History, Social Sciences
  • Affiliated Professor, CFRES

Areas of Interest

  • Toxics, forested watersheds, and northern lakes
  • Environmental history
  • Watershed change and water quality
  • Mining history
Erik Lilleskov
"Change is the norm in ecosystems. What is new is the rate of change. How we respond to this change will be our legacy to future generations."
  • Adjunct Professor

Areas of Expertise

  • Forest ecology
  • Ecosystems ecology
  • Physiological ecology
  • Community ecology
  • Fungal ecology
  • Mycorrhizal fungi
  • Molecular ecology
  • Soil ecology
  • Global environmental change impacts on forest ecosystems
  • Invasive species impacts
  • Biogeography of invasive soil organisms
Fengjing Liu
"Water is the new oil: a resource long squandered and soon to be overwhelmed by insatiable demand."
—The Economist
  • Associate Professor

Areas of Expertise

  • Ecohydrology and forest hydrology
  • Hydrological and biogeochemical processes in snowmelt-dominated watersheds
  • Black ash wetland ecosystem processes 
  • Assistant Professor in Remote Sensing and GIS

Areas of Expertise

  • Remote sensing
  • Change detection
  • Natural disaster mapping
  • Invasive species mapping
  • Landcover mapping
  • Vegetation property extraction with remote sensing techniques 
Ann Maclean
"The practical application of knowledge is what moves us forward."
  • Professor Emerita

Areas of Expertise

  • Remote sensing
  • Digital image processing
  • Geographic information systems
  • Spatial modeling
  • Professor Emerita of Anthropology, Social Sciences

Research Interests

  • Environmental anthropology/political ecology
  • Anthropology of industry (mining, sugar)
  • Hawai`i and the Pacific
  • Anthropology of public policy
  • Professor, Biological Sciences
  • Director, Ecosystem Science Center
  • Director, Aquatic Analysis (AQUA) Shared Facility

Research Interests

  • Limnology
  • Ecosystem Ecology of Streams and Rivers
  • Biogeochemistry
Lucas Nave
"Knowing what thou knowest not is in a sense omniscience."
—Piet Hein
  • Research Associate Professor
  • Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science

Specialties

  • Forest ecology
  • Soil carbon management
  • Biogeochemistry
  • Data synthesis and meta-analysis
  • Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences

Research Interests

  • Community Ecology
  • Trophic Interactions
  • Marine Ecology
  • Ecogeochemical Tracer Techniques
  • Director, Center for Science and Environmental Outreach
  • Director, Family Engineering Program
  • Staff, Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering
  • Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering

Links of Interest

Courses Taught

  • CM5300 – Advanced Transport Phenomena
  • CM3979/ENT3979 – Alternative Energy Processes and Technologies
  • CM4125 - Bioprocess Engineering Lab

Research Interests

  • Lignocellulosic-Based Biofuels and Biomaterials
  • Sustainability of Bioenergy Production Systems
  • Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences

Areas of Expertise

  • Legacy and emerging pollutants
  • Ecotoxicology
  • Great Lakes fisheries
  • Multiple stressors
  • Fisheries bioenergetics

Research Interests

  • Using pollutants as ecological tracers
  • Overwintering bioaccumulation and bioamplification
  • Energy dynamics in Great Lakes food-webs
  • Energetic costs of multiple stressors
  • Professor, Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering

Teaching Interests

  • Environmental Engineering
  • Transport & Transformation of Organic Chemicals
  • Boundary Layer Meteorology
  • Sustainability

Research Interests

  • Air and Water Quality
  • Atmosphere-biosphere Exchange of Chemicals
  • Micrometeorology
  • Environmental Analytical Chemistry
  • Sustainability
Rolf Peterson
"The challenge of wild carnivore restoration."
  • Research Professor

Areas of Expertise

  • Mammalian ecology
  • Predator-prey relationships
  • Ecology and behavior of gray wolves
Sigrid Resh
"Every tree has its enemy, few have an advocate."
—J. R. R. Tolkien (1892-1973)

Sigrid Resh

  • Research Assistant Professor
  • Coordinator, Keweenaw Invasive Species Management Area (KISMA)

Areas of Expertise

  • Invasive species research, treatments, and education/outreach
  • Forest restoration
  • Soil sustainability
  • Associate Professor, Social Sciences
  • Graduate Director, Social Sciences

Research Interests

  • Interdisciplinary studies
  • Social simulation (agent-based modeling)
  • Policy analysis
  • International relations
  • Sustainability assessment
  • Complex adaptive systems
  • Norm evolution and social influence
  • STEM education evaluation
  • Research design and methods
  • Professor of Practice in Forest Biomaterials
  • Coordinator of Industrial Research, Innovation, and Commercialization
  • Director of Ford Center and Forest

Areas of Expertise

  • Forest Biomaterials
  • Tree biomechanics
  • Wind and trees
  • Dendrochronology
  • Extension and Outreach
  • Assistant Professor, Applied Computing
  • Affiliated Faculty, Computational Science & Engineering

Teaching Interests

  • Data Acquisition and Signal Processing
  • Senior Design
  • Mechatronics system design and integration
  • Modeling and simulation of complex systems
  • Sensors and actuators
  • Hydraulic and pneumatic systems
  • Control system design
  • Instrumentation and measurements

Research Interests

  • UAV-based Remote Sensing 

  • Drone-based oil spill detection in Ocean
  • Artificial Intelligence Applications in Remote Sensing

  • Computer Vision and AI

  • Data acquisition and real-time control
  • Robotics system design and Integration

  • Control of Pneumatic Systems
  • Professor of Sociology, Department of Social Sciences
  • Affiliated Professor, College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science
  • Director of Research, Center for Innovation in Sustainability & Resilience

Research Interests

  • Socio-technological systam transitions
  • Technology adoption
  • Energy policy
  • Energy practices
  • Sustainable communities
  • Self-provisioning
  • Environmental education
Danielle Shannon

Danielle Shannon

  • Research Scientist
  • Coordinator, USDA Northern Forests Climate Hub

Terry Sharik

  • Research Professor
  • Dean Emeritus & Professor Emeritus

Areas of Interest/Study

  • Academic leadership in natural resources
  • Educational reform in natural resources
  • Trends in natural resource enrollments
  • Regeneration ecology of forests
  • Assistant Professor, Cognitive and Learning Sciences
  • Interim Graduate Program Director, Cognitive and Learning Sciences

Research Interests

  • Cognitive demand of physical tasks
  • Cognitive state assessment
  • Multitasking
  • Sustained attention
  • Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
  • Professor, College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science

Links of Interest

Areas of Expertise

  • Forest insect ecology
  • Insect/fungus/plant interactions in forest ecosystems
  • Impacts of exotic species on forest ecosystems
  • Interactions among fire, insects and disease in forests
  • Urban forest health
Spencer Tassone

Spencer Tassone

  • Post-doctoral Researcher, Biological Sciences

Links of Interest

Areas of Expertise

  • Aquatic Heatwaves
  • Ecosystem Resilience
  • Harmful Algal Blooms
  • Ecosystem Metabolism
  • Associate Professor, Biological Sciences
  • Associate Director, Great Lakes Research Center

Research Interests

  • Environmental Microbiology
  • Next-generation sequencing technology and bioinformatics/computational biology
  • Microbial physiology and biochemistry
  • Microbes as sensors for the environmental impacts of oil and gas production
  • Microbially-mediated remediation of crude oil contamination
  • Sustainability and plastic biodegradation
Colin Tucker

Colin Tucker

  • Research Ecologist, USFS Northern Research Station

Specialties

  • Ecosystem and Soil Ecology
  • Ecosystem Modeling
  • Biogeochemistry
Rob Tunison

Rob Tunison

  • Post-doctoral Researcher, CFRES

Areas of Expertise

  • Plant physiology
  • Climate change
  • Tropical Ecology
  • Professor, Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering

Links of Interest

Research Interests

  • Environmental cycles of major and trace elements
  • Sediment diagenesis and stratigraphy
  • Chemistry of natural organic matter
  • Wetland biogeochemistry
  • Environmental impact and fate of pollutants
  • Influence of organisms on the chemical environment
  • Role of chemical environment in controlling populations
  • Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences

Research Interests

  • Microbial Ecology
  • Biogeochemistry
  • Limnology
  • Cryosphere 
  • Associate Professor of Forest Ecology & Management
Ken Vrana

Ken Vrana

  • Director, Isle Royale Institute
  • Distinguished Professor

Areas of Expertise

  • Demographic and genetic elements of population biology
  • Ecology of wolves and moose
  • Environmental ethics
Leah Vucetich
"Whether working with students in the lab, field or classroom, nothing beats seeing the spark of understanding ignite a passion for learning."
  • Research Assistant Professor

Areas of Expertise

  • Isle Royale wolf genetics
  • Field research methods

Areas of Expertise

  • Gap dynamics and disturbance ecology
  • Invasion biology of exotic species
  • Landscape ecology
  • Plant community ecology
  • Restoration silviculture
  • Wildlife habitat relationships
Hairong Wei
"We are doing excellent job in describing how an individual gene functions, but not how life functions. Systems biology is to fill this gap."
  • Professor
  • Editor-in-Chief, Forestry Research (ForRes)
  • Affiliated Professor, Department of Computer Science & Department of Mathematics

Software developed by Wei group

 

    Research Interests

  • Bioinformatics tool and software development
  • Identification of genes regulating complex traits via systems biology approaches
  • Algorithms for gene network construction;
  • Genomics of wood formation
  • Functional genomics.
  • Genome Assembly and annotation

     

     

  • Professor of Sociology and Demography, Social Sciences

Areas of Expertise

  • Rural Sociology
  • Population and Environment
  • Environmental Sociology
  • Community Engaged Scholarship
  • Internal Migration
  • GIS and spatial analysis
  • Assistant Professor

Fields of Expertise

  • Wildlife conservation in working landscapes
  • Temperate and tropical avian ecology
  • Demographic modeling
  • Avian molts and plumage
  • Associate Professor of Forest Biomaterials

Areas of Expertise

  • Carbon materials derived from wood, lignin, and cellulose
  • Integrated thermochemical conversion and fractionation of lignocellulosic biomass
  • Carbon-polymer composites and hybrid materials
  • Wood protection and preservation
  • Wood properties, quality, and modification
Yinan Yuan
"The RNA regulatory system might have been essential prerequisite to both the evolution of developmentally sophisticated multicellular organisms and the rapid expansion of phenotypic complexity into uncontested environment."
  • Assistant Professor

Areas of Expertise

  • Identification and characterization of natural antisense transcripts in woody plants 
  • Functionality of alternative splicing and fusion RNAs in plant growth and development 
  • Sequencing complex plant transcriptome through targeted nanopore direct RNA sequencing methods