College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science

Faculty and Staff Directory

Andrew Storer

Andrew J. Storer

  • Dean and Professor

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
Hannah Abbotts

Hannah Abbotts

  • Research Scientist
  • Content Manager, USDA Climate Hubs and FS Climate Change Resource Center

Links of Interest

Climate Change Resource Center

USDA Climate Hubs

Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science

Carrie Andrew

Carrie Andrew

  • Research Assistant Professor

Teaching Interests

  • Ecology
  • Mycology
  • R for data analysis and visualization
  • General biology / Introduction to biology
  • Environmental science / The changing natural environment

Areas of Expertise

  • Global change: climate, nitrogen, CO2, O3
  • Mycology: fungal ecology
  • Ecology: from community to macroecology
  • Observational data & other openly available "big" data: citizen science, herbarium/fungarium & environmental metadata
  • Phenology
  • R for data processing, formatting, statistical analyses (spatiotemporal analyses and modeling) & graphical output
Tara Bal

Tara L. Bal

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

Teaching Interests

  • Forest Health
  • Insect Ecology
  • Maple Syrup Culture & Management
  • Natural Resources Communication
  • Vegetation and Pathology

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
Marjorie Banovetz

Marjorie Banovetz

  • Human Resources Representative
  • Graduate Assistant
  • Administrative Aide
Kristin Brzeski

Kristin Brzeski

  • Assistant Professor

Links of Interest

My webpage

Biodiversity Initiative

 

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."

Andrew J. Burton

  • Associate Dean and Professor
  • Coordinator of Interdisciplinary, Multi-Institutional Research

Links of Interest

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 Burton

  • Associate Professor, Silviculture

Links of Interest

Forest Ecosystem Management and Silviculture Lab

Areas of Expertise

  • Silviculture
  • Functional ecology
  • Conservation of biodiversity in managed forests
  • Climate change adaptation and mitigation
  • Forest community and stand dynamics
  • Disturbance ecology
Victor Busov
"I consider myself extremely fortunate to live in a time when genome revolution in many areas of biology is enabling unprecedented depth into our understanding of life."

Victor Busov

  • Professor

Links of Interest

Areas of Expertise

  • Regulation of winter bud dormancy
  • Gibberellins metabolism and signal transduction pathway
  • Regulation of lateral root formation in relation to nitrogen and drought stress
  • Regulation and evolution of secondary growth in woody perennials
  • Micro and small RNAs regulation of development and response to environment
Lori Carne

Lori Carne

  • Facility Staff
Molly Cavaleri
"The wonder is that we can see these trees and not wonder more."
—Ralph Waldo Emerson

Molly A. Cavaleri

  • Associate 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

Rodney A. Chimner

  • Professor

Links of Interest

Areas of Expertise

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

Robin Chosa

  • Operations Manager, Ford Center
Stacy Cotey

Stacy Cotey

  • Assistant Teaching Professor
  • Academic Advisor, Undergraduate Students

  Areas of Expertise  

Student success

Scheduling, degree planning

Landscape ecology

Wildlife-habitat relationships

Mesocarnivore ecology

Science communication

Zhaohua Dai

Zhaohua Dai

  • Research Assistant Professor
Jim Desrochers

Jim Desrochers

  • Director for Corporate Relations

About Jim

  • He is a 2-time Michigan Tech Alumnus - 1989 BS Electrical Engineering 2016 MBA
  • He worked for several companies before joining Michigan Tech and has worked in Career Services and Corporate Relations
  • He enjoys exploring the Waterfalls and hiking trails in the Keweenaw
     
Paul Doskey
"Understanding how the Earth system functions is key to sustaining its natural resources for future generations."

Paul V. Doskey

  • Professor

Research Interests

  • Environmental Biogeochemistry
  • Biogeochemistry of Surface-Atmosphere Exchange
  • Atmospheric Organic Chemistry
  • Environmental Analytical Chemistry
Jennifer Eikenberry

Jennifer Eikenberry

  • Assistant Research Scientist

Areas of Expertise

  • Stable isotopes
  • Forest ecology
  • Mass spectrometry
Joe Eskola

Joe Eskola

  • Research Associate

Areas of Expertise

  • Wood protection
  • Quality control
David Flaspohler
"Hope is the thing with feathers. That perches in the soul."
—Emily Dickinson

David J. Flaspohler

  • Professor
  • Director of Undergraduate Programs

Links of Interest

Areas of Expertise

  • Conservation biology
  • Avian ecology and reproduction
  • Cascading effects of deer overbrowse
  • Island ecology
Valoree Gagnon

Valoree Gagnon

  • Director, University-Indigenous Community Partnerships, Great Lakes Research Center
  • Assistant Professor, College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science

Links of Interest

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
Kathy Halvorsen

Kathy Halvorsen

  • 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
Katherine Heckman

Katherine Heckman

  • Research Biological Scientist
  • Radiocarbon Collaborative Manager

Links of Interest

Radiocarbon Collaborative

Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science

Areas of Expertise

Soil organic matter stabilization, characterization and cycling

Radiocarbon analysis and application

Soil mineralogy, organo-mineral interactions

Kathryn Hofmeister

Kathryn Hofmeister

  • Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Areas of Expertise

  • Watershed hydrology and biogeochemistry
  • Forest and wetland hydrology
  • Geographic Information Systems(GIS)
  • Science outreach and communication
Sarah Hoy

Sarah Hoy

  • Research Assistant Professor

Specialties

  • Predator-prey interactions
  • Animal ecology and conservation
  • Population biology
  • Life-history trade-offs
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

Mike Hyslop

  • Teaching Professor
  • Master of Geographic Information Science Degree Program Director

Links of Interest

Areas of Expertise

  • Geographic information systems
  • Cartography
  • Global positioning systems
  • Great Lakes Quaternary (glacial) geomorphology
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

Mickey Jarvi

  • 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."

Chandrashekhar P. Joshi

  • Department Chair and Professor, Biological Sciences
  • Affiliated Professor, CFRES

Links of Interest

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
Martin Jurgensen
"Soil is the basis of all terrestrial life."

Martin F. Jurgensen

  • 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
Evan Kane
"If trees could run away from their place of establishment, believe me many of them probably would!"

Evan S. Kane

  • Associate 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."

Carsten Külheim

  • 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
Cindy Kela

Cindy Kela

  • Custodian
Erik Keranen

Erik Keranen

  • Assistant Research Scientist

Areas of Expertise

  • Wood protection
  • Wood composites
  • Physical and mechanical properties testing of wood and wood composites
  • Field-testing of wood products for decay and insect resistance
Shawn Klomparens

Shawn Klomparens

  • Web Developer, USDA Climate Hubs and FS Climate Change Resource Center

Links of Interest

Climate Change Resource Center

USDA Climate Hubs

Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science

E. Krause
"I am in love with what we are, not what we should be."
—Kesha

E. Krause

  • Outreach Assistant
  • CFRES Diversity Committee Member
Nancy Langston

Nancy Langston

  • Distinguished Professor of Environmental History, Social Sciences
  • Affiliated Professor, CFRES

Links of Interest

Areas of Interest

  • Toxics, forested watersheds, and northern lakes
  • Environmental history
  • Watershed change and water quality
  • Mining history
Robert Laverne
"We are, in actuality, students of that greater order known as nature. It is into nature that man vanishes."
—Loren Eiseley

Robert James Laverne

  • Adjunct Associate Professor

Links of Interest

Areas of Expertise

  • Urban Forestry
  • Arboriculture
  • Tree Appraisal and Expert Witness Services
  • Environmental, Economic and Social Benefits of Urban Forests
  • Soundscape Ecology
Patricia Leopold

Patricia Leopold

  • Research Scientist I

Links of Interest

Areas of Expertise

  • ecosystem response to climate change
  • climate change adaptation and management strategies
  • outreach and technical transfer of climate change tools and resources
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."

Erik Lilleskov

  • Adjunct Professor

Links of Interest

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
Tao Liu

Tao Liu

  • Assistant Professor in Remote Sensing and GIS

Links of Interest

Areas of Expertise

  • Remote sensing
  • Change detection
  • Natural disaster mapping
  • Invasive species mapping
  • Landcover mapping
  • Vegetation property extraction with remote sensing techniques 
Fengjing Liu
"Water is the new oil: a resource long squandered and soon to be overwhelmed by insatiable demand."
—The Economist

Fengjing Liu

  • Associate Professor

Links of Interest

Black Ash Wetland Ecosystem Processes

Google Scholar Page

Areas of Expertise

  • Ecohydrology and forest hydrology
  • Hydrological and biogeochemical processes in snowmelt-dominated watersheds
  • Black ash wetland ecosystem processes 
Ann Maclean
"The practical application of knowledge is what moves us forward."

Ann Maclean

  • Professor Emerita

Areas of Expertise

  • Remote sensing
  • Digital image processing
  • Geographic information systems
  • Spatial modeling
Kailey Marcinkowski

Kailey Marcinkowski

  • Research Scientist

Specialties

  • High-elevation forest ecosystems
  • Dendrochronology
  • Climate change impacts and adaptation
  • Science outreach and communication
Chris Miller

Chris Miller

  • Instructor
  • Soils Lab/Greenhouse Manager
  • Facility Space Coordinator

Teaching Interests

Biometrics

Wildland Fire

Soil Science

Specialties

Ecological effects of wildland fire

Soil bulk density

Wood decay data analysis

 

Todd Ontl

Todd Ontl

  • Research Scientist
  • Climate Adaptation Specialist

Specialties

  • Forest carbon management
  • Climate change adaptation
  • Climate change impacts to forest and peatland ecosystems
  • Mechanisms of soil carbon stabilization
  • Restoration of grassland ecosystems
Rolf Peterson
"The challenge of wild carnivore restoration."

Rolf O. Peterson

  • Research Professor

Areas of Expertise

  • Mammalian ecology
  • Predator-prey relationships
  • Ecology and behavior of gray wolves
Sigrid Resh
"If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in."
—Rachel Carson (1907-1964)

Sigrid Resh

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

Links of Interest

Areas of Expertise

  • Invasive species research, treatments, and education/outreach
  • Forest restoration
  • Soil sustainability
Robert Ross

Robert Ross

  • Research Professor

Links of Interest

Areas of Expertise

  • Forest Biomaterials
  • Nondestructive Evaluation
  • Structural Condition Assessment
Mark Rudnicki

Mark Rudnicki

  • 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
Jennifer Sanders

Jennifer Sanders

  • Biotech and Genomics Lab Manager
Chelsea Schelly

Chelsea Schelly

  • Associate Professor of Sociology
  • Affiliated Associate Professor, CFRES

Links of Interest

Research Interests

  • Alternative technology adoption
  • Renewable energy technologies
  • Renewable and alternative technology policy
  • Sustainable communities
  • Energy conservation and consumption practices
  • Self-provisioning
  • Environmental education
James Schmierer
"Useful concepts must be placed in context and rendered operational."

James M. Schmierer

  • Assistant Teaching Professor

Links of Interest

Areas of Expertise

  • Management and silviculture of northern hardwoods and boreal forests
  • Timber harvesting and site preparation effects on forest regeneration
  • Forest recreational development and management
Kristen Schmitt

Kristen Schmitt

  • Research Scientist I

Links of Interest

MTU Research Partnerships- NIACS

USDA Northern Forests Climate Hub

The Climate Change Resource Center

Areas of Expertise

  • Ecosystem response to climate change
  • Climate change adaptation in natural resource management
  • Science synthesis and communication
Danielle Shannon

Danielle Shannon

  • Research Scientist
  • Coordinator, USDA Northern Forests Climate Hub

Links of Interest

Terry Sharik

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
Christopher Swanston

Christopher W. Swanston

  • Research Ecologist
  • Adjunct Professor
  • Director, Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science

Links of Interest

Areas of Expertise

  • Soil organic carbon stabilization and cycling
  • Radiocarbon analysis and interpretation
  • Forest response and adaptation to climate change
  • Landscape scale conservation
Steven Voelker

Steven Voelker

  • Associate Professor of Forest Ecology & Management
Ken Vrana

Ken Vrana

  • Director, Isle Royale Institute
John Vucetich

John A. Vucetich

  • Professor

Links of Interest

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."

Leah M. Vucetich

  • Research Assistant Professor

Links of Interest

Areas of Expertise

  • Isle Royale wolf genetics
  • Field research methods
Christopher Webster
"Maintaining balance and stability in natural systems requires embracing their underlying chaos."

Christopher R. Webster

  • Professor

Areas of Expertise

  • Gap dynamics and disturbance ecology
  • Invasion biology of exotic species
  • Landscape ecology
  • Plant community response to herbivory
  • 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."

Hairong Wei

  • Professor
  • Editor-in-Chief, Forestry Research (ForRes): http://www.maxapress.com/journal/forres
  • Affiliated Professor, Department of Computer Science & Department of Mathematics

Links of Interest

Areas of Expertise

  • Identification of genes regulating complex traits via systems biology approaches
  • Gene expression data analysis
  • Gene network construction and decomposition
  • Developing software for mining large-scale biological data
  • Genomics of wood formation
Phyllis Williamson

Phyllis Williamson

  • Director of Administration
Jared Wolfe

Jared D. Wolfe

  • Assistant Professor

Links of Interest

Wolfe webpage

Biodiversity Initiative

Fields of Expertise


    • Wildlife conservation in working landscapes
    • Temperate and tropical avian ecology
    • Demographic modeling
    • Avian molts and plumage
Xinfeng Xie

Xinfeng Xie

  • 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."

Yinan Yuan

  • Assistant Professor

Areas of Expertise

  • Identification and characterization of natural antisense transcripts in woody plants
  • Alternative splicing and salicylic acid metabolism in populus
  • Sequencing complex plant genome through gene-enriched methods