Department of Environmental and Forest Biology
Annual Report
Summer 2016 Academic Year 2016 – 2017
Donald J. Leopold Chair, Department of Environmental and Forest Biology SUNY-ESF 1 Forestry Drive Syracuse, NY 13210 Email: [email protected]; ph: (315) 470-6760
August 15, 2017 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction ...... 4
Overview to Annual Report ...... 4 Building(s) ...... 6
Teaching ...... 6
Summary of main courses taught by faculty members ...... 6 Course teaching load summary by faculty members ...... 10 Undergraduate student advising loads ...... 12 Curriculum changes ...... 12 Undergraduate students enrolled in each EFB major ...... 12 Listing of awards and recognition ...... 13
Undergraduate Recruitment Efforts ...... 13
Student Learning Outcomes Assessment ...... 14
Research/Scholarship ...... 14
Summary of publications/presentations ...... 14 Science Citation Indices ...... 14 Most Cited Publication of Each EFB Faculty Member ...... 18 Summary of grant activity ...... 20 Patents and Patent Applications ...... 22 Listing of awards and recognition ...... 22
Outreach and Service ...... 22
Service to the department, college, and university ...... 22 Enumeration of outreach activities ...... 22 Summary of grant panel service ...... 23 Number of journal manuscripts reviewed by faculty...... 23 Summary of journal editorial board service...... 23 Listing of awards and recognition ...... 24
Service Learning ...... 24
Graduate Students...... 26
Number of students by degree objectives ...... 26 Graduate student national fellowships/awards ...... 26 Graduate recruitment efforts ...... 26 Graduate student advising ...... 28 2
Courses having TA support and enrollment in each ...... 28 Graduate Program Accomplishments – Miscellaneous...... 29
Governance and Administrative Structure ...... 29
Components...... 29 Supporting offices, committees, directors, and coordinators ...... 30
Budget ...... 32
State budget allocations ...... 32 Funds Generated by Summer Courses and Grad Tuition Incentive Program ...... 34 SUNY Research Foundation research incentives funds ...... 34 Development funds ...... 35
Objectives 2016-2017 ...... 36
Objectives, status, and relations to strategic plan ...... 36
Objectives 2017-2018 ...... 37
Objectives and relations to strategic plan ...... 37
Longer Term Visioning and Planning ...... 40
Appendix A. EFB Faculty: Rank, Education, and Interests ...... 44
Appendix B. Summary of Individual Faculty’s Most Significant Accomplishments ...... 47
Appendix C. Faculty Publications (published or in press) ...... 76
Appendix D. Papers Submitted, In Review, Pending Decision ...... 83
Appendix E. Papers/Posters Presented at Science Meetings ...... 86
Appendix F. Faculty Grants ...... 96
Appendix G. Service to Department, College, and University ...... 106
Appendix H. Unfunded Service to Governmental Agencies, Public Interest Groups, etc. . . . .115
Appendix I. Unfunded Service to Professional Societies and Organizations ...... 118
Appendix J. Funded Service to Governmental Agencies, Public Interest Groups, etc...... 120
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Appendix K. Presentations to the Public...... 122
Appendix L. Miscellaneous Publications and Outreach Activities and Materials...... 128
Appendix M. Foreign Travel...... 130
Appendix N. Theses and Dissertations completed ...... 132
Appendix O. List of MPS students who completed degree requirements ...... 134
Appendix P. Summary of Faculty and Student Awards ...... 135
Appendix Q. New York Natural Heritage Program 2015-16 Publications, Presentations and Service ...... 137
Appendix R. Annual Report for the Roosevelt Wild Life Station ...... 138
Appendix S. Annual Report for the Thousand Islands Biological Station ...... 139
Appendix T. Annual Report for Cranberry Lake Biological Station ...... 151
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Introduction – Overview to Annual Report
The topics and format of this annual report generally follow instructions from the Provost’s Office. Additional, brief material is included for readers external to ESF. Individual faculty annual reports, from which much of the information within the EFB Annual Report is directly taken, are available at: http://www.esf.edu/efb/annualreports.htm. Only a few of the many exciting activities and accomplishments within EFB the past academic year are included in this brief summary. Note that this summary was prepared prior to when individual faculty annual reports were received by the Chair, at the request of the ESF Alumni Office. Appendix A lists EFB faculty during the 2016-2017 Academic Year, including their rank, education, and scholarly interests. Numerous contributions by, and highlights of, the faculty follow throughout this report. Each faculty member’s summary (unedited) of their most significant accomplishments this past year is in Appendix B. Of the many faculty highlights this past year, only a few are included in this section. Dr. Brian Leydet, Assistant Professor, began his employment at ESF last August (2016). Dr. Leydet was hired to teach Epidemiology as part of ESF’s undergraduate Environmental Health major as well as contribute in many other ways. His research interests are focused on tick-transmitted diseases in people. Dr. Gord Paterson, toxicologist in EFB who was a key part of the Environmental Health initiative, left ESF in December for a position at Michigan Tech. Early this summer EFB filled this position with the hire of Dr. Roxanne Razavi, who begins at ESF this August1 and will be teaching Toxic Health Hazards (EFB 400/600) this fall semester. Three EFB faculty were notified in April that effective September 1 of this year, they have been promoted. Drs. Jonathan Cohen and Greg McGee (MS ’93, PhD ’98) have been promoted to Associate Professor and awarded Continuing Appointment (i.e., tenure). Dr. Tom Horton has been promoted to Professor. Dr. Beth Folta, Assistant Professor and co-ordinator of the undergraduate major in Environmental Education and Interpretation, has resigned her ESF position to become the Curator of Education at the North Carolina Zoo (Asheboro, NC). In this new position Dr. Folta will lead and administer all activities related to educational programming and volunteer services at the Zoo. We anticipate having authorization soon to replace her, to maintain this important major and related graduate area of study at ESF. Bridget McMaster, Instructional Support Specialist in EFB and instrumental in assisting with General Biology Lab, Environmental Microbiology, Forest Pathology, and other plant science courses retires this June after 27 years in this position. The department has been authorized to replace her. Another EFB instructional support specialist, Ron Giegerich (BS ’78), was recognized at this spring’s employee reception for his forty years (and counting!) of service to ESF as manager of the Roosevelt Wild Life Collection, among other duties. In February, Ron accompanied Dr. James Gibbs and the preserved Lonesome George (the last known Pinta Island tortoise) to its new home in Ecuador, the Symbol of Hope Exhibition Hall in Puerto Ayora. Of the College awards announced at the May Academic Governance meeting, Dr. John Farrell (MS ’91, PhD ’98) was given the ESF Exemplary Research Award, largely due to his leadership of the Thousand Islands Biological Station, his sustained and significant grantsmanship and publication record, and training of many graduate students. Dr. Robin Kimmerer (BS ’75) was the featured cover story in Syracuse New Times in October and in the same month was one of four women in science recognized for outstanding achievement in advancing the cause of the environment and social environmental issues during 5 the 2016 SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry’s Feinstone Environmental Awards. The awards were established in 1976 by Sol Feinstone (a 1915 College of Forestry graduate), a well- known historian and author. The faculty in EFB annually bring in about one-third of all extramural support to ESF. Among the many important research grants received this past year, Dr. Rebecca Rundell’s nearly one-half million dollar award from the National Science Foundation is especially significant as this award will pay a good portion of the specimen storage that will be installed in the Roosevelt Wild Life Education and Research Center being constructed in the basement of the Gateway Building. The College has an additional two million dollars from the state for this project. Led by Dr. Lee Newman, a group of ESF faculty is developing teaching and research programs with Tyumen State University in southwestern Siberia. Dr. Newman and colleagues travelled to TSU last July and hosted a group of administrators and professors from TSU in October. Tyumen, Russia is in the southern portion of the vast oil and gas region of Siberia. Already, TSU has sent one of their top graduate students to work in Dr. Newman’s lab and many more student exchanges are anticipated. Additionally, next summer ESF students will be able to enroll in a month-long summer course that travels from southern to northern Siberia, through this region, to study the wildlife here and the effects of oil and gas extraction on biodiversity. Two EFB faculty took sabbatical leaves this past year. During the fall semester, Dr. Alex Weir spent time travelling, working on manuscripts from his NSF PEET grant, and other writing projects. Dr. Scott Turner spent the spring semester at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study in South Africa where he studied a new research area. Dr. Melissa Fierke has taken over the directorship of the Cranberry Lake Biological Station during a critical time when that program now is required to charge tuition to the students who enroll and continued challenges with ever increasing enrollments for the required Ecological Monitoring and Biodiversity Assessment course taught at the Station each summer. For those who have attended CLBS the past nearly thirty years, we are sad to report that Dr. Elaina Tuttle, who studied white-throated sparrows there, passed last June after a prolonged battle with cancer. Due to substantial efforts by Dr. Jacqui Frair, ESF has received a financial gift from the Camp Fire Club of America that will establish an endowed professorship in Wildlife Ecology, focused on big game management. The national search to fill this position will start soon. The largest monetary gift to the Roosevelt Wild Life Station of one-half million dollars has established a five-year program to examine land management strategies to maximize the conservation value on agricultural lands. As part of that effort, overseen by Dr. Gibbs, Director of the Roosevelt Wild Life Station, EFB Alumnus Sam Quinn ’07, ’09 (both degrees in conservation biology) has been hired as the Research Scientist assisting with this project. This past spring Sam led a group of ten undergraduates in a course based at Overlook Farm in Pennsylvania to examine some of the most important synergies between conservation and agricultural production. Also this spring, Sam led the seniors in the Conservation Biology undergraduate major on a conservation-focused analysis of the proposed national historic park at the Harriet Tubman home site in Auburn. EFB hosted two very successful Dale L. Travis lectures this past year. In October Dr. Gibbs gave a lecture on “Restoring the Giant Tortoise Dynasties of the Galapagos” and in March, Dr. Frair gave a presentation on “Top Dog? The Ecological Role of the Coyote in Northeastern Forests”. Both lectures filled the Gateway lecture hall to its capacity. Brittany Washburn, Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences undergraduate who graduated this past May, was recognized as EFB’s Scholar for the Class of 2017. Terrance Caviness, senior in 6 the Environmental Biology major, was one of two ESF students to receive the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence. EFB alumna Robyn Niver (BS ’97) was recognized at the December commencement as the ESF Graduate of Distinction – Notable Achievement Award. Robyn is senior endangered species biologist for the USFWS in its Cortland office and oversees all aspects of the Endangered Species Act’s implementation in New York. Many exciting activities and accomplishments within EFB the past academic year were excluded from this brief summary so I hope that you will review the details that follow. EFB’s enrollments, external funding, and worldwide attention in the media have never been better. The department is doing well, because of its excellent students, successful alumni, fine faculty, and dedicated staff. Please let us know how you are doing, and visit us during the annual Fall BBQ Weekend/Senior Reunion on October 27 and 28. You can contact me directly at [email protected] or 315-470-6760.
Building(s) After seven years of at times intensive planning, the construction of the new Academic Research Building, mentioned in this summary each year, appears to be in limbo as the funds for construction are being withheld by the state. Additionally, the significant landscaping project planned for the Quad, to include a restored American chestnut forest and salt marshes to process the winter saline snow melt from campus, is on hold. The lab intensive faculty, about one-third of the department, have been waiting patiently for this renovation for years and many new faculty have been hired with the promise that their labs would be in this new facility. Currently, there is no information about when this construction project will happen, if ever, although about $38 million remained for this project.
Teaching
Summary of main courses taught by faculty and enrollment in each course (as reported by each; does not include 420, 495, 498, 499, 798, 899, 999; Course prefix EFB unless otherwise noted)
Faculty Course # Course Name Enrollment
Castello 217 (0.5) Peoples, Plagues, & Pests 84 340 Forest & Shade Tree Pathology 36 345 Forest Health – CLBS 7 494 Senior Synthesis Forest Health 1
Cohen 493/693 Wildlife Habitats and Populations 27 496/796 Wildlife Habitats and Pop. Class Project 25 796 WinBUGS for Ecologists 10 797 Core Seminar 12
Diemont 120 Global Env/Evol. Human Soc. 53 434/634 Ecosystem Restoration Design 15 (with LA) 496/796 Urban Ecosystem Design 9
Dovciak 435/635 Flowering Plants: Diversity, Evol., & Syst. (0; on sabbatical leave) 445/645 Plant Ecology & Global Change 52 7
523 (0.5) Tropical Ecology 11
Farrell, J. 492 Senior Synthesis AFS 7 681 Aquatic Restoration Ecology
Farrell, S. 482/796 Ornithology 50 390 Wildlife Ecology & Management 86 797 (0.5) EFB Core Course 9 797 Adaptive Peaks Grad Seminar (fall) 5 797 Adaptive Peaks Grad Seminar (spring) 6
Fernando 326 Plant Evol., Diversification, and Conserv. 33 427/627 Anatomy and Development of Plants 19 (BTC) 497 Research Design & Prof Development 24
Fierke 101 General Biology Lecture I 348 202 Ecol. Monitor. & Bio. Assessment 204 (Session A, C, D) 796 EFB Core Course (fall) 9 796 (0.5) EFB Core Course (spring) 12
Folta, E. 312/512 Intro. to Env. Interpretation 51 417/617 Non-Personal Environ. Interp. Methods 30
Frair 491/796 Applied Wildlife Science 39 496 Wildlife Field Techniques 19 796 (0.5) Quantitative Methods & Models in R 9
Gibbs 202 Ecol. Mon. Bio. Assess (Herps) ~60 413 Introduction to Conservation Biology 103 419 Problem-solving in Conservation Biology 58 485 Herpetology 89
Green 303 Intro to Environmental Microbiology 49 505 Microbial Ecology 18 796 R and Reproducible Research 11
Horton 320 General Ecology 267 428/628 Mycorrhizal Ecology 24 496 Ethnomycology 12
Kimmerer 305/605 Indigenous Issues and the Environment 36 307 Field Ethnobotany 16 446 Ecology of Mosses 23 496 Indigenous Environmental Leaders Future 4 (fall and spring)
Leopold 336 Dendrology 122
Leydet (EHS) 320 Disease Prevention 28 360 Epidemiology 11 Limburg 487/687 Fisheries Science & Management 35 488 Fisheries Science Practicum 17 8
Lomolino 483 Mammal Diversity 75 444/644 Geography Nature/Biogeography 42
McGee 102 General Biology Lab I 338 104 General Biology Lab II 159 132 Orientation Seminar: EFB 89 202 Ecol. Monit. Biodiversity Assess. (4 days) ~65
McNulty 484 Winter Mammalian Ecology 16
Newman (BTC) 401/EFB 601 Molecular Techniques 26 325 Cell Biology 83 (BTC) 499 (0.5) Senior Synthesis 21 496/796 Plant Physiology Recitation 2 496/796 Phytoremediation 28 496/796 Cell Biology Recitation 5
Parry 132 Freshman Seminar (Con. Bio.) 34 202 Ecol. Monitor. & Bio. Assess. ( Entomology) 72 502 Ecology & Mgt. Invasive Species 44 504 Plant Herbivore Interactions 8 797 Elton/Invasion Ecology 7
Paterson 496 Aquatic Ecology 9 400/600 Toxic Health Hazards 47 470 Environmental Risk Assessment 16
Powell (BTC) 132 Orientation Seminar 19 307 Principles of Genetics 191 308 Genetics Lab 189 797 Impacts, Mgt., Mitigation Emerg. Tree Dis. 11 797 Presenting Research to the Public 10
Ringler 385 Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy 27 554 Aquatic Entomology 9 797 Onondaga Lake Seminar 5+
Rundell 311 Principles of Evolution 174 355 Invertebrate Zoology 40
Schulz 202 Ecol. Monitor. Bio. Assess. 76 496 Marine Ecology Seminar 11 424/624 Limnology: Study of Inland Waters 61 525 Limnology Practicum 20 797 (0.5) Managing and Archiving Research Data 8
Stewart 202 Eco. Monitor. Bio. Assess. 75 486 Ichthyology 75 523 (0.5) Tropical Ecology 11 796 Advanced Ichthyology 2 9
Teale 217 (0.5) Peoples, Plagues and Pests 84 345 (0.5) Forest Health 7 351/551 Forest Entomology 57
Turner 200 Physics of Life 18 (summer) 200 Physics of Life 158 (fall) 462/662 Animal Physiology: Environ. & Ecol. 10 462 Animal Physiology: Environ. & Ecol. 10 (summer) 500 Biology Field Trip 1
Weir 440/640 Mycology (0, sabbatical leave) 496/796 Biology of Lichens 9 500 Natural His. & Nature Conserv. Ireland 8 500 Forest Biol Field Trip – Ireland 12
Whipps 103 General Biology II: Cell Biology and Gen. 180 453/653 Parasitology 21
Courses by Instructional Support Specialists, Adjuncts, & Visiting Instructors
Adams (0.5) 210 Diversity of Life I 192 (0.5) 211 Diversity of Life II 195
Beal 120 Global Environment 95
Ettinger 437/637 Plant Propagation 17 496 Grow What You Eat 12
Folta, J. 496/796 Issues in Mgt. & Conflict Resolut. 12 497/797 Vistor Education/Wildlife Mgt. Tool 14
Giegerich 381 Vertebrate Museum Techniques 11
Hagar 496 Ecology Adirondack Insects 8
Helenbrook 307 Principles of Genetics 11
Hough 496 Flora of Central New York 7
Jones 497/797 Insect Ecology 12
Kilheffer 497/797 Coastal & Barrier Island Ecology 6
Murphy 388 Ecology Adirondack Fishes 12
Musselman 496 Wetland Plants and Communities 11
Petzke 435/635 Flowering Plants: Div., Evol., and System. 17
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Powrozek 480 Principles of Animal Behavior 37
Quinn 414 Senior Synthesis Cons. Biology 48 496 Integrating Conservation/Agriculture 10
Regan 542 Freshwater Wetland Ecosystems 49
Schummer 496/692 Ecology and Management of Waterfowl 25
Weber (0.5) 210 Diversity of Life I 192 (0.5) 211 Diversity of Life II 195
Course teaching load summary by faculty members The following data are from the Faculty “Provost Resource Allocation Model (sent 5/16/17) by Sophie Gublo-Jantzen, and summarize the number of students multiplied by the number of credit hours for courses categorized as Research (e.g., EFB 498, 798, 899, 999), Problems/Seminars (e.g., EFB 420, 495, 797), and regular classes. The first number in each column is for undergraduate credit hours, the second for graduate. Co-taught courses yield the number of credit hours for that course divided by number of instructors. All courses are credited, regardless of departmental prefix. Note that although these data come from an administrative report titled “Resource Allocation Model”, only the teaching portion of a faculty member’s complete workload is included in that report.
Teaching Load Summary by Faculty Member
Faculty Research CH Prob./Sem. CH Class CH Total (U/G)
Fierke (1)* 0/19 22/21 1647/0 1709 (1669/40) Horton (2) 6/9 5/0 1154/12 1186 (1165/21) Powell (3) 16/56 15/21 813/4 925 (844/81) Gibbs 4) 0/53 22/0 750/9 834 (772/62) Rundell (5) 4/30 31/0 692/0 757 (727/30) McGee (6) 7/21 99/0 607/0 734 (713/21) Whipps (7) 16/4 19/12 637/3 691 (672/19) Newman (8) 98/29 81/0 455/24 687 (634/53) Turner (9) 0/0 3/0 648/3 654 (651/3) Farrell, S. (10) 0/30 35/6 528/8 607 (563/44)
Leopold (11) 6/73 20/1 374/6 480 (400/80) Lomolino (12) 0/0 6/0 422/12 440 (428/12) Teale (13) 8/45 7/0 311/9 380 (326/54) Folta, E. (14) 0/2 45/2 263/48 360 (308/52) Diemont (15) 15/47 3/4 220/4 293 (238/55) Castello (16) 0/11 6/0 246/12 275 (252/23) Stewart (17) 1/11 8/0 246/8 274 (255/19) Kimmerer (18) 20/7 8/0 210/24 269 (238/31) Schulz (19) 3/8 10/1 202/38 262 (215/47) Paterson (20) 7/7 12/6 201/20 253 (220/33) 11
Parry (21) 0/19 21/7 152/39 238 (173/65) Cohen (22) 3/50 5/6 130/36 230 (138/92) Frair (23) 0/54 20/15 121/16 226 (141/85) Fernando (24) 3/23 37/0 150/9 222 (190/32) Green (25) 12/2 11/0 138/43 206 (161/45) Ringler (26) 4/28 17/5 132/12 198 (153/45) Dovciak (27)** 0/24 3/0 144/48 183 (136/47) Limburg (28) 5/38 11/0 111/15 162 (127/53) Leydet (29) 4/0 0/0 99/0 103 (103/0) Weir (30)** 0/17 33/6 24/3 83 (57/26)
Farrell, J. (31) 6/14 7/0 7/22 56 (20/36)
*rank out of all faculty; 1 highest, 31 lowest ** sabbatical leave during time period
Teaching Load Statistics by Adjunct Faculty, Emeriti, Instructional Support Specialists, AEC Staff, Visiting Instructors, etc.
Adams 0/0 27/0 1161/0 1188 (1188/0) Beal 0/0 3/0 312/0 315 (315/0) Ettinger 2/0 1/0 85//3 91 (88/3) Folta, J. 0/0 4/2 33/3 42 (37/5) Giegerich 0/0 0/0 22/0 22 (22/0) Hager 0/0 0/0 24/0 24 (24/0) Helenbrook 0/0 0/0 30/3 33 (30/3) McNulty () 3/4 0/0 48/0 55 (51/4) Powrozek 0/0 0/0 148/0 148 (148/0) Quinn 0/0 0/0 164/0 164 (164/0) Regan 0/0 0/0 147/27 174 (147/27) Schummer 3/0 0/0 60/15 75 (60/15) Underwood 0/57 5/0 3/0 65 (8/57) Weber 0/0 0/0 1161/0 1161 (1161/0)
Dr. Fierke had the highest teaching workload (1709 total credit hours) of all EFB faculty, followed by Drs. Horton (1044), Powell (863), Gibbs (834) and Rundell (757). EFB faculty was responsible for 13,977 credit hours (versus 13,532 last reporting period) of instruction, an average of 451 credit hours per faculty per year (vs. 437 hours last reporting period). Another 3557 credit hours were delivered by Visiting Instructors and others (versus 4556 in last reporting period) for an EFB total of 17,534 credit hours (vs. 18,088 credit hours last reporting period). Using the total number of ESF credit hours for the past year (i.e., 56,893) as provided by Sophie Gublo-Jantzen, these EFB credit hours are about 31% (30% last year) of the total credit hours generated by all departments during this reporting period.
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Undergraduate Student Advising Loads Listed below is the number of undergraduate advisees assigned to each faculty member, as reported by that faculty member. EFB faculty advise their students from the time the students matriculate at ESF until they graduate. Some faculty members also regularly and informally advise a much larger number of undergraduates, and some advise ESC undergraduate students. Advisees are temporarily reassigned to other faculty during an advisor’s sabbatical leave.
Castello* 20 Green 20 Powell* 22 Cohen 21 Horton 19 Ringler 0 Diemont 21 Kimmerer 28 Rundell 22 Dovciak 21 Leopold 8 Schulz 24 Farrell, J. 19 Leydet 8 Stewart* 24 Farrell, S. 24 Limburg 22 Teale 19 Fernando 15 Lomolino 19 Turner 17 Fierke 22 McGee** 27 Weir 20 Folta* 23 Newman 89 (not a typo.) Whipps 22 Frair* 29 Parry 24 Gibbs* 19 Paterson 23
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*Also coordinator for one of EFB’s majors ** Undergraduate Curriculum Director and coordinator for the environmental biology major
Curriculum changes There have been no significant changes in the curriculum for any of EFB’s seven majors.
Undergraduate students enrolled in each EFB major Enrollment numbers change throughout the year, especially after December and May graduations, e.g., there were 634 EFB undergraduate students enrolled in classes during the fall ’16 semester and 589 registered for the spring ’17 semester (versus 639 and 591, respectively, fall ‘15 and spring ’16; the greatest number of undergraduates ever enrolled, 641, was for the fall ’12 semester. The total number of undergraduates in EFB in fall 2017 represented nearly 38% of all full and part-time undergraduates (1689) at ESF.
Fall ‘16 undergraduate enrollments (and percent of total) in each major were:
Conservation Biology: 177 (28%) Environmental Biology: 175 (28%) Wildlife Science: 131 (21%) Biotechnology: 70 (11%) Aquatic and Fisheries Science: 46 (7%) Environmental Ed. & Interpretation: 22 (3%) Forest Health: 13 (2%)
Total 634 undergraduates in EFB (fall ’16)
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Listing of awards and recognition
Undergraduate Recruitment Efforts
Most of EFB’s undergraduate recruitment efforts are made through existing college programs, especially open houses, Transfer Days, and receptions for accepted students. For open houses, an overview of all our programs is presented in 5 Illick; this overview is followed immediately by a dynamic, fair-like gathering in the foyer. There, tables are organized by major and attended by at least one faculty representative - and when possible a current undergraduate student - to provide information and handle inquiries. Hands-on displays complement the information in the glass display cases about our undergraduate program. Additionally, EFB meets all requests by prospective and accepted students for personal visits with faculty during both the academic year and summer; one of EFB’s Secretary 1’s is responsible for organizing these meetings. Most of EFB’s undergraduate recruitment efforts are made through existing programs sponsored by the Admissions office, including two Open Houses & Transfer Days, one Transfer Day, and four Accepted Student Receptions. For Open Houses, an overview of all EFB’s programs is presented in the Gateway Center by the department chair. This overview is followed immediately by a dynamic, fair-like gathering in the foyer where faculty, and frequently undergraduate representatives of each EFB major meet with prospective students and their families to provide more detailed program information, share experiences, and handle inquiries. Hands-on displays complement the information in the glass display cases about our undergraduate program. During each of the four Accepted Student Receptions, we divide the visitors into two groups based on majors, and two EFB faculty members meet with the groups to outline the department’s programs and answer guests’ questions. Additionally, the department meets all requests by prospective and accepted students for personal visits with faculty during both the academic year and summer; one of EFB’s Secretary 1’s is responsible for organizing these meetings. Over the last few years the EFB General Biology instructors (Fierke, McGee, Whipps) have regularly met on campus and in the field with local high school students enrolled EFB101/102/103/104 through the ESF in the High School program. High school field trips to campus include participation in a general biology lecture, participation in a full 3-hour laboratory, and discussion sessions with the faculty about career opportunities in biology and the environmental sciences. We do not yet know if these recent efforts have yielded any applicants into our program. EFB’s undergraduate curriculum director sends a letter to all Fall-accepted undergraduate and Spring-accepted transfer students, to welcome each cohort into our program and provide guidance on advising, registration and transfer credits in advance of matriculation. As of June 24, 2017 we had received 994 total applications for fall 2017 (freshman + transfer students; vs. 946 last June and 902 in June 2015). We have accepted 449 (vs. 444 and 410 the previous two years) applicants and have received 204 deposits (vs. 201 and 197). Of the total number of applications that we received, 72% were for freshman; about 64% of our deposits are from this group; about 45% (47% last year) of all applicants were accepted. The total number of deposits by EFB major and percent of total for the class entering fall 2017 (in parentheses) are: Aquatic and Fisheries Science, 17 (8% vs. 8% for class entering fall 2016); 14
Biotechnology, 13 (6% vs. 7%); Conservation Biology, 55 (27% vs. 22%,); Environmental Biology, 59 (29% vs. 32%); Environmental Education and Interpretation, 8 (4% vs. 3%); Forest Health, 3 (1% vs. about 2%); and, Wildlife Science, 49 (24% vs. 25%).
Student Learning Outcomes Assessment
The department recently developed an assessment reporting database that faculty have used to submit student learning outcome assessment data from the past two years. Curriculum Coordinators from five of the seven majors will use these data to prepare the next 3-year assessment report during the coming academic year. For the first time this year the Wildlife Science program employed an exit examination to assess learning outcomes for its graduating seniors, and the Conservation Biology program intends to employ a similar method in the coming academic year
Research/Scholarship
Summary of publications/presentations Appendix C lists books and refereed publications of the EFB faculty; papers submitted, in review, or pending decision are shown in Appendix D. Presentations by EFB faculty at science meetings are shown in Appendix E. Other products of scholarship are shown in Appendix L (Miscellaneous Publications…).
Science Citation Indices Scholarly Metrics (provided by Casey J. Koons, Visiting Assistant Librarian, Moon Library, and liaison to the department; explanatory text from Jessica Clemons, former Senior Assistant Librarian and Interim Director, Moon Library)
The impact of one’s overall publication record can be assessed by a variety of citation indices. The tools used for this analysis include Web of Science, Scopus (a subscription database from Elsevier), and Google Scholar, a freely available database. Citation analysis is a tool by which faculty can gauge the impact and visibility of their work on the scholarly community, and the relative influence of their research. Scopus is the world’s largest abstract and citation database containing peer-reviewed research and other scholarly sources. Scopus includes over 57 million records from journals, conference proceedings, books, and patents. Content is expanding but inconsistent prior to 1996. Google Scholar offers additional insight into the analysis of research impact. Google Scholar aims to index all of the peer-reviewed research and scholarly literature available on the web from any time period. The databases referenced above do not correct errors in citing papers. This means that one paper may be cited several different ways and appear as separate entries. These tools concatenate citation when possible but there are inevitable errors. Also, author and institutional naming inconsistencies complicate these analyses. Comparisons between these tools should be avoided. They should be seen as complementary. The databases use different sources to generate data and some are more comprehensive than others. 15
The Hirsch index, or h-index, has become the standard accepted measurement of academic output and can be generated in both Scopus and Google Scholar. The h-index is defined as: A scientist has index h if h of his/her Np papers have at least h citations each and the other (Np − h) papers have no more than h citations each. However, the h-index has significant limitations in terms of what it measures: (1) it does not include citations to the same work that have small mistakes in their referencing (of which for some publications there are many); (2) it only includes citation to journal articles (not to books, book chapters, working papers, reports, etc.); and, (3) it only includes citations in journals that are listed in the database being searched, which is never comprehensive of academic journals in the field. Therefore, the h-index should be viewed as one metric among many in considering academic output and productivity. In addition to the h-index, faculty 1, 5, and 10 year citation numbers are included to provide a more meaningful understanding of their work. The total number of documents in the databases is included which may offer more context of faculty work. Using the number of citations for 2007 to 2016 as determined by the Web of Science, Dr. Chris Whipps had the highest number of citations followed by Drs. Karin Limburg, Don Stewart, Mark Lomolino, and James Gibbs. Using this same data base for only last year, Dr. Whipps had the highest number of citations followed by Drs. Limburg, Gibbs, Horton, and Frair.
Web of Science Number of Citations Name 2016 2012-2016 2007-2016 h-index Number of cited documents Castello 27 172 354 13 53 Cohen 36 131 189 9 34 Diemont 18 82 98 6 16 Dovciak 25 104 106 8 21 Farrell, J. 61 256 346 11 39 Farrell, S. 32 147 166 8 17 Fernando, 19 95 175 11 24 Fierke 25 89 102 7 18 Folta 3 10 10 2 2 Frair 116 521 624 8 18 Gibbs 147 537 628 29 95 Green 52 130 130 6 10 Horton 136 501 619 11 27 Kimmerer 22 93 181 8 12 Leopold 69 312 572 16 61 Leydet 6 23 23 4 3 Limburg 213 946 1271 17 64 Lomolino 94 377 647 12 20 McGee 21 96 228 8 13 Newman 64 136 136 7 10 16
Parry 21 89 136 7 15 Powell 51 263 443 14 37 Ringler 31 111 200 12 28 Rundell 38 203 282 7 19 Schulz 88 472 759 13 24 Stewart 94 445 798 18 44 Teale 58 189 308 14 38 Turner 25 74 109 7 23 Weir 14 62 93 7 86 Whipps 233 813 1298 24 73
Using Scopus, Dr. Karin Limburg had the highest number of citations for 2007 to 2016 followed by Drs. James Gibbs, Tom Horton, Mark Lomolino, and Jacqui Frair. Using this same data base for only last year, Dr. Limburg had the highest number of citations followed by Drs. Gibbs, Horton, Newman, and Lomolino.
Scopus 2016 2012-2016 2007-2016 h-index Number of cited documents Castello 34 192 341 11 37 Cohen 16 122 176 9 27 Diemont 36 156 257 10 22 Dovciak 36 231 370 12 32 Farrell, J. 58 248 341 11 37 Farrell, S. 34 152 170 8 17 Fernando 12 82 177 12 23 Fierke 41 183 296 11 34 Folta 7 32 34 3 7 Frair 241 1204 1788 17 30 Gibbs 381 1856 3094 37 128 Green 50 133 133 6 9 Horton 299 1277 2060 22 46 Kimmerer 44 172 337 14 24 Leopold 69 330 593 16 50 Leydet 15 57 57 4 6 Limburg 900 4924 7781 28 98 Lomolino 257 1084 2033 54 54 McGee 39 193 368 11 15 Newman 276 1110 1542 23 68 Parry 42 178 297 12 27 17
Powell 64 397 631 17 40 Ringler 36 137 243 14 38 Rundell 44 238 357 8 15 Schulz 103 456 815 13 22 Stewart 106 543 965 21 47 Teale 78 234 343 13 45 Turner 36 125 226 14 34 Weir 132 696 1190 10 30 Whipps 248 900 1388 24 76
Citation metrics from Google Scholar follow but since less than half of the EFB faculty have Google Scholar Profiles, no elaboration is made here.
Google Scholar Number of Citations h-index Number of documents in Google Scholar Profile Castello No Profile found Cohen 482 13 29 Diemont 578 12 32 Dovciak No Profile found Farrell, J. No Profile found Farrell, S. 318 10 20 Fernando No Profile found Fierke 468 14 45 Folta No Profile found Frair 2380 17 33 Gibbs 9606 50 239 Green 228 7 13 Horton 4689 26 72 Kimmerer No Profile found Leopold 2346 28 113 Leydet 100 4 7 Limburg 24968 33 178 Lomolino 10473 44 110 McGee No Profile found Newman 3549 27 111 Parry 740 14 48 Powell 1901 22 80 Ringler No Profile found 18
Rundell No Profile found Schulz 1916 15 52 Stewart No Profile found Teale No Profile found Turner No Profile found Weir No Profile found Whipps 2084 29 95
Most Cited Publication of Each EFB Faculty Member (# in parentheses before each citation is number of times that paper has been cited as of August 2017)
(157) Castello, J., Leopold, D., & Smallidge, P. 1995. Pathogens, patterns, and processes in forest ecosystems. BioScience 45:16-24. doi:110.2307/1312531 (34) Cohen, J.B., Houghton, L.M., & Fraser, J.D. 2009. Nesting density and reproductive success of piping plovers in response to storm- and human-created habitat changes doi:10.2193/2007-553 (90) Martin, J. F., Diemont, S.A.W., Powell, E., Stanton, M., & Levy-Tacher, S. 2006. Emergy evaluation of the performance and sustainability of three agricultural systems with different scales and management. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 115:128–140. doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2005.12.016 (64) Dovčiak, M., Frelich, L.E., & Reich, P.B. 2001. Discordance in spatial patterns of white pine (Pinus strobus) size-classes in a patchy near-boreal forest. Journal of Ecology 89:280–291. doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2745.2001.00545.x (54) Murry, B.A., Farrell, J.M., Teece, M.A., & Smyntek, P.M. 2006. Effect of lipid extraction on the interpretation of fish community trophic relationships determined by stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 63:2167–2172. https://doi.org/10.1139/F06-116 (43) Campomizzi, A.J., Butcher, J.A., Farrell, S.L., Snelgrove, A.G., et al. 2008. Conspecific attraction is a missing component in wildlife habitat modeling. Journal of Wildlife Management 72:331-336. doi:10.2193/2007-204 (42) Fernando, D.D. 2005. Characterization of pollen tube development in Pinus strobus (eastern white pine) through proteomic analysis of differentially expressed proteins. Proteomics 5:4917-4926. doi:10.1002/pmic.200500009 (41) Fierke, M.K., Kinney, D.L., Salisbury, V.B., Crook, D.J., & Stephen, F.M. 2005. Development and comparison of intensive and extensive sampling methods and preliminary within-tree population estimates of red oak borer (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. Environmental Entomology 34:184-192. (14) Cheng, M.-T., Annetta, L., Folta, E., & Holmes, S.Y. 2011. Drugs and the brain: Learning the impact of methamphetamine abuse on the brain through a virtual brain exhibit in the museum. International Journal of Science Education 33:299–319. doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2010.482571 (274) Morales, J.M., Haydon, D.T., Frair, J., Holsinger, K.E., & Fryxell, J.M. 2004. Extracting more out of relocation data: Building movement models as mixtures of random walks. Ecology 85: 2436– 2445. (264) Gibbs, J.P. 2000. Wetland loss and biodiversity conservation. Conservation Biology 14:314–317. doi.org/10.1046/j.1523-1739.2000.98608.x (48) Green, H.C., Shanks, O.C., Sivaganesan, M., Haugland, R.A., & Field, K.G. 2011. Differential decay of human faecal Bacteroides in marine and freshwater. Environmental Microbiology 13: 3235–3249. doi.org/10.1111/j.1462-2920.2011.02549.x 19
(336) Lilleskov, E.A., Fahey, T.J., Horton, T.R., & Lovett, G.M. 2002. Belowground ectomycorrhizal fungal community change over a nitrogen deposition gradient in Alaska. Ecology 83:104–115. (62) Kimmerer, R.W. 1991. Reproductive ecology of Tetraphis pellucida. II. Differential success of sexual and asexual propagules. Bryologist 94: 284–288. (157) Castello, J.D., Leopold, D.J., & Smallidge, P.J. 1995. Pathogens, patterns, and processes in forest ecosystems. BioScience 45:16–24. (36) Clark, K.L., Leydet, B., & Hartman, S. 2013. Lyme borreliosis in human patients in Florida and Georgia, USA. International Journal of Medical Sciences 10:915–931. doi.org/10.7150/ijms.6273 (7265) Costanza, R., D’Arge, R., De, G., Farber, S., Grasso, M., Hannon, B., .., Limburg, K., Van, D.B. 1997. The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature 387:253–260. doi.org/10.1038/387253a0 (510) Lomolino, M.V. 2001. Elevation gradients of species-density: Historical and prospective views. Global Ecology and Biogeography 10:3–13. doi.org/10.1046/j.1466-822x.2001.00229.x (130) McGee, G.G., Leopold, D J., & Nyland, R.D. 1999. Structural characteristics of old-growth, maturing, and partially cut northern hardwood forests. Ecological Applications 9:1316–1329. (236) Newman, L.A., Strand, S.E., Choe, N., Duffy, J., Ekuan, G., Ruszaj, M., … Gordon, M.P. 1997. Uptake and biotransformation of trichloroethylene by hybrid poplars. Environmental Science and Technology 31:1062–1067. doi.org/10.1021/es960564w (96) Kosola, K.R., Dickmann, D.I., Paul, E.A., & Parry, D. 2001. Repeated insect defoliation effects on growth, nitrogen acquisition, carbohydrates, and root demography of poplars. Oecologia 129: 65- 74. (149) Barakat, A., Diloreto, D.S., Zhang, Y., Smith, C., Baier, K., Powell, W.A., …, Sederoff, R. 2009. Comparison of the transcriptomes of American chestnut (Castanea dentata) and Chinese chestnut (Castanea mollissima) in response to the chestnut blight infection. BMC Plant Biology 9. doi.org/10.1186/1471-2229-9-51 (48) Bannon, E., & Ringler, N.H. 1986. Optimal prey size for stream resident brown trout (Salmo trutta): tests of predictive models. Canadian Journal of Zoology 64:704–713. (202) Rundell, R.J., & Price, T.D. 2009. Adaptive radiation, nonadaptive radiation, ecological speciation and nonecological speciation. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 24:394–399. doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2009.02.007------(687) Elser, J.J., Fagan, W.F., Denno, R.F., Dobberfuhl, D.R., Folarin, A., Huberty, A., … Schulz, K., Sterner, R.W. 2000. Nutritional constraints in terrestrial and freshwater food webs. Nature 408(6812), 578–580. doi.org/10.1038/35046058 (234) Stewart, D.J., Weininger, D.W., Rottiers, D.V., & Edsall, T.A. 1983. An energetics model for lake trout, Salvelinus namaycush: application to the Lake Michigan population (alewife Alosa pseudoharengus). Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 40:681–698. (62) Seybold, S.J., Teale, S.A., Wood, D.L., Zhang, A., Webster, F X., Lindahl, J., & Kubo, I. 1992. The role of lanierone in the chemical ecology of Ips pini (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) in California. Journal of Chemical Ecology 18:2305–2329. doi.org/10.1007/BF00984952 (52) Tazawa, H., Wakayama, H., Turner, J.S., & Paganelli, C.V. 1988. Metabolic compensation for gradual cooling in developing chick embryos. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology -- Part A: Physiology 89:125–129. doi.org/10.1016/0300-9629(88)91068-7 (1037) Hibbett, D.S., Binder, M., Bischoff, J.F., Blackwell, M., Cannon, P.F., Eriksson, O.E., …, Weir, A., Zhang, N. 2007. A higher-level phylogenetic classification of the Fungi. Mycological Research 111:509–547. doi.org/10.1016/j.mycres.2007.03.004 (112) Whipps, C M., Adlard, R.D., Bryant, M.S., Lester, R.J.G., Findlay, V., & Kent, M.L. 2003. First report of three Kudoa species from eastern Australia: Kudoa thyrsites from mahi mahi (Coryphaena hippurus), Kudoa amamiensis and Kudoa minithyrsites n. sp. from sweeper (Pempheris ypsilychnus). Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology 50:215–219. doi.org/10.1111/j.1550- 7408.2003.tb00120.x
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Summary of grant activity All data reported below are from ORP (Shelby Kimm Woods) sent to the Chair in July. From July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017, EFB submitted 43.4% of all proposals (of 206 total) submitted by all units (academic and non-academic) at ESF. These EFB proposals represent 43.2% (or $17,254,345) of the $39,971,932 amount for all proposals submitted by all units to the ESF Office of Research Programs. The average amount per EFB proposal was $192,850. By the end of this reporting period, 27% of EFB proposals submitted during this period (for $1,229, 177) have already been awarded, with another nearly 54% still pending (for $13,520,709) and 15% rejected (for $2,504,709). The proposal submission activity of each faculty member for the 12 month period ending June 30, 2017 follows. Dr. Cohen had the highest credited number of proposals submitted, followed by Drs. Ringler, Powell, Gibbs, and Frair. Dr. Leopold had the highest credited dollar amount of proposals submitted, followed by Drs. Leydet, Powell, Cohen, and Ringler.
Proposal Activity Summary by PI/CoPI (12-Month Period ending 6/30/17)
Name Credited* Number Credited Amount (rank)
Castello, John 0.00 $0 (29**) Cohen, Jonathan 10.50 $790,515 (4) Diemont, Stewart 3.00 $141,377 (18) Dovciak, Martin 0.00 $0 (29) Farrell, John 1.33 $600,550 (7) Farrell, Shannon 1.54 $132,933 (19) Fernando, Danilo 2.67 $69,478 (21) Fierke, Melissa 4.00 $269,948 (12) Frair, Jacqueline 4.33 $453,892 (9) Gibbs, James 4.67 $676,185 (6) Green, Hyatt 0.40 $158,598 (17) Horton, Thomas 0.17 $166,667 (15) Kimmerer, Robin 1.00 $17,909 (22) Leopold, Donald 3.92 $3,277,914 (1) Leydet, Brian 4.34 $858,286 (2) Limburg, Karin 5.50 $360,085 (10) Lomolino, Mark 0.00 $0 (29) McGee, Gregory 0.20 $13,114 (23) Newman, Lee 2.17 $290,047 (11) Parry, Dylan 1.17 $199,167 (13) Powell, William 5.33 $854,583 (3) Ringler, Neil 5.87 $711,468 (5) Rundell, Rebecca 1.20 $169,299 (14) Schulz, Kimberly 2.20 $116,044 (20) Stewart, Donald 0.00 $0 (29) Teale, Stephen 3.00 $161,575 (16) Turner, Scott 0.00 $0 (29) Weir, Alexander 0.00 $0 (29) Whipps, Christopher 2.25 $477,236 (8) ______21
* credit percentages are calculated by ORP to distribute credit for award and proposal activity to each faculty member identified as a PI or CoPI on each Sponsored Program proposal or award, as well as their respective college Departments. As an initial starting point this fiscal year, ORP has issued credit as follows: the identified Principal Investigator of a proposal or award will receive 2-parts credit and each coPrincipal Investigator will receive 1-part credit. For example: For a proposal or award with a PI and two CoPIs, the PI and his/her respective Faculty will receive 2/4=50% credit, and each CoPI and respective Faculty would receive ¼=25% credit, for all sponsored program activities. This procedure generally results in fractional numbers of proposal/awards credited to each faculty member and his/her respective college Department, as well as the respective fractional portion of the total proposal, award or expenditure amount. **rank by credited amount; 1 highest, 29 lowest
Appendix F lists all active grants of each EFB faculty. For the 12-month period ending June 30, 2017, EFB accounted for 44% of all active sponsored research projects (of 377 total) submitted by all units at ESF, and nearly 50% of the $16,618,895 of all sponsored program expenditures by all units at ESF. The average amount of expenditure per project was $48,618. Sponsored program expenditure activity by PI/coPI among EFB faculty for the 12-month reporting period ending 6/30/17 follows. Dr. Cohen had the highest credited number of expenditures, followed by Drs. Powell, Kimmerer, Frair, and Limburg. Dr. Cohen had the highest credited amount of expenditures, followed by Drs. Frair, Powell, Ringler, and Farrell.
Sponsored Program Expenditure Activity Summary by PI/CoPI (12-Month Period ending 6/30/17)
Name Credited Number Credited Amount (rank)
Castello, John 0.00 $0 (28*) Cohen, Jonathan 17.83 $588,551 (1) Diemont, Stewart 1.00 $1,491 (25) Dovciak, Martin 2.00 $72,830 (15) Farrell, John 3.00 $334,541 (5) Farrell, Shannon 3.00 $64,145 (16) Fernando, Danilo 4.00 $11,129 (22) Fierke, Melissa 7.25 $246,115 (6) Frair, Jacqueline 7.92 $587,263 (2) Gibbs, James 7.12 $236,234 (7) Green, Hyatt 1.00 $34,640 (19) Horton, Thomas 3.67 $30,788 (20) Kimmerer, Robin 8.00 $232,565 (8) Leopold, Donald 5.87 $221,464 (9) Limburg, Karin 7.67 $173,050 (11) Lomolino, Mark 1.00 $1,257 (24) McGee, Gregory 2.20 $51,228 (17) Newman, Lee 5.53 $81,105 (14) Parry, Dylan 4.42 $50,143 (18) Powell, William 8.25 $442,571 (3) Ringler, Neil 7.00 $356,637 (4) Rundell, Rebecca 2.50 $24,503 (21) Schulz, Kimberly 1.00 $5,000 (23) Stewart, Donald 0.00 $0 (28) Teale, Stephen 5.00 $164,694 (12) Turner, Scott 2.00 $119,736 (13) Weir, Alexander 0.33 $583 (26) Whipps, Christopher 6.75 $181,001 (10) 22
*credit percentages are calculated as per previous table **rank by credited amount; 1 highest, 28 lowest
Patents and Patent Applications
Listing of Awards and Recognition Martin Dovciak: Included on the List of Researchers of Flora of Velka Fatra, western Carpathians John M. Farrell: SUNY ESF Exemplary Research Award Robin W. Kimmerer: American Indian Science and Engineering Society, Ely S. Parker award (highest AISES award for lifetime achievement) Robin W. Kimmerer: Feinstone Environmental Award, SUNY ESF Robin W. Kimmerer: Americans Who Tell The Truth, portrait and inclusion in AWTTT gallery Karin E. Limburg: Visiting Professor, Department of Aquatic Resources, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU); 5/2015 – 4/2020 (extended 2 years). Karin E. Limburg: Lise Meitner Visiting Professor, Division of Nuclear Physics, Dept. of Physics, Lund University; 11/2015 – 10/2018 Neil H. Ringler: Commendation from SUNY by Alex Cartwright, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor, and Grace Wang, Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development Rebecca J. Rundell: Research Associate, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, PA Rebecca J. Rundell: Research Associate, Paleontological Research Institution, Ithaca, NY Stephen A. Teale: Adjunct Faculty, Department of Forest Protection, Nanjing Forestry University
Outreach and Service
Service to the department, college, and university A summary of service by each faculty member to the department, college, and university is given in Appendix G.
Enumeration of outreach activities Appendix H shows unfunded service by EFB faculty to government agencies, public interest groups, etc. This list does not include the many hours of outreach made by our Instructional Support Specialists, graduate students, and undergraduate students. For example, the Instructional Support Specialists who manage our Roosevelt Wildlife Collection and the Illick greenhouses (Ron Giegerich and Terry Ettinger, respectively) host numerous tours for the ESF community (e.g., Family & Friends Barbeque, Annual Alumni Tour, college visitors which include many school groups). Besides the numerous phone and email inquiries that faculty receive from the public, news channels, and newspapers, Ron Giegerich, Terry Ettinger, and Kim Adams respond to many similar requests for information from these sources. For example, Kim Adams receives hundreds of requests for information. Terry Ettinger assisted in the development and delivery of dozens of episodes of the ESF/Time Warner Cable “Going Green” collaboration which is broadcast weekly across all of upstate New York, western Massachusetts, and northern Pennsylvania and available on the web. Although there are no data to support this claim, the Department generates more print in the Syracuse Post-Standard than all other academic departments combined, and all other offices 23 at ESF (except for the Top 10 Species List) and Syracuse University (except their athletic programs). Most of the dozens of local newspaper articles of this past year are posted in the main foyer of Illick. Much media attention often comes from beyond central New York. For example, a publication on Asian tiger conservation in Biological Conservation by EFB Ph.D. student Misha Paltsyn, his major professor Dr. James Gibbs, and their collaborators was run by many dozens of high profile websites throughout the world this past January. This ever increasing national and international attention to EFB faculty has resulted in tens of thousands of new viewers to ESF web pages. Unfunded service to professional societies and organizations is summarized in Appendix I. Appendix J summarizes the funded service by EFB faculty to government agencies, public interest groups, etc. Appendix K lists the presentations made to the public by EFB faculty and Appendix L includes miscellaneous publications and outreach materials.
Summary of grant panel service (by agency)
Number of journal manuscripts reviewed by faculty (#journals/total #manuscripts reviewed; excludes reviews of NSF, EPA, USDA, McIntire-Stennis, state agency, etc. proposals)
Castello, J.: 0 Limburg, K.: 9/13 Cohen, J.: 7/7 Lomolino, M.: ?/8 Diemont, S.: 2/2 McGee 0 Dovciak, M.: 3/4 Newman, L.: 10/14 Farrell, J.: 2/7 Parry, D.: 4/8 Farrell, S.: 1/2 Powell, W.: 0 Fernando, D.: 2/2 Ringler, N.: 0 Fierke, M.: 1/1 Rundell, R.: 2/2 Frair, J.: 1/14 Schulz, K.: 1/1 Gibbs, J.: ? Stewart, D.: 6/6 Green: 3/3 Teale, S.: 4/4 Horton, T.: 4/6 Turner, S.: 9/9 Kimmerer, R.: 0 Weir, A.: 2/3 Leopold, D.: 3/4 Whipps, C.: 7/10 Leydet, B.: 6/9
Summary of journal editorial board service Applied Vegetation Science: M. Dovciak Bio-Complexity: S. Turner Ecology and Society: K. Limburg Ecology of Freshwater Fish: N. Ringler Forest Science: M. Fierke (Associate Editor) Frontier of Biogeography, Monographs in Biogeography: M. Lomolino (Editor) Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment: K. Limburg Intelligent Buildings International: S. Turner (Guest Editor) International Journal of Phytoremediation: L. Newman (co-Editor-in-Chief) Journal of Applied Ecology: J. Frair (Associate Editor) Journal of Fish Biology: K. Limburg (Guest Co-editor) Journal of Parasitology: C. Whipps Journal of Vegetation Science: M. Dovciak Malacologia: R. Rundell 24
Mycorrhiza: T. Horton Phytoremediation: Management of Environmental Contaminants: L. Newman The Canadian Entomologist: D. Parry Tree Physiology: D. Fernando
Listing of Awards and Recognition
Service Learning
Besides the engagement of students in classes listed below, EFB students were also very involved through independent studies (EFB 498) and internships (EFB 420). EFB faculty indicate that the following courses have specific service learning components:
EFB 434/634 Ecosystem Restoration Design Students worked with an elementary school in San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico and a faculty member at El Colegio de La Frontera in San Cristobal de Las Casas in the restoration design for a stream and wetland; these were coupled with composting and agroforestry production systems within the school grounds. The goal of the school was to create connections with the environment for the students that would serve as a sustainable school model for other public schools in the city. The designs developed by the students are now being developed further by the school to meet school education goals.
EFB 120 Global Environment (Diemont) Each group of 3-4 students proposes and develops a project that is related to course topics and that in some way serves the sustainability of the campus, Syracuse, or regionally. EFB 120 presents what sometimes appear to be the insurmountable problems of our world, such as climate change, poverty, population pressures, and water, soil, and pollution. This project encourages students as they develop tangible designs, processes, or products, to begin to take necessary steps to meeting these challenges, and to consider how their education at ESF, and even a small project, will address the needs of the world.
(Diemont) Emanuel Carter and I taught a field course in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain for which we collaborated with researchers and designers at the Centro para Estudios Ambientales (CEA) (Center for Environmental Studies) of Vitoria-Gasteiz in designing green infrastructure strategies to restore biological connectivity and to develop tangible relationships between people and nature in a new neighborhood of Vitoria- Gasteiz. Students worked on teams with research interns of CEA, who came from throughout Spain and France.
EFB 305/605 Indigenous Issues and the Environment. This year the students developed educational materials including a website for Indigenous Science, educational materials for the garden at Lafayette Experiment station and modules to share with existing classes at ESF to enrich the content with an indigenous perspective.
EFB 446/646 Ecology of Mosses The students created an educational brochure on the mosses of Clark Reservation state Park to be distributed by the Council of Park Friends at the Nature Center.
EFB 417/617 Non-Personal Environmental Interpretative Methods. Students work with community organizations and ESF groups.
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EFB 414 Senior Synthesis in Conservation Biology. Students focused the entire semester on developing a Conservation Management Plan for the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park in Auburn.
EFB 488 Fisheries Science Practicum had a service-learning component, surveying fishes of Meadowbrook in Dewitt. This led to one of the participants going further, taking on a deeper survey of Meadowbrook as an Honors Thesis, obtaining independent research credit for same (below). The data that this student collected were made available to water managers in Dewitt, through Drs. John Stella and Mark Teece.
EFB 525 Limnology Practicum For the seventh consecutive year, EFB 525, Limnology Practicum, had a significant service learning component. Students could choose to work with two allied local lake associations (Song Lake Association and COFOKLA – Cortland Onondaga Federation of Kettle Lake Associations) to develop their independent projects on topics that were both scientifically relevant and of interest to the homeowners. About half of student time in the course was devoted to developing and performing these independent projects, in co-operation with homeowners (when applicable) or sometimes with managers and practitioners in other areas.
The independent projects culminated in a scientific poster session and reception in 12 Illick Hall during finals week (16 December 2016) that was open to the public and attended by other undergraduate and graduate students not in the Practicum, faculty, members of the Song Lake Association and COFOKLA, as well as the general community. The projects continue to expand a database of water quality and species presence data that will be useful to the homeowners in lake management decisions.
Three of the poster projects were used as final capstone projects in Environmental Science or Environmental Studies, another one was presented by students at the New York meeting of the American Fisheries Society; two students from 2015’s class (one graduate student and one undergraduate) are following up on their project with me this summer to do additional research and writing to produce a paper for publication (planned submission to Limnology and Oceanography Methods in Fall 2017).
John Stella and I also included a service learning project in our Managing and Arching Research Data class. With the help of Heidi Webb, the students performed a collaborative project designing a database of teaching spaces at ESF and their capabilities that should be able to assist ESF, the Physical Plant Personnel and the Capital Planning Committee with identifying priority spaces for renovation and quickly assessing the current capacities, attributes and conditions of ESF teaching spaces. Stella, Schulz and Webb will provide this database to the Capital Planning Committee and the relevant Physical Plant personnel in early fall 2017 (or the next meeting if sooner).
I also volunteered to assist Ann Moore (Environmental Science) with the “Team Owasco” seminar in which students are developing capstone projects related to the issues of lake management and harmful algal blooms on Owasco Lake. These projects will continue over the next year.
EFB 486, EFB 796 Ichthyology We do surveys each year of fish communities in central New York. This year we studied the fishes in Jamesville Reservoir and nearshore of Oneida Lake. When new or unusual fish distributions are found, the DEC may be advised, and sometimes, specimens are preserved and provided to the New York State Museum of Natural History, Albany, or archived in ESF’s Roosevelt Wildlife Collection. Periodically, such results are provided to NYS DEC personnel who monitor conservation status of fish populations in the state.
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Graduate Students
By the end of this reporting period, 37 (29, previous year) graduate students (Appendices N and O) completed all degree requirements for the Ph.D., M.S., or M.P.S. degree.
Number of students by degree objectives At the beginning of Fall ‘16, there were 132 graduate students officially enrolled in EFB, a decrease of 14 compared to Fall ’15. The largest number of graduate students (156) ever enrolled in the department occurred in Fall ’11 and Fall ’12; the lowest number of graduate students in EFB since 2005 was 128, at the beginning of fall 2008. EFB graduate students were just over 30% of the total number of all full- and part-time graduate students at ESF during the fall ’16. Of this EFB total, about 52% (48% previous year) were in our M.S., 6% (8%) M.P.S., and 42% (44%) Ph.D. programs. The approximate percentage of students in each of our ten graduate areas of study is as follows (with percentages of previous year in parentheses):
Fish and Wildlife Biology and Management 28% (25%) Ecology 27% (31%) Conservation Biology 15% (14%) Plant Science and Biotechnology 9% (9%) Entomology 8% (8%) Environmental Interpretation 5% (5%) Forest Pathology and Mycology 4% (2%) Chemical Ecology 2% (3%) Environmental and Forest Biology 2% (2%) Applied Ecology 0% (<1%) Environmental Physiology 0% (0%)
Graduate student awards (listed in Appendix P)
Graduate recruitment efforts At the beginning of the fall 2017 semester we expect that there will be a total of 139 graduate students officially registered in EFB which includes returning and new students. There were 94 graduate applications to EFB for spring ’17 (16) and fall ’17 (78) matriculation, versus 113 in the last reporting period. This total number of applications, specifically the decrease compared to the number of applications five years ago (183, the largest number of applications ever), is misleading as a number of EFB faculty strongly discourage potential applicants to formally apply if a review of submitted materials prior to a formal application indicates that acceptance and funding are unlikely. Some of us individually recommend to two or three dozen potential applicants each, not to formally apply because their academic records will likely be below the upper 25% of the anticipated applicant pool. The individual EFB faculty with the most robust graduate programs are generally those who receive the largest number of grad school inquiries and formal grad applications. Additionally, applications to graduate programs throughout the U.S. apparently have decreased the past few years as the economy has been relatively strong and potential applicants to graduate programs have instead found employment. 27
Of these 94 applications, 12 graduate students matriculated in Spring ’17 and 32 plan to matriculate in August ’17. This total number of 44 new graduate students entering EFB this past spring and this fall is significantly more than the 26 who matriculated the previous year, which was the lowest number of newly matriculated graduate students in EFB the past few years. EFB had 44 new graduate students for 2015-2016 and 36 for 2014-2015. Although total number of applications has steadily decreased, the yield of new graduate students is very strong. Without minor renovations to existing spaces and replacement of large desks with smaller, more efficient ones, Illick Hall is at capacity for EFB’s graduate programs comprised primarily of M.S. and Ph.D. students, and especially for graduate research programs requiring laboratory and controlled environments. Illick Hall was not designed to accommodate the current number of graduate students in EFB. The only substantial increase in EFB graduate program that current facilities could handle would be in our MPS programs, which instead requires a faculty or staff with some proportion of time dedicated to managing the MPS programs as there is not sufficient interest within the department for this increase to take place by all faculty recruiting MPS students. Unless the 12 lab-intensive EFB faculty ever can move into a new ARB, no additional research and graduate space can be released in Illick. It is uncertain at this time, however, whether any of this “freed” space will be available to accommodate a larger EFB graduate program or will instead be used for other College programs. After many years of debate at EFB faculty meetings the faculty agreed in January 2012 to a greatly revised ranking system of all graduate applicants. The ranking system used for decades was based only on an applicant’s gpa and GRE scores, never including other measures of potential success in our graduate program. Although many of the top-ranked graduate applicants did complete their graduate programs in a timely manner and produced the products (including peer-reviewed journal papers) expected by the faculty, an unacceptable number did not. Beginning in January 2012, all EFB graduate applicants were ranked according to this scheme:
1st authored peer reviewed pub: 100 pts, or 125 pts if done while an undergrad; (PER PAPER) 2nd authored/multi-authored: 50 pts (PER PAPER) Master's degree (not MPS): 75 pts Discretionary points for each faculty person to dispense: 150 pts
This new scheme has now been applied to eleven cohorts of applications, i.e., those who applied for fall and spring matriculation since fall ’12. This new ranking scheme greatly altered the ranking of applicants, and the faculty generally seemed very pleased by the change. EFB’s GPAC plans to evaluate whether this revised ranking scheme helps us accept and support the applicants who are likely to be most successful in our graduate program. Graduate recruitment remains highly dependent on the efforts of individual faculty members in attracting graduate students into their programs. We stress the importance of updated faculty web pages and the importance of faculty obtaining research grants to provide graduate stipends and tuition-waivers through graduate research assistantships (GRAs). For years, EFB has been allocated 39.5 graduate teaching assistantships (GTAs); our graduate enrollment at the beginning of the past two AYs has been about 140 to 150. Although we have about 40% of the full-time graduate students at ESF, we receive about 30% of the 132 state- funded graduate assistantships. GRAs are critical for maintaining and expanding our graduate support. These GRAs can provide a larger stipend than that provided by TAs and include support for the full calendar year. Teaching assistantships only provide academic year support. A robust graduate program can only be sustained by recruiting graduate students who are 28 competitive for GTAs and national fellowships, and having an active research program that provides GRAs.
Graduate student advising Below shows the approximate number of graduate students advised last academic year by each EFB faculty member, as each have reported, including graduate students who finished. Some EFB faculty advise graduate students in other departments, especially in GPES, and even at other institutions. Co-major professors are counted as 0.5 graduate students.
Castello 1 Green 1 Powell 7 Cohen 5.5 Horton 3 Ringler 7 Diemont 8 Kimmerer 5 Rundell 4 Dovciak 3 Leopold 8 Schulz 3.5 Farrell, J. 3.5 Leydet 0 Stewart 4.5 Farrell, S. 4.5 Limburg 6.5 Teale 6 Fernando 2 Lomolino 1 Turner 0.5 Fierke 8.5 McGee 2.5 Weir 3.5 Frair 8.5 Newman 9 Whipps 3.5 Gibbs 11 Parry 6.5
Courses having TA support and enrollment in each Course # Course Name # of Students # of GTAs
101 General Biology Lecture I 305 3 102 General Biology Lab I 280 7.5 103 General Biology Lecture II 172 3 104 General Biology Lab II 156 5.5 120 Global Environment (spring) 101 3 132 Orientation Seminar 72 0.5
200 Physics of Life 148 0.5 210 Diversity of Life I 188 4 211 Diversity of Life II 189 5 217 Peoples, Plagues, & Pests 119 0.5
303 Intro Environ. Microbiology 48 1 305/605 Indigenous Issues and the Environment 36 0.5 308 Principles of Genetics Lab 179 5 311 Principles of Evolution 142 1 312/512 Intro. to Environ. Interpretation 46 1 320 General Ecology 230 5 325 Cell Biology 73 1 326 Diversity of Plants 48 2 336 Dendrology 130 2 340 Forest & Shade Tree Pathology 33 0.5 352/552 Entomology 57 2 355 Invertebrate Zoology 42 1 385 Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy 28 1.5 390 Wildlife Ecology and Management 82 1 29
401/601 Molecular Biology Techniques 22 1 413 Introduction to Conservation Biology 100 1 417/617 Advanced Perspectives of Interpretation 21 1 419 Problem Solving in Conserv. Biol. 62 1 423/623 Marine Ecology 90 3 424/525 Limnology/Limnology Practicum 66 2 435/635 Flowering Plants: Diversity, Evolution… 28 0.5 440/640 Mycology 48 1 445/645 Plant Ecology 36 1 446/646 Ecology of Mosses 23 0.5 462/662 Animal Physiol.: Environ. & Ecol. 35 0.5 480 Principles of Animal Behavior 52 2 482 Ornithology 59 1.5 483 Mammal Diversity 34 2 485 Herpetology 60 1 486 Ichthyology 2 487 Fisheries Science and Management 0.5 491 Wildlife Ecol. & Manage. Practicum 33 1.5 493/693 Wildlife Habitats/Populations 58 1
542 Freshwater Wetland Ecosystems 1 554 Aquatic Entomology 8 0.5
Graduate Program Accomplishments – Miscellaneous EFB’s Graduate Program Advisory Committee (GPAC), working with EFB graduate students, substantially revised the EFB Graduate Student Handbook which is available electronically at: http://www.esf.edu/efb/graduate/documents/handbook.pdf. The purpose of this handbook is to serve as a guide to policies and procedures of EFB’s graduate programs to help EFB graduate students be successful in our program. This handbook complements the department’s online Graduate Student Handbook (http://efb-grad-handbook.wikidot.com/), a wiki site built by previous EFB grad students to introduce new students to the campus and give insider tips on the area. It is an excellent resource for information regarding life at ESF and in Syracuse.
Governance and Administrative Structure
Components: Chair (D. Leopold) Duties: Manage allocation of state, Research Foundation (research incentives), and College Foundation accounts Manage allocation of about 40 state graduate teaching assistantships Convene regular department meetings Represent department at biweekly Academic Council meetings Work with Development Office for fundraising 30
Supervise about 34 faculty, one administrative assistant, two Instructional Support Specialists and other staff Promote faculty and staff within and outside of the department and facilitate the many good ideas that regularly emanate from faculty Ensure that all regular and new undergraduate and graduate courses are offered as listed in the College Catalog or webpage; main contact with Registrar for any course changes. Work with Physical Plant on all planned renovations and emergency repairs Assist Provost with special projects as needed Represent department at all college open houses Prepare annual department report Associate Chairs (J. Castello and J. Gibbs) Duties: One (J. Castello) assists with annual EFB preconvocation student awards recognition, supervises the Keyboard 1 and 2 Specialists in the main administrative office, assists in other miscellaneous ways. The other (J. Gibbs) is working on development (fundraising) activities with the Chair. Promotion and Tenure Committee (S. Teale, chair; J. Gibbs, J. Farrell, L. Newman, T. Horton). Curriculum and Course Assessment Committee (K. Schulz, chair; G. McGee, E. Folta, J. Cohen, and L. Newman) Duties: review all course and curricula changes in EFB and College; oversee course assessment of seven EFB undergraduate majors Graduate Program Advisory Committee (J. Cohen, chairs; Melissa Fierke, Karin Limburg, Danny Fernando, Dylan Parry, Martin Dovciak, Kim Schulz, Alison Kocek (Ph.D. student), Duties: advise chair on graduate matters and facilitate department decisions about policies Building and Space Committee (currently vacant) Field Program (including International Programs) Committee: inactive Awards Committee (chaired by J. Castello) Undergraduate and Graduate Academic Awards Illustrious Alumni, Emeriti Awards
Supporting Offices, Committees, Directors, and Coordinators Administrative Office Adminstrative Assistant to the Chair/Secretary 1 (Sandra Polimino) Duties: manages all department accounts (state, research foundation, and development) and submits payment for department bills; manages ranking of graduate applicants and currently overseeing administrative aspects of EFB graduate program; assists with annual student recognition the day of convocation; manages EFB’s digital display in foyer; manages requests by faculty for all vehicles for their classes; assists in managing the chair’s calendar and schedule; assists in development activities; assists faculty in various ways; handles reimbursements, etc. for seminar speakers; assists the chair with a multitude of tasks. Secretary 1 (AnnMarie Clarke) Duties: provides support to Undergraduate Curriculum Director (UCD) for undergraduate program (7 majors); schedules prospective/accepted undergraduate student visits with Admissions; assists UCD with open house and transfer days; oversees summer mailings to incoming students; revises undergraduate handbook; assists with data collection for Undergraduate Program Assessments; 31
provides faculty support for manuscripts, class work, and report preparations; assists with arranging meetings, conferences, travel and hotel accommodations; orders department supplies; processes State and Research purchase requisitions for faculty and staff; modifies, updates and maintains EFB websites for EFB faculty; handles incoming and outgoing mail when KB 1 is out; handles routine maintenance of office equipment including fax and copier; assists with Cranberry Lake Biological Station registration; assists with assigning rooms for graduate students; provides support to Department Chair and Secretary 1 Keyboard Specialist 1 (Joanne Rappleyea) Duties: responsible for meeting and greeting all visitors to EFB; responds to all inquiries made by faculty, staff, and students; handles all incoming mail for EFB faculty, staff, and graduate students; assists Secretary 1, Keyboard Specialist 2, and Department Chair; orders office supplies for EFB administrative office; sets up a chart of each EFB conference room; handles routine maintenance of office equipment; oversees sign-out of digital equipment; types roster of faculty, staff and other key campus numbers and distributes to EFB faculty, staff, and grads; processes all Work Orders to Physical Plant; types Class Schedules (fall & spring) and post outside main office; processes State and Research purchase requisitions. Undergraduate Curriculum Director (G. McGee) Duties: Coordinate student recruitment events with Admissions; Develop orientation materials and programs for freshmen and transfer students; Update curriculum plan sheets, directed elective lists and the student handbook; Facilitate petitions; Coordinate department undergraduate advising; Serve as the department’s representative on the Academic Standards Review Committee; Compile and summarize ENB assessment data. Undergraduate Curriculum Coordinators (by major) Environmental Biology (G. McGee) Aquatic and Fisheries Science (D. Stewart) Biotechnology (W. Powell) Conservation Biology (J. Gibbs) Forest Health (J. Castello) Natural History and Interpretation (E. Folta) Wildlife Science (J. Frair) Graduate Program Director (D. Fernando) Duties: Act on petitions concerning different aspects of graduate program requirements and policies Review and sign (paper form and online) forms required for the completion of different majors and degrees (2A, 3B, 4, 5B and 6B) Reply to inquiries concerning EFB graduate program (through email, phone, and/or personal visits) on an almost daily basis from potential applicants and current graduate students Process each year about 150 graduate applications that involve the review of each application for initial assessment and designation of faculty reviewers, following up on the completion of the reviews on each application, summarizing the reviews for each 32
application, and submitting EFB’s recommendation for each accepted and rejected applications to the Dean of Instructions and Graduate Studies Provide orientation seminars to new graduate students about EFB graduate program and the new faculty about the graduate application process Serve as the department’s representative to the Graduate Council and raise issues regarding problems/suggestions on how to improve the graduate program, application and review process; shared the ideas and activities of the Graduate School to the department’s graduate committee and faculty Review applications and participate in the deliberations in granting Fellows for SUNY Diversity Fellowship and Bristol Myers Squibb Sustainability Fellowship Work with the Graduate Secretary on the update and improvement of the various facets of the EFB’s Graduate Webpage and graduate application filing system Cranberry Lake Biological Station (M Fierke and R. Kimmerer, co-Directors) Roosevelt Wild Life Station (J. Gibbs, Director; J. Frair, Associate Director) Thousand Islands Biological Station (J. Farrell, Director) Animal Use and Care Protocols (college-wide committee; C. Whipps) Exhibits Coordinator (E. Folta) Instructional Support Specialist Supervisors K. Adams – S. Teale R. Giegerich – J. Frair P. McHale – D. Leopold B. McMaster – D. Leopold T. Ettinger – D. Leopold
Budget
EFB’s budget comes from four main sources, i.e., (1) state allocations; (2) funds generated from summer courses, grad tuition incentive program, and course fees; (3) the SUNY Research Foundation (RF) research incentives funds; and, (4) development funds through the College Foundation. A summary of the allocations from each source and expenditures follows.
State Budget Allocations: $49,750 (state budget allocation to EFB in ’07-’08 was $79,500 for fewer faculty, students, and courses); excludes search committee allocations from the Provost, Biotechnology, Tree Pest Info Service, and Academic Equipment Replacement allocations – amounts of these shown below)
Initial Allocation (September 2016): $49,750 ($45,000 OTPS; $4,750 TS)
Planned* Expenditures: Offices (administration, faculty, staff, grads): $13,500 Computers: $0 Photocopy: $5,000 Mileage/Travel: $3,000 Repairs: $2,000 Building, facilities, exhibits: $3,000 Seminars and receptions $8,500 33
Chairman Operating (over-expenditures, all categories) $5,000 Greenhouses $1,000 Subtotal $41,000
Faculty subaccounts and additional requests: $32,712
Total Planned Expenditures: $73,712
Total OTPS $45,000 Total OTPS + Course Fees ($33,000) $78,000
Temporary services (TS) $4,750 *because $33,000 in course fees was anticipated to be collected during the last reporting period, budgeting was based on an assumed OTPS amount of $78,000, i.e., $45,000 + $33,000)
Course Fee Allocation: $33,000 Biotechnology accounts: $8,450 Tree Pest Info Service account: $1,600 Academic Equipment Replacement: $35,734 (versus $35,734 previous year) End-of-year allocation: $0 (versus $0 previous year)
The total state budget allocation to EFB for 2016-2017 was $49,750. Course fees of $33,000 were expected to be collected in the fall ’16 and spring ’17 semesters, and these fees were transferred into our OTPS account as needed. Funds in the course fee account can be carried over to the following academic year, a significant advantage over funds in the OTPS account which must be spent by the end of each June. By June 2017, the entire initial state allocation and all of the course fees collected from the Fall ‘16 and Spring ’17 semesters was spent (i.e., $78,000). Of the extraordinary expenditures that are covered by state funds, the cost of the Department’s pre-Convocation award ceremony and reception for graduating students, their families and friends, and faculty and staff was about $5,500 (food and drink for reception, award plaques). State funds were also used to extend the employment of the work-study student assigned to the administrative office, cover costs of invited speakers for courses, and faculty attendance at teaching workshops. Funds generated from course fees were critical to cover course expenditures beyond the meager amounts allocated to each faculty member for their courses. Academic Equipment Funds allocated to EFB ($35,658 this past period; $35,734 previous period) have been instrumental in allowing faculty to replace equipment required for classroom instruction. Our specialized courses have also relied on these funds to upgrade badly outdated equipment. Unfortunately, these funds cannot be used to help replace the boats and other equipment needed for our aquatic sciences courses so we are still without a dedicated funding source for these required types of equipment. Some of the substantial expenditures from this account this past period were partial funding of a microsope for a new faculty member (not fully covered by his start up package), electroshockers for the aquatic sciences courses, replacement of equipment for the Molecular Techniques course, and upgraded camera for microscopic work done in Parasitology. 34
Funds Generated by Summer Courses Funds from summer courses provide much incentive for the department to offer relevant summer courses during Maymester and Summer Session, while meeting increasing demands from students to satisfy curricular requirements outside of the fall and spring semesters. Funds from summer ’16 courses of $10,407 were slightly less than the previous two summers ($11,983 for summer ’15, the highest amount yet generated by summer course offerings; $11,009 in summer ‘14). Some of these funds have been used to buy AV equipment for some of the Illick Hall classrooms and for other expenses that would otherwise be covered by the basic state allocation to the department (waders for EFB 486, Ichthyology; printing for EFB Undergraduate Handbook). As of early August ’16, we have $7,680 left in this account. Based on enrollment numbers for courses taught during the summer ’17, we expect a similar amount in funds from these summer courses, to be available in late fall ’16.
SUNY RF Departmental Research Incentives Funds: $27,963 allocated fall 2016 plus an additional restoration to total $52,322 available for this past reporting period.
Expenditures (by general categories): Department Seminars (incl. Adaptive Peaks) $7,000 Faculty and Staff Development and Recognition $5,790 Hosting Visiting Scholars $3,000 Faculty and Staff Equipment, Supplies, Miscell. $7,000 TIBS, CLBS undergraduate student fellowships $0,000 Building Equipment and Supplies $3,000 Office Copiers $8,200 Student Development and Recognition $2,500 Searches (Toxicologist and ISS) $1,500 Development $2,000 Greenhouse $500 Dept and Field Station Dues $750
Total Expenditures $41,240
Balance (August 2017) $11,082
The Department could not function without these Research Incentive funds, i.e., the state allocation is insufficient to cover the basic teaching, research, and outreach expenses of a large doctoral-granting biology program. Increasingly, state funds are needed for development-related activities – although these activities should eventually result in financial support for currently unfunded programs and ideas, there are no state funds explicitly allocated for the travel and other costs associated with these efforts. Because of the significant reduction in Research Incentives funds five of the past six years and anticipated/unanticipated expenditures, the department suspended the TIBS and CLBS undergraduate student summer fellowship programs. However, with the course fees collected to pay for the expendable supplies in lab courses with state funds, the department should be able to 35 restore these programs by not having to cover basic teaching expenditures with Research Incentive funds.
Development Funds ($105,004 budgeted for ’16-’17; does not include balance in EFB Fund nor College Foundation accounts for the RWLS, CNPE, Dale L. Travis Lecture) Undergraduate and graduate student awards come from the following endowments: Maurice and Annette Alexander Wetlands Research Fund, Robert L. Burgess Graduate Scholarship in Ecology, Betty Moore Chamberlaine Memorial Fund, Leroy C. Stegeman Endowment in Invertebrate Ecology, Robert A. Zabel Endowed Scholarship, John and Etta Simeone Graduate Fellowship, Josiah L. Lowe-Hugh E. Wilcox Scholarship Fund, Phyllis Roskin, Joseph and Ruth Hasenstab, Edwin H. Ketchledge Scholarship, Lanier Memorial, Silverborg Memorial, and Patricia D. and Jeff J. Morrell Scholarship, and Dr. Samuel Grober ’38 Graduate Fellowship. During the academic year but especially at the annual EFB Spring Celebration and Awards Ceremony prior to the ESF Convocation, most of this total allocated amount was given out to EFB undergraduate and graduate students to assist them in their research endeavors and for outstanding accomplishments; additional money was given out during the academic year to students based on financial need. Awardees are included in Appendix P. A new undergraduate award was established, without an endowment, during the spring of 2012 in honor of Dr. Chun-Juan K. Wang. Since then, this award has been given annually to the outstanding graduating woman who best exemplifies Dr. Wang’s love of learning, teaching and research, in hopes that it will inspire her to achieve her highest goals. The Chun Wang Honor Award recognizes the many contributions that Dr. Wang has made to the College since 1959 when she began here as the first woman professor at ESF. Dr. Wang is a Professor Emerita in Botany and Mycology and is a world renowned mycologist, known especially for her ground breaking work with the Fungi Imperfecti. In addition to her exemplary research, Dr. Wang is highly respected for her years of service as a beloved teacher, introducing generations of students to the wonders of plants through her courses in Botany, Diversity of Plants and many aspects of Mycology. She has inspired hundreds of students with her knowledge, her enthusiasm and her passion for learning and has served as a wise mentor and role model for students and faculty alike. And she still regularly comes into Illick to work! This award was established by the women faculty in EFB, now representing 30% of the current EFB faculty. Over the next few years we hope to attract sufficient development funds for a variety of significant purposes, including: endowed chairs (in biotechnology, conservation biology, wildlife policy and management, waterfowl ecology, etc.), museum display cases for the Roosevelt Discovery Center in Illick, a graduate seminar series, graduate fellowships (to attract the top applicants) and scholarships (to fully fund attendance at professional meetings), and undergraduate scholarships (for recruiting top students and support for attending professional meetings and field trips offered in our program, e.g., to Russia, Ireland, Australia, and Africa). In May ’12 the ESF College Foundation received a donation of $25K from an ESF alumnus to establish a lecture series and other activities to publicly promote significant activities of ESF faculty. In March 2013 Dr. James Gibbs delivered the first Dale L. Travis Lecture. Donations of the same amount were made in spring ’13, spring ’14, and spring ‘15 to continue this series. Dr. Robin Kimmerer gave the Dale L. Travis Lecture in September 2014 and Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus George Curry (Department of Landscape Architecture) gave the lecture in March 2015. For the fall ’15, Dr. Karin Limburg convened a 36 group of filmmakers, artists, and writers to discuss The Future of Fisheries: Choices, Decisions, and the Role of the Arts. Participants were Karin Limburg, John Waldman, James Prosek, David Doubilet and Jennifer Hayes. In spring ’16, Dr. Neil Ringler gave a lecture on his 25+ years of research and collaboration on Onondaga Lake. Dr. James Gibbs returned for a lecture in fall 2016, this time talking about the giant tortoises of the Galapagos. Dr. Jacqui Frair drew a record attendance for her spring ’17 lecture on the ecological role of the coyote in northeastern forests. Details on these lectures and videos of the presentations are posted at: http://www.esf.edu/efb/travislecture/.
Objectives 2016-2017
Objectives, status, and relations to strategic plan (with contributions from J. Gibbs) To coincide with the College’s strategic planning process that began in April 2001 and resulted in the Vision 20:20 strategic plan (http://www.esf.edu/vision2020/vision2020.pdf), the EFB faculty adopted the following vision statement in November 2001: “Environmental and Forest Biology will be a world leader in furthering our understanding of the structure and function of the world’s ecosystems and their biota, and in applying scientific principles to solving the pressing environmental problems of the biosphere. EFB will pursue this goal through excellence in basic and applied research, in service to the public, and in educating the next generation of environmental scientists, thinkers, and problem solvers”. The month before this vision statement was adopted, faculty discussions culminated in identifying the following tasks that if accomplished would help us realize this vision: (1) attraction and retention of top-flight scientists; (2) evolution of a stronger learning and mentoring environment for students, faculty, and staff; (3) development of a more fully integrated field program; (4) development of greater prominence and national/international recognition of our graduate program; (5) enhancement and formal recognition of our public service, informational outreach, and service learning program; (6) development of new undergraduate programs; (7) great expansion of EFB’s reach into the international realm; and, (8) assisting the College on data acquisition, development, and utilization.
Numerous examples and data throughout this annual report indicate that EFB continues to make substantial progress towards accomplishing these tasks. Beginning in summer 2014 the College began a strategic planning process that was supposed to result in an initial plan at the end of the 2015 calendar year. In the fall 2015, that process was deemed inadequate by ESF Academic Governance, and a new plan was developed and adopted during the spring 2016 semester. Departments are expected to develop their own strategic plans, after this initial College strategic plan is adopted. The new strategic plan is more of a bridging document to the earlier “Vision 20:20” strategic plan, recognizing that there was much good in this plan that had not yet been realized, rather than rejecting this earlier strategic plan. 37
In the context of attracting top-flight scientists this past year EFB successfully initiated and filled a search for a key position in the College’s emerging Environmental Health programs, specifically in the area of toxicology. Dr. Roxanna Razavi started in this Assistant Professor, tenure-track position August 1 of this year (replacing departing EFB faculty member Dr. Gordon Paterson). ESF’s prominence in environmental health has also been bolstered by recruitment of Dr. Brian Leydet, also an EFB faculty member, who started his position in epidemiology to support this major and developing graduate programs on August 15, 2016. The Environmental Health major in Environmental Sciences was approved by SUNY and the first group of students matriculated in this program in the fall ’14 semester. Although not a departmental program, EFB plays a significant role in offering this major, and administering it, with Dr. Lee Newman as the Director of this interdepartmental program.
Objectives 2017-2018
Objectives and relations to strategic plan (with contributions from J. Gibbs, S. Teale, and others) Although EFB implemented a mentoring program for new faculty years ago, there sometimes has been a disconnect between guidance of a faculty member’s mentoring committee and evaluations made at various levels in the department and College-wide promotion and tenure process. Threshold metrics to objectively and transparently indicate which area(s) need strengthening have been developed by the EFB Promotion and Tenure Committee but have met with strong resistance from some of the faculty in the department. These metrics have been revised based on faculty input. Metrics ideally would be included in the department’s Promotion and Tenure Guidelines, if not as requirements, then as benchmarks for which faculty can ascertain whether they are on a satisfactory track for promotion and tenure. A major objective of the EFB P&T Committee during this new academic year is to formally put these standards in place. The seven EFB undergraduate majors need a formal assessment, planned for this coming academic year. The EFB Curriculum and Course Assessment Committee, working with the Chair and Coordinators of each major, are working on the plan for this assessment, likely to be completed during the spring ’18 semester, which will include a site visit by evaluators. The composition of that evaluation team is currently under review. Currently our undergraduate and graduate programs in Environmental Interpretation and Education (formerly “Natural History and Interpretation”) are in a state of uncertainty. Dr. Beth Folta, former coordinator of these programs, left ESF in May. With an average of 40+ undergraduates and about 10 graduate students in these areas under Dr. Folta’s direction, it is critical that EFB’s request to replace Dr. Folta is approved. Dr. Folta’s departure provides opportunity to re-envision EFB’s niche in the area of human-environment connection that her faculty line has traditionally focused upon. Re-focusing this faculty line on Natural History would be both timely and strategic. There has been a steep decline for the support of natural history despite that the importance of the essential knowledge gained through studying “how nature works” has not waned. Moreover, the reality of human ill-health -- physical, mental and developmental -- caused by the distancing of ourselves from nature is become ever more daunting, precipitating recognition of the importance of natural history and the “connection” and vitality it generates as well as the sense 38 of stewardship for the environment it fosters. We are also seeking to recover the ability to look and ask -- skills essential across all disciplines but that natural history study facilitates like nothing else. Last, the essential but diminishing knowledge derived from natural history (particularly biomimicry broadly interpreted) that pertains to human health, food security, conservation, land management, and recreation is needed more than ever. EFB is uniquely poised to provide the leadership and programs needed for natural history to reclaim its necessary role. A key hire would bolster the Department by communicating actively all the remarkable activity that goes in the currently in an unheralded manner at ESF in the area of natural history, integrating the student experience of natural history at ESF, and catalyzing a set of collaborations, initiatives and actions, to make different audiences passionate about natural history. While all EFB programs would benefit, the emerging Environmental Health program at ESF in particular would do so, for example, by developing a unique focus on nature-deficit disorder and children’s health and development. This topic is especially strong for seeking external donor support and outreach potential to raise the College’s profile for example through teacher training, certification and distance learning in the form of a New York Master Naturalist program, traveling programs to schools that inspire young people but also showcase ESF, citizen science projects for public engagement (indeed we are now embarking on the New York State Mammal Atlas and Herp Atlas as platforms for other such opportunities to raise ESF’s profile), and key research and dissemination, public programming using our properties, spaces and collections. This is not the time to allow this program to disappear at ESF and in EFB which we believe has the strongest organismal biology program in the country – it is time to re-envision and expand it and harvest the benefits of doing so. EFB’s long-standing prominence in the field of Forest Health is also in jeopardy with Dr. John Castello’s retirement pending in mid-December of this year. We hope to quickly move to replace the only remaining forest pathologist at ESF. Forest pathology has been one of the strongest areas at ESF for most of its existence, and has evolved substantially to be the foundation in field of Forest Health, of which ESF has been one of the world leaders in the past 25 years. There can be no forest health programs at ESF without a solid forest pathology component. Emerging and established tree diseases have substantial impacts on forested ecosystems and the forest-based economy of NYS and North America. Chestnut blight, Dutch elm disease, beech bark disease and other diseases have permanently altered the structure, composition and productivity of North American forests, yet new technologies including genetic modification promise to reverse the trend. Local, State and Federal agencies as well as many members of the public look to ESF to provide guidance on the management of emerging threats to regional forest health that broadly affect society. As a component of its institutional mission, ESF has a responsibility to conduct state-of-the-art research on tree disease in NYS and to educate future generations of forest health specialists. Meeting our expectations to address regional forest health issues via recruitment of a replacement faculty member for Dr. Castello could also yield new expertise in forest pathology that contributes substantially to the proposed Tree Restoration Center at ESF through basic science and applied technologies. We expect our new Forest Pathologist to reinvigorate interest in forest pathology at ESF, assist other Forest Health faculty to recruit students into the undergraduate Forest Health major, and to develop an externally funded research program on important tree disease issues locally, nationally and/or internationally in this area for which funding is abundant. Conservation biology is another area of prominence for EFB and ESF with some degree of instability. Conservation Biology is EFB’s largest of seven majors yet its students are taught 39 primarily by one faculty member, i.e., Dr. James Gibbs. Because of ongoing serious concerns about instructing and advising the nearly 200 undergraduates in the Conservation Biology major, yearly discussions with the Admissions Office about the increasing demand for this major, and the lack of ability to currently have the capstone course taught by faculty, we can no longer meet student demands and deliver a quality educational program without a new faculty position in Conservation Biology. This past spring we made the strongest case to the administration to approve an assistant professor, tenure-track position in Conservation Biology but that request has been rejected. In the interim, the wildlife faculty have agreed to help share the burden at the introductory course level but an additional faculty member is still clearly needed to effectively serve this large student population with substantial growth potential. Moreover, this new faculty position is needed to increase our research and graduate training capacity in the area of biodiversity conservation, which are not keeping pace with the needs of key state and federal conservation partners at present. This new Assistant Professor of Conservation Biology would focus on Endangered Species Management (the CB senior synthesis) and a graduate/advanced undergraduate level course in Population Ecology – two key areas missing from our entire program in which students have expressed tremendous interest and faculty have long-stated with near unanimity a need for. Population ecology is central to much of what we do in EFB so a specialist would serve virtually all of our programs as well as students in other ESF programs. This person’s expertise and research are likely to be focused on vertebrates given the large student interest in vertebrate ecology. The detailed rationale for this request has been sent to the Provost. Overall, ESF will get no greater return for investing in any new faculty position, relative to instruction, advising, research funding, and collaborative partnerships, than hiring a new faculty member in Conservation Biology with an emphasis on population ecology and conservation of vertebrate animals. Should EFB not be able to hire this Conservation Biologist, we will need to reduce our current enrollment in this major by about 25%, i.e., bring in 50 less new undergraduate students each year beginning in the 2017-2018 admissions cycle. The teaching facilities, advising depth, and intellectual support for this growing major are currently inadequate. This new hire in Conservation Biology, combined with The Camp Fire Conservation Fund Professor of Wildlife Conservation (see below), and significant modifications and integration currently underway by our dedicated faculty in the content and delivery of the key wildlife sciences and conservation biology programs will result in a substantial strengthening of one of the best combined programs in the U.S. and capacity to recruit more of the very best students from around the country. EFB faculty are unusual at ESF in their efforts in the realm of donor development and securing private sector philanthropy. Now with substantial time invested in development activities over the past 5 years, we are beginning to see some significant results. Although most of these efforts appear to be concentrated on the Roosevelt Wild Life Station because of the endowed professorships being pursued and bioblitzes-for-fee undertaken to reach potential donors and generate support, outcomes of these efforts have a significant direct and indirect impact on the department as well. Through primarily Dr. Jacqui Frair’s efforts at the department level, working closely with the ESF Development Office, we have received funds from The Camp Fire Club of America to establish an endowed professorship in wildlife ecology. Specifically, this new faculty position will be The Camp Fire Conservation Fund Professor of Wildlife Conservation, which will finally allow EFB to hire a faculty member devoted to the management of big game species, an area of research vacated in EFB with the departure of Dr. Bill Porter in 2010. This hire will join Drs. Jacqui Frair, Jonathan Cohen, and Shannon Farrell as 40 one of the strongest Wildlife Sciences programs in the U.S. albeit with one of the greatest skews of students to faculty nationally given the small number of faculty and large number of students: over one-fifth (about 130) of the undergraduates in EFB. With this hire we are able to expand course offerings at the undergraduate and graduate level, better share the advising load of this important professional degree program, and cover a critical new area of broad concern to the students and public and with substantial outreach and research funding opportunities pending. In addition, we have made substantial strides seeking funds to establish an endowed professorship in Waterfowl and Wetlands Ecology and laying the groundwork for endowed professorships in Tree Genetics for Species Restoration, Conservation Biology and Environmental Health. Given the strengths of the department and institution, the resonance and appeal of these foci with the public, and a network of developing relationships with potential donors, we believe that getting funds to establish these endowed positions is realistic. Our primary motivation for emphasizing development activities on top of all other typical tasks we must carry out is clarity that without funds from external sources, we will never fully reach for our program’s potential for addressing the applied ecology issues facing society nor the professional aspirations of our faculty and students. In terms of next steps for EFB, following the development and implementation of the College’s new strategic plan, the Department should undergo a similar process to facilitate and implement that plan within EFB’s domain and take advantage of opportunities that result. Department-level strategic planning will likely be a primary objective of this new academic year, likely spilling over into the fall of 2018 if not beyond. By that time, the most important current unknowns should be more certain, e.g., the status of the Academic Research Building and status of key development efforts, especially related to endowed professorships.
Longer Term Visioning and Planning (based on recent discussions and emails among EFB faculty with additional input from J. Gibbs)
As many of the previously cited metrics and cases indicate, there is enormous interest on the part of students, the public and agencies in our programs but the lack of resources and facilities have hampered our ability to do more. While EFB has generally replaced most faculty who have retired or passed in order to maintain core strengths, we no longer have expertise in animal behavior and biogeochemistry with the retirements of, and lack of replacements for, Drs. Bill Shields and Myron Mitchell, respectively. Additionally, we have not been able to move into new areas that a modern biology department covers, e.g., bioinformatics, not bolster areas like systematics, which contribute to stronger conservation biology programs. The EFB Chair and a few colleagues (notably Drs. Frair and Gibbs) continue to spend a substantial amount of time on development activities. Of the various purposes for which development funds are sought, the highest priority is still to fund at least four endowed chair positions, some associated with the Roosevelt Wild Life Station. These efforts have finally materialized for one endowed professorship, i.e., The Camp Fire Conservation Fund Professor of Wildlife Conservation. But to be successful at development efforts, we need a larger Development Office at ESF. With the recent hiring of a Major Gifts Officer in this office and another new hire planned soon, we are optimistic that this office will increase EFB’s effectiveness in fund-raising for key initiatives. Ideally, given the size of the department, similar 41 to the size of many College-level programs elsewhere, the department should have a full time position, 50% allocated to alumni relationships and 50% allocated to development activities. The Chair is not aware of similarly sized departments without at least one staff person dedicated to donor outreach and development. What’s more we contend that the public’s clear interest in the themes of EFB (conservation, restoration, healthy ecosystems, biodiversity) represent the College’s best opportunities for success in expanding philanthropy. Over the next few years we hope to attract sufficient development funds for many significant purposes, e.g., endowed chairs (in biotechnology, conservation biology, waterfowl ecology), a residential building for scientists and graduate students at the Cranberry Lake Biological Station, museum display cases and public interaction space for the Roosevelt Discovery Center, a funded graduate seminar series, graduate fellowships (to attract the top applicants) and scholarships (to fully fund attendance at professional meetings), and undergraduate scholarships (for recruiting top students and support for attending professional meetings and field trips offered in our program, e.g., to Russia, Ireland, Australia, and parts of Africa). The Cranberry Lake Biological Station could become an important facility linking ESF with the public via natural history education and perhaps outdoors experiential learning opportunities. We also hope to find a means to highlight and mobilize our significant biological collections that serve a critical function in our teaching programs but likely have a much greater value to the public and researchers. We remain convinced that the opportunities for biology education that we provide with our strong emphasis on field-based learning, problem-solving, and integration across taxa and from genes to ecosystems is much sought after and will remain even more so in the age of changing ways of learning and ever mounting ecological challenges to society. The department is poised with the impending hire to have national and international recognition in wildlife science and could have similar prominence in conservation biology with an additional hire. Combined, our conservation biology and wildlife programs are among the largest in the U.S., and some of the faculty are among the best anywhere. The Roosevelt Wild Life Station has recently been revitalized at the College and there is state funding in hand to build an innovative facility in the basement of Gateway to better service and feature its collections and provide more effective instructional space for many of our “-ology” courses. Although established at the College in 1919 with the blessing of Theodore Roosevelt, few people inside or external to ESF understand the purpose of this Station and continually ask to see the Station (there is no physical space on campus currently assigned to the Station). The historical linkage between ESF and the Roosevelt family is a “gift” and opportunity; elevating the Roosevelt Wild Life Station to an interdepartmental program, e.g., the Roosevelt School for Conservation Science, would significantly increase national and international attention to the vast and inter-related conservation-related work being done at ESF. In addition to animal-focused conservation issues, we could profitably focus on becoming a “National Center for Restoration of Threatened Tree Species”, building on the College’s work on American chestnut. More broadly, ESF also is positioned to become globally recognized as a leader in the restoration of rare/threatened plants (not only trees). Either focus would necessarily involve not just plant biotechnologist, but would include the array of specialties that enables conservation-on-the-ground to advance from ecology, silviculture, entomology, mycology, plant physiology, social science, communications, and more. ESF/EFB has demonstrated capability to do this through our work on restoration of American chestnut and the federally-listed American hart’s tongue fern, through the use of in vitro or semi-in vitro produced planting materials. We 42 will need at least a state-of-the-art laboratory facility for propagation so we can expand our scope in terms of the number of species to work on. The focus on the biology and propagation of rare/threatened plants in the Northeast U.S., and especially the integration of ecological perspectives with biotechnology tools, differentiate us from other institutions in the country focused on plant conservation. The potentials for this Center are enormous given a focus on the prevention and management of threats to trees and other plant species wherever they occur (urban, backyard, wilderness, plantation). ESF already has three excellent forest entomologists working on invasive species issues in forests and many other faculty here addressing these issues within their areas of expertise. ESF should be able to carve out a niche in the area of invasive species research by focusing on trees. A further area of strength (and potential further strengthening) is EFB’s fisheries programs at ESF are pushing boundaries both spatially and in techniques/methods development, combining the traditional (e.g., systematics) with new (e.g., hard part (otoliths, scales, bones) microchemistry). Our small and under-staffed program has repeatedly been ranked as one of the very top in the Nation. One option to further strengthen this area is to fill the “open” biogeochemist position with someone also trained in and emphasizing aquatic ecosystems. Urban ecology was a great former strength of ESF and could easily be so yet again. For example, the term "biophilic city" has been used to describe how to reconfigure cities to be more eco-friendly and better places to live. While one individual department has tried to own this area at ESF, the most exciting opportunities involve many departments together here. It is ironic that ESF is nearly unique among environmental colleges in its deep urban setting yet has virtually no engagement in the pressing urban ecology issues of the day. Moreover, urban ecology necessarily engages a diverse populace both in terms of service and potentially recruitment. As such getting more active in urban issues would greatly assist ESF in its overall campaign toward greater inclusion and equity on environmental issues. Three final strategic areas for consideration for investment include ecosystem restoration -- another direction that the department could develop more strongly especially if the focus is not only "wild" systems, but even urban systems and production systems. Second is for ESF to become a center for Ecological Economics, where we currently enjoy prominence despite limited faculty devoted to the area. We would need a couple of new faculty hires, at a minimum, for that. Third, ESF can offer Environmental Health programs that are unlike any others. Some focal areas that have been discussed include: (1) understanding how “nature-deficit disorder” affects the health of people, especially children; (2) examining environmental health after natural disasters like Superstorm Sandy and other events like catastrophic tornadoes. Indeed, many aspects of EFB involve working toward a healthier world for wild species and humans – formalizing, organizing and augmenting this emphasis could benefit the college immensely. It has long been stated that a true measure of excellence for EFB would be to have faculty members become fellows of National Academies, or even become Nobel laureates. To do so, ESF needs far more investment in better labs, and more resources to fill those labs with grad students and post-docs, not to mention more time for faculty to devote to research. This remains an intriguing target but practical concerns render it unrealistic at this time. Bolstering our field stations and thereby our well-known experiential “boots-on-the- ground” earning programs is another area for strategic growth. At a time that most University field stations have been abandoned, ESF’s Cranberry Lake Biological Station’s importance has risen from regional to national. TIBs is also nationally known. But to meet the instructional and 43 research needs at these stations, particularly CLBS, renovations are needed, especially to living quarters and instructional spaces to accommodate the large number of students and faculty during the summer. ESF and EFB have been relatively successful because: (1) we have a strong mission that is more relevant than ever; (2) we have a lot of expertise on the campus in support of that mission; (3) what we focus on is generally accessible and appealing to the public, and (4) we are still pretty nimble, although the administrative hoops are getting harder to jump through, and some supporting facilities are seriously degraded (e.g., the physical plant's capabilities, college fleet, Illick Hall, etc.). And it is great that we still have our extensive properties; our history tied to the fate of New York's forests is both interesting and an excellent platform for expanding research and education in sustainability. ESF/EFB can offer interesting, non-traditional courses that engage students in exciting ways; that we incorporate students into our research programs; and that we can encourage folks to think outside the box. Other institutions have built highly successful (and lucrative) programs for public engagement on natural history, exploration of the natural world, and conservation, and done so with less opportunity (no lands like we have) and in states with access to far smaller populations and less financial resources. Careful study of successful enterprises and their programming and operations would behoove ESF/EFB. Our biology program is different, and appealingly so, because of its applied focus. Faculty and students study subjects that need urgent attention. In a word, we are “relevant.” We are grateful to come to work each day to address important problems for society that relate to forest and environmental biology. And doubly grateful to see a shared desire for a healthier natural world in the students we teach. With very healthy undergraduate and graduate enrollments, the addition of thirteen faculty the past twelve years (Drs. Frair, Whipps, Dovciak, Fierke, McGee, Newman, Cohen, Rundell, S. Farrell, Diemont, Green, Leydet, and Razavi), tremendous effort by many of the senior faculty, greater use efficiency and enhancements of existing space, and improvements at our field stations, the department is closer towards realizing its basic goal of being one of the premier environmental biology programs. The EFB Chair hopes that with the department’s strong foundation and energy from many new faculty and the highly productive established faculty that the department is poised to discuss and move towards EFB’s aspirations beyond what has already been articulated and attained.
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Appendix A. EFB Faculty: Rank (at end of reporting period), Education, and Interests
Name and Title Degrees Interest Areas
Castello, John D. PhD, Univ. of Wisconsin Assessment of forest health, beech bark disease Professor and Associate MS, Washington State Univ. Chair BA, Montclair State College
Cohen, Jonathan B. PhD, Virginia Tech Wildlife ecology and management, population and Assistant Professor MS, U. Connecticut habitat ecology, threatened and endangered species. BS, Cornell University
Diemont, Stewart A.W. PhD, Ohio State Systems ecology, ecological engineering, traditional Associate Professor MS, Univ. of North Carolina ecological knowledge, ecosystem restoration, BA, Univ. of Texas sustainability analysis, natural wastewater treatment systems and re-use, lesser-developed countries, agroecology
Dovciak, Martin PhD, Univ. of Minnesota Plant ecology; forest ecology; biodiversity; plant Associate Professor Dipl. Engin.,. Zvolen Technical population & community dynamics; spatial ecology; University ecosystem management & restoration
Farrell, John M. PhD, SUNY ESF Fisheries management, aquatic ecology, wetlands Professor MS, SUNY ESF restoration, St. Lawrence River studies, muskellunge BS, Cornell University and northern pike ecology & mgt., invasive species
Farrell, Shannon L. PhD, Texas A&M Wildlife ecology, E&T species and habitat, Assistant Professor MS, Texas A&M anthropogenic impacts, quantification approaches for BA, Brown University wildlife habitat services, policy innovations for implementing the ESA
Fernando, Danilo D. PhD, Univ of Alberta, Canada Plant reproductive biology, plant structure and Associate Professor MS, Univ of Philippines development, in vitro fertilization in conifers, pollen BS, Mountain State Agr. Coll. transformation & gene expression during pollen tube development
Fierke, Melissa K. PhD, University of Arkansas Forest entomology and forest ecology; impacts of Associate Professor MS, Oregon State University invasives in forested settings with a focus on wood- BS, Arkansas Tech University boring insects. AA, North Arkansas CC
Folta, Elizabeth PhD, North Carolina State Natural history & interpretation, informal biology Assistant Professor MS, North Carolina State education, environmental education. BA, University North Carolina
Frair, Jacqueline L. PhD, Univ of Alberta, Canada Wildlife and landscape ecology, animal movements Associate Professor MS, University of Wisconsin and habitat use, predator-prey interactions BS, Cornell University
Gibbs, James P. PhD, Yale University Conservation biology, ecological monitoring, wildlife Professor and Associate MA, University of Missouri management, population biology and conservation Chair BS, University of Maine genetics
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Green, Hyatt C. PhD, Oregon State Univ. Molecular microbial ecology, co-evolution of microbes Assistant Professor BS, Univ. Georgia with their animal hosts, microbial source tracking and water quality, microbial biogeography
Horton, Thomas R. PhD, Univ of Cal.-Berkeley Mycorrhizal ecology and systematics, mycology, Associate Professor MA, San Francisco State Univ. restoration ecology BA, Humboldt State University
Kimmerer, Robin W. PhD, Univ. of Wisconsin Ethnobotany, conservation biology, and bryophyte Distinguished Teaching MS Univ. of Wisconsin ecology Professor BS, SUNY ESF
Leopold, Donald J. PhD, Purdue University Forest and wetland ecology; understanding drivers of Distinguished Teaching MSF, University of Kentucky species abundance and diversity at micro to macro Professor and Chair BS, University of Kentucky scales; application of unique communities to sustainable landscapes; dendrology
Leydet, Brian F. PhD, Louisiana State Univ Infectious and vector-borne diseases, arthropods of Assistant Professor MPH, Univ. North Florida veterinary and medical importance, vector biology, BS, Old Dominion disease ecology, molecular biology
Limburg, Karin E. PhD, Cornell University Fisheries ecology, ecosystem ecology, fish migration, Professor MS, University of Florida biogeochemical tracers, ecological modeling, AB, Vassar College ecological economics
Lomolino, Mark V. PhD, SUNY Binghamton Biogeography; conservation biology, diversity in Professor MS, University of Florida isolated ecosystems and habitat islands. BS, SUNY-Cortland
McGee, Gregory G. PhD, SUNY ESF Forest ecology, management, and restoration; effects of Assistant Professor MS, SUNY ESF atmospheric nitrogen deposition on northern hardwood BS, Allegheny College forests.
McNulty, Stacy A. MS, SUNY ESF Forest and landscape ecology, applied GIS; ecology, Research Associate BA, SUNY Geneseo conservation, and forest management in the Adirondacks
Newman, Lee A. PhD, Rutgers & RWJ Med. Sch. Phytoremediation, molecular and cellular biology, plant Associate Professor MS, Rutgers & RWJ Med Sch. nanoparticle interactions, plant endophyte interactions, BS, Stockton State College horticultural therapy, hyperspectral imaging for plant AA, Atlantic Com. Coll. contaminant exposure and plant stress, plant metal interactions and mine site restoration, environ. health.
Parry, Dylan PhD, Michigan State Univ. Forest insect ecology, population dynamics of Associate Professor MS, University of Alberta defoliating Lepidoptera, ecology of predators, BS, University of Alberta parasitoids, and pathogens of forest caterpillars, invasive species in forested environments, top-down (natural enemies) and bottom-up (host plant) regulation of insect populations, evolution of life-history strategies in solitary and gregarious caterpillars.
Paterson, Gordon PhD, University of Windsor Environmental and aquatic toxicology, ecotoxicology, Assistant Professor MS, Trent University emerging pollutants, food web bioaccumulation and BS, University of Waterloo biomagnification, persistent organic pollutants as indicators of species bioenergetics and individual, food web and ecological efficiencies. 46
Powell, William A. PhD, Utah State University Forest biotechnology, molecular plant-microbe Professor BS, Salisbury State University interactions, plant genetic engineering, plant gene analysis
Ringler, Neil H. PhD, Univ. Michigan Aquatic ecology, fish behavior, fisheries science Distinguished Teaching MS, Oregon State Univ. Professor and Vice BA, California State at Long Provost for Research Beach
Rundell, Rebecca J. PhD, Univ. Chicago Invertebrate conservation biology, evolutionary Assistant Professor MS, Univ. Chicago and Univ. biology, tropical biodiversity, adaptive and non- Hawaii at Manoa adaptive radiations, organismal biology (Pacific island BS, Cornell Univ. land snails, microscopic marine invertebrates)
Schulz, Kimberly L. PhD, University of Michigan Nutrient and exotic species effects on aquatic Associate Professor BA, Cornell University ecosystems; ecological stoichiometry, aquatic community and ecosystem ecology; bioenergetics; nutrient cycling; lower food web studies; Great Lakes; Finger Lakes
Stewart, Donald J. PhD, University of Wisconsin Fish ecology and fisheries management; ecological Professor MS, University of Michigan energetics; modeling predation and production BS, University of Michigan processes; Great Lakes ecosystems; Amazonian ecosystems; ecology and systematics of Neotropical freshwater fishes
Teale, Stephen A. PhD, SUNY ESF Forest entomology; chemical ecology; pheromones of Professor MS, University of Kansas forest insects; evolution of pheromone communication BA, College of St. Rose
Turner, J. Scott PhD, Colorado State Univ. Animal physiology; physiological ecology, thermal Professor MS & BA University of energetics; biology of body size; physiology of gas California-Santa-Cruz exchange
Weir, Alexander PhD, University of Newcastle Systematics and evolutionary biology of fungi using Professor upon Tyne classical and modern molecular approaches; fungal BS, University of Bradford, UK biodiversity and conservation; fungal arthropod interactions; biology of parasites and symbionts
Whipps, Christopher M. PhD, Oregon State University Fish and wildlife diseases, parasitology, microbiology, Associate Professor BS, University of Victoria at taxonomy, molecular systematics, diagnostics, parasites Malaspina University-College as biological tags and ecological indicators
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Appendix B. Summary of Individual Faculty’s Most Significant Accomplishments
(As written by each faculty member in response to the following request for each individual’s annual report: [Provide a] “SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACTIVITIES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS DURING THIS REPORTING PERIOD, ESPECIALLY THOSE MOST NOTEWORTHY AND RELATIVE TO THE COLLEGE’S AND DEPARTMENT’S MISSION. One paragraph on each of the following would be most helpful: this past year, what have you done for our students, department/college, and self professionally?”
John D. Castello I have continued to teach Forest and Shade Tree Pathology; and Peoples, Plagues, and Pests with Steve Teale. I continue as coordinator of the Forest Health major.
Jonathan B. Cohen This academic year culminated with my tenure decision, so it was a very stress-filled but ultimately fulfilling time. The decision came at the end of an active couple of semesters. In the Fall, I had to make some adjustments to my Wildlife Habitats and Populations class as enrollment went from a record high in 2015 to a record low of 27 in 2016. The current format was tested as the group sizes were each just large enough to be feasible, and I had to ask one undergraduate to enroll in the graduate section in order to have enough people to work on the 693-level project. Luckily the person rose to the challenge and the class was successful. The reviews from undergrads and grads were quite good so hopefully I am doing better at balancing the two parts of the split class. With some help from Brian Underwood, I taught my Bayesian statistics class. This was the first time I taught it two years in a row, by demand. It was great to have a diverse group of students in the class, including plant ecologists, fisheries ecologists, and wildlife biologists. The feedback I received was very positive. In the spring Melissa Fierke and I taught our core seminar again, where students got to work on their thesis proposals. We had some great discussions and it’s always rewarding to see what our talented new graduate students are working on.
For my research program, it was a good year for publications with several of my own graduate students and students whose committee I served on getting papers accepted, as well as one of my lead-author papers. I had three M.S. students finish their theses in the Fall, so we were all very busy then. I was very proud of their work, as I am each year. Two of them are continuing on with their Ph.D.’s here at ESF. I had some successes and failures with grant writing this year, but ultimately I have been able to keep all my students supported on GRA’s. I also co-authored a successful small grant proposal with one of my students, among other cooperators, for a project I am very excited about. It will look at the newly re- colonized population of piping plovers on Lake Ontario. This is an endangered shorebird that I have spent a good part of my career on and I am looking forward to join a strong team of scientists and conservationists who are focused on restoring Great Lakes populations. In the summer, most of the students in my lab who study birds traveled with me to Washington, D.C. for the North American Ornithological Congress which occurs every four years. They all did an outstanding job with their posters and talks, and one of them earned a best student paper award.
I served the second half of my second term on the Committee on Curriculum. We reviewed many proposals for courses and curricula, and I brought a discussion on online instruction at ESF to the table, which ended up becoming a semester-long conversation culminating in a meeting with a group of faculty and administrators in May. I reviewed proposals for Sussman, as I have each year since coming to ESF. As the chair of GPAC I helped to introduce a new grad student self-evaluation form to EFB. With Melissa Fierke taking the lead, we made some new faculty-approved changes to the graduate handbook and will disseminate the new version in the Fall. I continued as a member of the IACUC committee and helped to review research proposals, including performing one designated member review. I also served another year as advisor to The Wildlife Society Student Chapter. 48
I remained active in The Waterbird Society, where I organized our society’s new publication award that I helped to establish last year. I also served as a reviewer for student abstracts for the Student Conference on Conservation.
Stewart Diemont Students: I work closely with students on their research and explore new ways to teach. This year I advised eight graduate students and served on the committee or examiner of seven other students. I developed two courses and modified one of my courses, seeking to provide enriching and diverse education. I am mentoring my advisees in the investigation traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and environmental restoration in the northeastern US, southern Mexico, and western India. They are researching the ecological and society needs, mechanisms, and implications of TEK. This work spans from rural to urban contexts, but all of these projects are at the critical intersection of nature and culture, where they consider ecosystem services, paying special attention to the provisioning of food. Three of my advisees graduated this year, two with MS degrees and one with an MPS. Writing with me, three advisees submitted their graduate work to peer-reviewed international journals this year, two are already published, one accepted with minor revision. Recognizing an interest and need for urban ecosystem design instruction, Emanuel Carter (Landscape Architecture) and I developed a field course that brings students to Spain to work with urban design professionals from Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. In this course we are looking at biocultural restoration, designing biological and social connectivity in cities. With Robin Kimmerer, Colin Beier (FNRM) and Elizabeth Vidon (Environment Studies), I worked this year on both a biocultural restoration course and a technical skills course. These courses are central to a new biocultural restoration program for ESF, funded by USDA. We organized and conducted program development workshop with Hopa Mountain and Salish Kootenai College during the fall at ESF to begin the process of program development. We recruited our first cohort of five students into this program; students will in some cases explore the TEK of their own Native American tribes for their master’s research. I submitted through the Committee on Curriculum major revisions to EFB 518 Systems Ecology, now Systems Ecology: Ecological Modeling and Design. In this revised course we will use ecological models as a means to better design ecological engineering, ecosystem restoration, and environmental design, with an eye toward turning theory into practice.
Department/College: I served the college and department in a number of ways this year, from extensive committee work to club advising. Being on two hiring committees – for a new faculty member in Landscape Architecture and for Director of Libraries – was demanding; but, we were successful in our searches, and it was an excellent way to get to know faculty, staff, and students across campus. I wore several hats for Academic Governance: on the Executive Committee, where we facilitated the process for administration evaluation; the Library Committee; and on the Honors Committee, where we advised on honorary degree recipients and Chancellor's Awards for service, teaching, and research. I continued as the Area Leader of the Ecosystem Restoration area of the Graduate Program in Environmental Sciences (GPES), an area that I developed five years ago. The area continues to be strong and has one of the highest applicant pools in GPES. I also continued in my advisory role for the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment (CNPE) and the ESF student chapter of the Society for Ecological Restoration (ESF SER). The CNPE is entering an exciting new phase, as we develop our teaching and research partnerships with Salish Kootenai College and Hopa Mountain through our USDA Higher Education Challenge grant. ESF SER worked on a number of local and international restoration projects, and members attended the Mid-Atlantic regional conference of SER.
Self Professionally: I continue to explore the intersection of ecological resilience with traditional, local, or indigenous knowledge and design. During the past decade much of my work has been focused in Mesoamerica, in particular a few villages in Mexico. I have been expanding my focus, looking at other communities in southern US, northern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and the Iberian Peninsula in Europe. I conducted preliminary interviews this past summer in Belize and Mexico to begin to understand climate 49
change recognition and adaptation in traditional food ecosystems. Results were surprising. Adaptation strategies appear to range from biological and physical indicators that allow groups to be nimble in the face of changing precipitation and temperature, to community re-adoption of and commitment to TEK, which allows them greater resilience. I have begun research with traditional agroforesty viticulture systems in Europe. I am considering how TEK permeates ecosystem design and management around the globe. I have reached out to scholars in Portugal, Spain, and Italy to better understand current and needed research into these viticulture agroforestry systems, systems which began over 2000 years ago and are in decline due to economic and social pressures. I am particularly interested in, like with systems from Mesoamerican, how these low-input and natural systems can be part of climate change adaptation. I remain committed to my work in New York and southern Mexico. I continued work on TEK and ecosystem restoration in Mexico. We are better understanding succession in these systems and how Lacandon Maya farmers contribute to ecosystem services that they use (e.g., food and raw materials) while accelerating soil nutrient regeneration. We have also determined how bird communities respond to TEK design. We continued monitoring a long-term study site that I evaluate with students (both graduate advisees and students in EFB 434/634) that looks into how TEK restoration compares to more conventional forms of forest restoration. We are completing the first article from this study now; our results appear to belie current understanding of diversity and annual production in these systems, indicating that perhaps these systems are considerably more productive than is currently believed. In New York I continued my work with food systems, advising three master’s students in this area: two working in Syracuse with edible wilds and one working in rural New York with old field restoration. We had one article accepted in this area and presented this work at several conferences, including the American Ecological Engineering Society Annual Meeting, where I proposed that food can be part of ecological engineering design. I proposed work to funding agencies to, at its essence, examine the role of food in ecosystem restoration.
Martin Dovciak Students: I took a sabbatical leave in the Fall, so my teaching and interacting with students occurred only in the Spring Semester this year when I taught or co-taught two courses. I taught Plant Ecology and Global Change (EFB 445/645) to one of the largest enrollments in this class (52 students, including 12 graduate), and I co-taught Tropical Ecology (EFB 523) with Don Stewart (11 students, including 1 graduate). This was the first time I taught Tropical Ecology and a good challenge after my sabbatical (I spent a portion of my sabbatical preparing for teaching this course). Don Stewart and I took the Tropical Ecology class to Dominica in March where to explore tropical ecosystems and their management across dramatic elevational gradients, a topic closely related to my research agenda and likely to yield topics for honors or independent undergraduate student projects in the future. Judging by student comments, they enjoyed studying tropical ecology in the field setting very much. As a part of the course I developed two iNaturalist project pages on the flora and fauna that we encountered during the class to serve as a study resource for the students, and possibly for other naturalists visiting this Caribbean island (the class species lists were the second largest dataset on iNaturalist on Dominca as of April 30, 2017). In addition, I continued to work with my current PhD students on developing their thesis papers and proposals (Berdugo, Whalen, Roberts, Arias) and with recently graduated PD students who published several papers in solid journals over this past year (Wason—currently Yale Univ. postdoc, three papers in press; Alvarez-Yepiz, currently assist. prof. in Mexico, one paper in press, one in revision). Department/College: Outside of my Fall sabbatical leave, I continued to represent College/Department in my broader professional service including (1) serving as an editorial board member in two flagship journals of the International Association for Vegetation Science (Journal of Vegetation Science, Applied Vegetation Science), and (2) serving as a PI or co-PI in larger collaborative research teams including several institutions and projects (i) NYSERDA project on acid deposition effects on plant diversity in the Adirondacks (supporting M. Whalen, M. Glaub, T. Callahan) and (ii) NYS DEC and Cornell Cooperative Extension project “Evaluating deer impacts on forests of New York State”. In addition, based on my 50
recently completed NSRC project, I have been invited to provide (and I provided) metadata and publications into a broader regional database of NSRC funded projects as a part of a regional synthesis at the University of Vermont. In the Spring I enjoyed contributing to EFB Spring Open House as I represented Conservation Biology major and I started to contribute to a recently initiated EFB search for a new Instructional Support Specialist as a member of the search committee. In addition, I continue to serve as a member of several faculty groupings (e.g., GPAC, the Ecosystem Restoration and Environmental Monitoring and Modeling GPES, and CSTEP). Self/Professional Development: I took a sabbatical leave during the Fall semester to focus on bioinformatics, particularly on the applications of large-scale ecological monitoring strategies and long- term databases used in plant biodiversity and forest conservation in the United States and in Europe. In particular, I (i) worked with the FIA data to better understand how non-native plant invasions may be affected by changing climate, (ii) completed manuscripts based on the data from the large-scale climate- vegetation monitoring network that our lab established across northeastern United States, and (iii) visited Technical University in Zvolen, Slovakia as a part of a collaborative research on old-growth forest dynamics using a long-term (70-years) dataset from a country-wide database of long-term forest monitoring plots (broadly similar to the US FIA database). I co-authored six papers that are now in press or published, three additional papers that were submitted for peer-review, and four additional manuscripts that are in advanced stages of progress (two to be submitted this summer, two with me as a lead author). I am particularly pleased with the outcomes of my recently completed NSRC grant on the effects of changing environmental conditions (climate and acid deposition) on forests of northeastern United States that lead to three papers currently in press in top-tier journals (Global Change Biology, Journal of Applied Ecology, and Agricultural and Forest Meteorology). Other significant accomplishments this past year for me were two invited lectures— (i) a lecture on the effects of changing climate on invasions of non-native plants in NYS at a workshop of the NYSAF Annual Meeting, and (ii) a webinar on the spread of invasive plants in electric power line corridors for CEATI International Inc. Additionally, I gave three presentations on climate effects on non-native invasive distributions in NYS (at the ESA, AGU and ARF meetings) that generated interest (a good sign for the related manuscripts in preparation). Finally, co- teaching Tropical Ecology for the first time was a very inspiring and invigorating way of returning from a sabbatical leave—I developed a new set of lectures, study materials, and I learned a great deal about the ecology of the Caribbean Tropics—I am looking forward to teaching this class again next Spring as a more permanent addition to my teaching portfolio.
John M. Farrell Students: The aquatics lab at TIBS is again filled to capacity students while they participate in extramurally funded research and monitoring initiatives. I brought on three new graduate students to begin in Fall 2017. I provided significant student interaction and experiences in both teaching and research with a number of professionals from a variety of agencies. I supported students to attend and participate in professional venues. One student Ericka Augustyn was honored with the Best Student Presentation award at the annual meeting of the New York American Fisheries Society Meeting.
Department/College: I secured a new 3-year contract with US Fish and Wildlife Service for $1.4M and continue to pursue novel population of and habitat restoration initiatives to support St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes fisheries. We opened a new mainland storage and research facility on the mainland in Clayton as a new addition to TIBS. I chaired a search for a new colleague in Environmental Toxicology to work with EFB and the Environmental Health major. I recently hosted our annual potluck and discussion for AFS May graduates and participating faculty to discuss their experiences at ESF and how we might improve our program.
Self Professionally: Finishing up co-edited and peer reviewed publication for the American Fisheries Society. I will have six co-authored papers and extended abstracts in this volume that represent a 51
historical advance in the biology and management of muskellunge. I have helped organize and led an effort to incorporate efforts to restore the St. Lawrence River muskellunge population in collaboration with the NYS Hatchery system in a large-scale study. We plan to release over 5300 muskellunge each with an internal pit tag to track their success and movements using our long-term research approach. We also have a new contract with US Fish and Wildlife Service that continues the SLR Fish Habitat Conservation Strategy for three more years with a goal of implementing and evaluation some exciting habitat restoration projects.
Shannon L. Farrell Students: I attended the Scientific Teaching Institute in summer 2016 with the goal of further working to bring my teaching to the next level; in particular, this institute focuses on using what science has found about how students learn to inform our teaching approaches and it seems we at ESF are well-placed to emphasize using approaches based on sound science. I have been able to implement many of the skills and tools I learned to create more dynamic and effective classes and class activities even in my largest classes. Outside of the classroom, one of my primary focusses continues to be helping students get exposure to wildlife professionals and to help them find and prepare for internships, seasonal jobs, and grad school opportunities. This includes everything from sitting down with official and many unofficial advisees confused ab out graduate school to reviewing dozens of resumes to running a project in EFB 390 that requires students to reach out to interview wildlife professionals. I continue to hear from current and previous students that this activity has in fact created connections and opened up real opportunities for them in jobs, internships, and new mentors. I finally built the bones of a website that will contain information, links, and a student-focused blog that collects and shares all things bird-related going on at ESF and in our area. Teaching the Philosophy of Science portion of the Fall grad Core Course for the second time, I continued to get enthusiastic feedback from students and I’m working to develop Philosophy of Science seminar course. Lastly, this year I and my grad students made an extra effort to focus on ESF students as we were filling summer research technician positions and 4 of the 4 technicians we just hired are ESF students. This was my first year as ESF’s representative on the NY State Fish and Wildlife Management Board and I’ve done my best to link my experience working with the other board members to the classroom, to better helps students understand the interesting and complex issues and opportunities in eth world of wildlife management. Lastly, to start the year off I had the special opportunity as faculty speaker at student convocation. I can only hope that this was in some way of service to the students, department, or college; in sharing my experiences and my not-so-straight path to becoming a wildlife professional I hoped for students to feel encouraged that there is no one right way to find your passion and profession.
Department/College: As a member of IQAS, a very active committee, we have been focusing on continued work to design the framework, budget, and proposal for establishing a Center for Teaching and Learning. In addition, we have been working hard to research alternate teaching & learning evaluation systems and approaches to help move ESF into a system that works better for students and faculty, to better use the feedback to effectively improve teaching and learning outcomes. I’ve served as advisor to a very active and engaged Birding Club. As a member of the Fink Fellowship committee I’ve had the privilege of helping distribute funds to support deserving, amazing student proposals and experiences. As a CSTEP mentor I’ve had the privilege of working with some really ambitious, driven CSTEP students and with this motivation it has been easy to help them develop research and professional development opportunities. Working with student birding enthusiasts we had another highly successful set of birding walk for the fall Field Day. Lastly, Working with J. Frair, J. Gibbs, and others, along with the NYNHP, I have been working to secure funding from DEC to make ESF the hub of a large mammal distribution- mapping project. In securing some pilot funding to kick-off the work, the DEC is supportive of our proposal and we hope to be able to kick-off the project in Fall 2017. This will continue to support and augment ESF’s position as a key collaborator with NYDEC.
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Self Professionally: I have now completed almost 4 years in this position and I feel I’ve started to really feel I’ve found my footing and how to make the most of my teaching, research, and mentorship opportunities. I’ve graduated my first MS student this spring, and another anticipated to finish this summer. Working on building the lab, I will start next Fall with 2 continuing MS students, 1 continuing PhD student, and 3 new MS and 2 PhD students beginning Fall 2017. I’ve been working to build a team that can help support each other through the process as well. We’ve completed our first funded research project with NPS on bat ecology and the research has provided some really new and valuable information to help inform management and has given us our first credential as a lab in our ability to do important bat work. This has opened the door to our newest NPS- funded that will support an incoming international PhD student to investigate Fall bat habitat use and movement and potentially locate hibernacula. Though it has been a challenging year for me to juggle all of the demands of this position, I have worked to learn from and collaborate with talented colleagues and as a result have had good successes with several new grants that will support several of the incoming grad students.
My continued work on lesser prairie chicken conservation planning has allowed me to continue to develop connections with partners. The tortuous path of prairie chicken conservation planning has provided me with huge learning opportunities. As a result, these experience and connections have led to new opportunities beginning to open up to work with entities such as river authorities to provide expertise and guidance on planning for conservation and management with the anticipated listing of several freshwater mussels as threatened or endangered. I’ve completed the near final stages of writing a book chapter, my first, for an new Ornithology textbook slated for production next Fall. This was an enormous challenge but also a selfish effort to fill my own need for a new and improved textbook for my ornithology class. Lastly, I ran for and secured a post as the Eastern Region Rep for the University Education Working Group of The Wildlife Society, allowing me to become more involved and connected to this professional society.
Danilo D. Fernando Students: This past academic year, I taught EFB 427/627 (Plant Anatomy and Development), EFB 326 (Plant Evolution, Diversification and Conservation), BTC/EFB 420 (Research Apprenticeship), BTC 497 (Research Design and Professional Development), EFB 495 (Undergraduate Experience in College Teaching) and BTC/EFB 498 (Independent Research in Biotechnology/Environmental Biology). I also gave invited lectures in other classes (BTC 132, EFB 210 and EFB 535), and served as curriculum adviser to 15 undergraduate students. Overall, at least 100 undergraduate students have been served through this capacity. In addition to the classroom interactions with the students in all the courses I taught this past academic year, I also interacted with many of them out of the lecture and lab periods through involvement in their respective laboratory research projects and/or writing assignments. Many of the students also came in during my office hours for clarifications, questions and/or conversations on various topics including practical applications of concepts covered in the lectures and labs. I have been personally involved in the training of several undergraduate students in my lab through independent research, internship and apprenticeship. I have revised my course EFB 326 from Diversity of Plants to Plant Evolution, Diversification and Conservation. This revised course requires students to have already taken EFB 210 (Diversity of Life) and thus it meant major revisions in most of my lecture topics and power point presentations. This revised course is more advanced now and utilizes recent journal articles on the subject of plant evolution, diversification and conservation. I worked with my graduate students on various aspects of the laboratory and/or field components of their research projects, draft manuscripts, grant/fellowship applications, and poster/oral presentations.
Department/College: I served as EFB’s Graduate Director for the 10th year and my major responsibilities included the following: 1) acted on various petitions concerning different aspects of EFB graduate program requirements and policies; 2) reviewed and signed on various forms required for the completion of different degrees and majors (e.g., 2A, 3B, 4 and 6A); 3) replied to inquiries concerning EFB graduate 53
program (through email, phone, and/or personal appearances) from several potential applicants and current graduate students; 4) processed almost 100 graduate applications (for both spring 2016 and fall 2017) that involved the review of each application for initial assessment and designation of faculty reviewers, followed up on the completion of the reviews on each application, summarized the reviews for each application, and submitted EFB’s recommendation for each accepted and rejected applications to the Dean of Instructions and Graduate Studies; 5) provided formal orientations (fall and spring semesters) to new graduate students regarding EFB graduate program; 6) provided information orientation to new faculty about EFB graduate application and review procedures; 7) I also worked with EFB Secretaries on the update and improvement of the various facets of the EFB’s Graduate Webpage, graduate application filing system, and continued the survey on the most effective means of attracting/recruiting graduate students; and 8) As a member of EFB’s Graduate Program Academic Committee and ESF’s Graduate Council, I provided connections between the department and college on issues pertaining to graduate degree program offerings and requirements, admission/review process, policies, and other related matters.
Self Professionally: The following are what I consider as significant accomplishments for this academic year: 1) I have been invited to be a member of the Editorial Review Board of Tree Physiology; 2) I have also been invited to be a member of an NSF Proposal Panel Review; 3) My grad student, Joshua Weber- Townsend, has successfully finished his Master of Science degree; 4) After teaching EFB 326: Diversity of Plants for about 15 years, I have improved on it through the development of a new course (EFB 326: Plant Evolution, Diversification and Conservation); and 5) I served in the search committee at SU Bio Dept for the new Plant Physiological Ecologist.
Melissa K. Fierke Students: I had close to 350 students in freshman GenBio this past fall for which I supervised three graduate and 12 undergraduate teaching assistants along with their workshops and grading - all went smoothly with overall class evaluations again strong for the two lecture sections. I co-facilitated the fall EFB Core Course for graduate students this year with Shannon Farrell, who does the Philosophy of Science section half of the class. Our main goal for the course is to get grads off to a good start in the department, forming a supportive cohort of students. I also co-facilitated the spring core course with Jonathan Cohen with the primary goal of all grads writing a solid research proposal. I’ve written >30 UG student recommendation letters with many resulting in successful internships or positions. I am happy with the current state of my research program and the progress of my current graduate students. We’ve had several publications come out and I am still working with several others on their publications. My graduate students have presented at many venues, locally and nationally. I currently have five graduate students working out of my lab as well as five ESF undergraduates hired on multiple research projects for the summer. I have taken on my first international student who will be working on monitoring emerald ash borer parasitoids. Department/College: I spent a considerable amount of time revising EFB’s Graduate Handbook. I served on several college committees as well as taking an active part in the ESF First Year Experience Committee, working with other faculty on student retention and success. I have continued my efforts on our ESF Bicycle Safety Committee and have been working with ESF partners, Syracuse University engineers, planners and safety officials as well as the new City of Syracuse Transportation Planner, and multiple neighborhood groups to make bicycling a safer commuting option for faculty, staff and students at ESF. I’ve continued my entomology outreach efforts, doing presentations and media interviews, however, I now pass most opportunities to my graduate students who are doing an excellent job of taking them on, being enthusiastic and getting our science out there. Self Professionally: I have continued building relationships and received continued funding on emerald ash borer research – all of which contributes to recognition and employment opportunities for students as they graduate from my lab. Working on the tick/Lyme research has been rewarding and has contributed to informing the actions of local and county efforts on deer management. Our research on pollinator 54
conservation is exciting and I look forward to contributing to this extremely important topic relevant to entomological/conservation issues.
Jacqueline L. Frair Students: this year I offered a wildlife field techniques course during the Maymester at the beautiful Lucky Star Ranch – giving 19 students intensive field training in wildlife research and management techniques. I also began integrating more active learning into my classes, practicing skills developed during the scientific education training I completed last summer. Whereas I am new to the many active learning methods, I find the process very enriching for both students and myself and I look forward to continuing to hone these skills and methods over time.
Department/College: this year I helped close the endowment efforts that will establish to first ever Camp Fire Professor of Wildlife Conservation at ESF with tremendous help from the ESF College Foundation, Provost Luzadis, Don Leopold and James Gibbs. I also compiled the first-ever Roosevelt Wild Life Station annual report – a color brochure to document the many outstanding conservation and education efforts being undertaken by our talented faculty
Self Professionally: I engaged more fully in two key research programs in NY State – assessing the status of river otter across the state and identifying the factors limiting moose in the Adirondack Park. Last summer I analyzed historic survey data for otter from western NY, and based on that analysis I designed a nearly statewide survey for river otter (from western NY through Long Island) and worked with the DEC to complete that survey Dec-Feb this past winter. Those survey data are now in my hands for analysis this summer – something I truly look forward to diving into! These surveys, in addition to the work my graduate student Kelly Powers is conducting, will be foundational to the developing river otter management plan for the state.
James P. Gibbs Department/College: I serve on the EFB P&T committee, coordinate the department’s largest undergraduate major (Conservation Biology), and serve as Director of the Roosevelt Wild Life Station, which has seen significant activity this year: the new Gateway collections facility getting underway, the launch of the Private Lands Wildlife Conservation Initiative secured with a $500k donation, strong efforts with the Development Office to establish a waterfowl and wetlands program, conceptualizing a proposed Theodore Roosevelt School of Conservation at SUNY-ESF, and outlining the first Roosevelt Roundtable, among other initiatives. A publication on translocating Amur tigers to Kazakhstan (with grad student Misha Paltysn) garnered significant media attention for the College this year. To advance an expressed interest at ESF for the college to get more involved in citizen science I focused a great deal of energy this year on developing the digital New York State “Herp Atlas” (with support from the Water Resources Institute at Cornell, The Wetland Trust, and SUNY-ESF) to be launched Jan 1 2018. Similarly, our established squirrellmapper.org citizen science / contemporary evolution site was featured by SciStarter which boosted engagement now with 21,000 people contributing observations of squirrels to the ESF- based project.
Self Professionally: My “Problem-solving in conservation biology and wildlife management” exercise book is still heavily used based on sales and requests for the instructors manual and we are revising the “Fundamentals of Conservation Biology” textbook due at the publisher Dec 2017. I continue to push ahead a complicated and ambitious Galapagos Tortoise Restoration Initiative (serving as co-Director of this $1.2M effort between the Galapagos Conservancy and the Galapagos National Park Service Directorate) with foci this year of continuing to release “analog” (non-native) tortoises to Santa Fe Island as ecosystem engineers, planning the role of tortoises in the future restoration program for Floreana Island, orchestrating the return of the famous tortoise “Lonesome George” from New Jersey back to the archipelago in March 2017, and coordinating development of the next generation of tortoise egg 55
incubation technology (with Roosevelt Wild Life Station advisor Preston Bruenn) that will produce a new cohort of ~10,000 tortoises over the next decade. For Galapagos Conservancy as adjunct scientist I have also been heavily involved in developing “Shark Count” (a digital citizen science program) for making counts of charismatic marine life now in a “roll out” process in Galapagos. Service as a board member to The Wetland Trust has occurred at a time of progress on significant land protections by this group. Working for many years with the Nine Mile Creek Conservation Council we were delighted to see our steady promotion of the Hudson Farm property in Camillus for protection result in the property now being featured as a primary potential component of the Onondaga Lake restoration program. Our small company Wildlife Intel (now Irbis Solutions) continues to provide anti-trespass technology for remote applications around the world mainly for wildlife protection but this year also protection of sacred sites and archeological sites on NPS lands in California, New Mexico and Arizona.
Hyatt C. Green Students: Currently, I advise 19 undergraduates, but hope to take on more next year as advising week is probably my favorite part of the term because I get to see students outside my role as instructor. With my support (usually in the form of letters) my advisees have secured competitive summer internship positions at the National Aquarium (Baltimore, MD), Wind Cave National Park (SD), and the Darrin Fresh Water Institute (Bolton Landing, NY). In terms of teaching EFB303: Introduction to Environmental Microbiology seems to keep attracting more students year-after-year: 44, 49, and 69 students enrolled in 2015, 2016, and 2017 respectively. This level of enrollment necessitates opening up a third lab section next fall. In spring 2017, I offered for the second time EFB505: Microbial Ecology (2cr.). While EFB303 is an intro course only touching on major topics, EFB505 introduces both graduates and undergraduates to the latest discoveries and methods in microbial ecology discussing seven technical papers---both classics and papers published in the past two years. Although I received very little feedback from the students, I was very pleased with the level of discussion and quality of the final papers. EFB796: R and Reproducible Research was offered for the third time in spring 2017. Again very little feedback from the course, but I can say these last students on average produced the highest quality final projects I’ve seen to date.
Department/College: I recently joined the Graduate Program Advisory Committee (GPAC) in an ongoing effort to assess the effectiveness of our departmental graduate applicant ranking system. Although I am currently in the process of gathering existing data from the graduate school and other sources, the final analysis could potentially change the which students we accept and which students are offered assistantships. It was also a pleasure to represent the Biotechnology major during Spring 2017 Open House and meet graduating high school seniors and other prospective students. It was also a pleasure to finally see Cranberry Lake Biological Station in August 2016 and some of the final projects students complete as part of EFB202. We are scheduled to visit CLBS again this August. This summer I am also serving on the hiring committee for the new instructional support specialist, which will support Microbiology as well as other courses. I am currently on five graduate committees and was on two graduate examination committees (both passed) in the last period.
Self Professionally: Last August I presented a metagenomics study at the 16th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology in Montreal, Canada. Stemming from this conference is an active collaboration with researchers at the University of Queensland, Australia in a search for “new” methanogens. I recently chaired and presented in the session titled “Developments in Microbial Source-Tracking” at the 9th annual NY State Biotechnology Symposium. I also attended the Finger Lakes HUB workshop in late May where it was clear that there are many opportunities for research related to the cyanobacterial blooms and the identification of contaminant sources through microbial source-tracking (MST). I am also working with the microbial source-trackers at Univ. of Buffalo and NY DOH to better identify funding opportunities and possible collaborations on NY state water quality issues. Additionally, Salt Lake County wants us to perform $136,474 of MST on the theologically important Emigration Creek as well as other tributaries 56
east of Salt Lake. Data from two past MST projects, one on Onondaga Creek and one on the north shore funded by ESF’s Center for Applied Microbiology are being analyzed. Preliminary results from the creek study were presented in May 2017. I have initiated negotiations with the College on setting up a services and facilities account through which I intend to funnel much of the MST work, which is in fairly high demand. While the current lab is not completely ideal for molecular work, I am positive we can keep generating good data until new facilities are completed. The bog turtle eDNA work funded by US FWS ($117,000) is going well. It is taking place within a large consortium of groups in NY, NJ, PA, MD, RI, and CT in an effort to protect bog turtle habitat. We are currently in the method development stage optimizing the extraction of DNA from bog samples---a less-than-ideal substrate. My student will present the results of this work at Ecological Society of America in Portland, OR this August. The ESF Seed grant I received last year to study ‘microbial dark matter’ and mercury methylation in Green Lake, Fayetteville, NY ($6,666) should prove to be an excellent return on investment. After sampling the lake last May with members of the Driscoll lab we found significant levels of the genes responsible for Hg- methylation, hgcAB—further evidence for water column Hg-methylation. My student presented this work at three meetings this spring: the SUNY Undergraduate Research Conference (SURC), ESF’s Spotlight on Research, and the SU Biology Spring 2017 Poster Session. Currently, I have two students working on the project under the Seed Grant but am preparing an NSF proposal (pre-proposal accepted) to fund further investigations into the identity of the Hg-methylators and to form an overall model of Hg-cycling in this unique meromictic system. Finally, a graduate student has begun work in my lab on the microbial evolution and growth arena (MEGA) plate project. Assuming trial runs using antibiotics as the stressor go well, his eventual goal is to investigate the evolution of microbes’ ability to degrade persistent organic pollutants (POPs).
Thomas R. Horton Students: The students in EFB 320, General Ecology, are my connection the select students of ESF. This year I had over 250 students in the class! With enrollment like that, I get to see some amazing students who clearly on their way to big things. The General Ecology lecture room is a very stimulating environment for me and I try my best to engage the class in discussions so that I may learn from everyone. I admit my ability to recognize the faces is far better than recall of names, but it is great to see those students move through their coursework at ESF and wonderful to see so many win awards and head to be big things after graduation. A highlight this year was the gift of a drawing from a couple of my ‘front-rowers’ (anonymous, but I found out!). Across the top reads, “Beware the”, and below that shows a couple of trees with some mushrooms with their roots and hyphae as a tangle of interactions that reads, “Tom Foolery”. They then signed it, “your large charismatic, Megastudents”. There is a lot going on in this gift and I’m happy to explain it to anyone who asks! But here I respond with a heartfelt THANK YOU to these very creative students…YOU GOT IT! This year I also taught my Mycorrhizal Ecology course. This is a small advanced course (19undergrads/4grads) and it was great to have students return from both General Ecology and last spring’s Basidiomycetes course. This group excelled in all things Mycorrhizal Ecology. I gave a series of guest lectures in EFB 210, Diversity. One of these was a one-off on Ethnomycology…or so I thought. It was a big hit and the students asked me to teach a course on the topic in the spring. Done. I offered Ethnomycology as a reading seminar (EFB 496) and had to cap enrollment to facilitate open discussions (sorry to those that did not get in). It was great course in which we explored many interesting interactions between humans and fungi. I think I will run this one again! I also had a great group of students working in my lab on various undergraduate projects including two honor’s projects. Both of the honor’s projects lay foundations for additional work, one on the mycorrhizal condition of transgenic chestnuts and the other on the impact of hemlock wooly adelgid infection on hemlock mycorrhizal fungi. I also want to give a shout out to my workstudy student this year who did such a great job maintaining the lab at a high functioning level…Thank You! Finally, congratulations to all of the students that are headed to great jobs and graduate programs!
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Department/College: I taught General Ecology to many students from the EFB majors and other departments. I served on the EFB Promotion and Tenure committee. We were busy with several faculty up for their 3-year review and others up for promotion to associate professor with continuing appointment. This job of reviewing the work of early career colleagues is a critical service to the candidates, the department and the college. The department is in a great phase right now with productive colleagues at all levels. I also attended job seminars for the Plant Physiology position in FNRM and another position for a Plant Physiologist in Biology at SU, and a position for a Toxicologist in EFB. All of these job searches were successful and I am happy to see such excellent new colleagues coming.
Self Professionally: This one is easy. This fall I put a considerable amount of time and energy into preparing my dossier for promotion to Full Professor. I have been recommended for the promotion by the departmental and college P&T committees, EFB chair, ESF Provost, and ESF President. There are a couple more reviews ahead, but it looks like I will officially be a full professor effective September 1. That is a big milestone on par with getting promoted to associate professor with continuing appointment (tenure). Not one to be comfortable losing momentum, I’ve also embarked on a new research direction involving deep sequencing. The technique is cutting edge and will open up many opportunities for new projects. Throughout my career I have found it very satisfying and productive to push my limits in terms of my comfort zone…always a bit challenging, but always well worth the effort. Deep sequencing is the next new thing for me, allowing a more thorough characterization of soil microbial communities (read: mycorrhizal fungi communities) and their responses to various treatments.
Robin W. Kimmerer Students: In addition to teaching innovative classes which receive strong positive reviews, I am committed to serving our students as a mentor in many informal settings as well, as a CSTEP mentor, as advisor to the Primitive Pursuits Club, an internship sponsor and informal mentor to many students, including undergraduate research and Honors students which culminated in Spotlight on Research presentations. I designed and coordinate the new college-wide minor in “Native Peoples and the Environment” which has a growing enrollment. I have played a leadership role (with my co-PIs) in developing 2 new grant-funded courses and associated program which will be initiated with a new cohort of 5 Native American graduate students starting at ESF in the Fall-a historic event for ESF. Our new grant from USDA Higher Education Challenge Grant enables us to create and deliver a new graduate program which integrates Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Scientific knowledge in the field of biocultural restoration. I’m excited that ESF is growing in these new directions to support graduate education specifically designed to foster innovative approaches to intellectual and cultural diversity in the curriculum for our students.
Department/College: Much of my attention and energy is devoted to my role as Director of The Center for Native Peoples and the Environment which has brought significant positive attention to the College’s leadership role in incorporating traditional ecological knowledge in environmental education and research. The extraordinary work of Assistant Director Neil Patterson supports the Center’s thriving. The Center has brought significant attention to innovations at ESF. I’m particularly proud of the contributions of the Center as an emerging change agent in broadening the scientific dialogue to include traditional ecological knowledge. Our major accomplishments this year include the “Voices of Maple Nation: Indigenous Women’s Climate Change Summit” and the leadership of the Center in generating and promoting the Indigenous Science Declaration which gained national and international recognition at the March For Science. The impact of the Center can be seen in the number of emerging collaborations from indigenous nations and universities on traditional ecological knowledge requested from around the country. The validity of using TEK as a partner to ecological science in education and research is gaining traction through our efforts. The momentum behind this endeavor is reflected numerous invitations for keynotes, lectures and presentations This year, I have given at least 35 public presentations (estimated audience reached=7500 exclusive of the immense March for Science) to academic, professional, 58
governmental and community organizations all over the country, as well as numerous interviews, videos etc., which I hope brings attention and respect to the work of SUNY ESF. In addition to my usual activities and listed service, I came forward to serve as Co-Director (with Dr. Fierke) of the Cranberry Lake Biological Station in 2016.
Self Professionally: Outside of a full teaching load and the leadership of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, my scholarly energies are largely devoted to disseminating the body of work related to integration of traditional indigenous and western scientific knowledge, primarily through a large number of public presentations in diverse arenas. Given the urgent environmental issues we face, and the power of literary non-fiction as a cultural change agent, I am committed to investment of my scholarly efforts in that arena. I am continuing to learn and appreciate the power of engaged scholarship of writing and speaking to a non-academic audience as a pathway to influence public dialog on sustainability. Working in this interdisciplinary arena of public dialogue and engaging teaching tools outside of my academic expectations has been both challenging and rewarding, contributing to professional growth in new directions which can benefit my creative capacity as an educator and writer.
Donald J. Leopold Students: I taught EFB 336 Dendrology for the 31st year and it was more fun as ever as student interest and engagement were very high. It is my understanding that no previous instructor (including Drs. Harlow and Ketchledge) has taught this course for more than 30 years. I finished one M.S. and one Ph.D. student (co-advised by John Farrell) this past year to total 71 M.S., M.P.S., and Ph.D. students advised and graduated since coming to ESF in August 1985. Last summer Grete Bader’s thesis research (defended the previous April) on the huge populations of native orchids on abandoned iron mine tailings in the Adirondacks continued to generate significant press with reports in the Washington Post/AP and other outlets including the Houston Chronicle. And in February, Adirondack Life published an article about our work there on these native, terrestrial orchids. The story about the extraordinary populations of these plant species of conservation concern that have arisen on a historically terribly degraded site without any directed help from people seems to appeal to the public unlike any plant-related research in which I have been involved.
Department/College: I will have served as chair of EFB for 12 years as of this July. Among the administrative highlights of this reporting period were: (1) travelling to Tyumen State University in southwestern Siberia last July with colleagues from ESF to discuss collaborative opportunities; (2) helping to bring in a substantial development gift ($500,000; with J. Gibbs) to support a conservation initiative on private lands; (3) being responsible for and hosting two very successful Dale L. Travis lecture events; and, (4) hiring a new Environmental Toxicologist for the department (Dr. Roxanne Razavi), the thirteenth EFB faculty position that I have had the privilege to help fill as chair.
Self Professionally: After spending just about all of the two past winter “breaks” between semesters on my Wildflowers of the Adirondacks (with L. Musselman, Old Dominion University) we have submitted the text and images to Johns Hopkins Press. I hope this book is available before end of this calendar year. I am looking forward to doing something else this winter break. This will be my seventh book as author or co-author (i.e., not counting edited books or chapters within edited books). I have done over half of the writing and most of the images for this book. Books and the many dozens of invited presentations that have resulted have led to a personally enriching opportunity to educate thousands of people (all awake) beyond the students in our classrooms. Many of these people are in professional positions to implement ideas related to sustainability and other important conservation topics, sooner than later.
Brian Leydet Students: In regard to student interaction, I believe my first year at ESF has been productive. I taught 2 required courses for the environmental health major (Epidemiology and Disease Prevention). Although 59
only 12 students enrolled in the Fall 2016 Epidemiology course, I had 28 enrollees in Spring 2017 Disease Prevention, and we have had to move rooms to accommodate more students in the upcoming 2017 Fall Epidemiology (currently 40 enrolled). As a first year Assistant Professor, these classes were the first I have had to develop and teach on my own. Based on semester evaluations and interactions with students outside of the classroom, students seemed to be happy with my teaching style and how I structured the classes. These courses have also attracted students from other majors including ES, EST, NRM, Biotech, EFB, SU Biology, Chem and Con Bio. In addition to teaching courses, I have jumped right into advising pre-health students in EFB. In my first year at ESF, I was approached by at least a dozen students asking whether there were research opportunities in my lab. Fortunately, I was able to get my lab up and running during my first semester, which has allowed me to take on 2 EFB undergraduates in Independent Research Courses. Both students culminated their first semester in my lab with scientific posters describing their work at the ESF Spotlight on the spring 2017 Student Research symposium. I am excited that both will be returning in the fall 2017 semester to continue their research projects. In addition to these undergraduate students, I had a MS student (MPs Cohen and Whipps) working in my lab on a portion of her thesis. I was also approached by a Professor at the University of Rochester inquiring about the possibilities of a rotation in my lab for one of their doctoral students. This student is currently working in the lab on a project involving tick-borne diseases in patients from Ecuador. This summer, I will also be assisting an MS student (MP S. Farrell) with tick and tick-borne disease work in birds around Onondaga County. As for my own graduate students, I secured 2 grants that will provide support for 2 MS students starting in Fall 2017. One student has already been identified and has accepted; the second student will be co-mentored with Dr. John Farrell but is still to be identified.
Department/College: My service to the department and college this past year began with my teaching of 2 required courses for the Environmental Health Major. I believe both were successful in their first iteration and will most certainly improve in the coming years. I was involved with the visit of faculty from Tyumen State University and I have an open invitation to visit (likely in spring 2018). I also met and discussed ESF’s Environmental Health program with individuals from the National Environmental Health Science and Protection Accreditation Panel (EHAC) who were here conducting a site visit for accreditation of ESF’s EH Program. In the spring 2017 semester I served on the search committee for the Environmental Toxicology Position and got some great experience and insight into the inner workings of the College and Department. Because my lab works with a human pathogen, I am required to follow certain guidelines outlined in the Centers for Disease Control’s Biosafety for Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL) guidelines. This has spurred the formation of an Institutional Biosafety Committee, and I am currently working with others and the Research office to get an IBC website page off the ground where researchers can go to address questions regarding their research and the role of ESFs IBC. I have also been successful in getting Level 2 registration with BEI resources a biological repository support infectious disease research this will allow me to obtain research reagents and specimens to advance my research. Through my connections at Upstate I partook in a couple meetings with faculty and Administrators from Queens University in Kingston Ontario. While these meeting were initiated by interest in Lyme disease by faculty at Queens, they have evolved into other opportunities and I have been invited to their biological station to visit and give a talk this summer. I hope to reciprocate the invite and have faculty from their school come and talk at ESF. I think there are great opportunities for collaborations between Queens and ESF. This spring I also worked closely with the research office and Upstate faculty to write and submit a funded SUNY EIP proposal that will allow for the recruitment of mid- senior level funded faculty hires at ESF and Upstate in support of the Center for Environmental Health and Medicine. Given that my research on ticks and tick-borne diseases is a very relevant topic, especially in New York State, I have been active in getting my name out as a point of contact on these issues. This has led to multiple news interviews as well as dissemination work done at ESF by the Office of Extramural and Governmental Affairs to NYS legislators in hopes for future research support.
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Self Professionally: I have had both ups and downs over the past year. Securing a tenure track position at an institution like ESF was certainly an “up.” Transitioning from a short (and interrupted) postdoc has been a hurdle. Most notably is a gap in publications in 2016. This should be remedied as I work to wrap up one of my post-doctoral research papers this summer. This will hopefully be complemented with a paper summarizing the Ecuadorian tick-borne disease serology results that the PhD rotation student from the University of Rochester is working on in my lab. I was successful in submitting multiple (5) grants in my first years at ESF. Two grants were selected for funding while a third foundation grant garnered a letter that stated the foundation’s interest in funding my work outside of the specific proposal call. I submitted 2 projects to federal agencies (DOD and NIH), which received actionable feedback, and with support from the SUNY Center for Applied Microbiology I am conducting a pilot study to address reviewer concerns and will be resubmitting these grants in the Fall of 2017. Straying out of my comfort zone coffee with Dr. John Farrell one morning led to a great hypothesis and funded pilot study. I will be applying my knowledge and experience with next-generation sequencing and molecular biology to the field of fisheries science to answer questions regarding John’s longstanding research into the Great Lake’s Northern Pike. I have also been very busy forging an active relationship with Upstate Medical University. This is needed to support my research program. Currently, we have lab space with equipment set up in the Institute for Human Performance. I have been granted an Adjunct Faculty Appointment in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. I have all the required paperwork submitted and am in the final stages of securing approval from Upstate’s Biological Safety Committee and Animal Care and Use Committee to begin working with infected tick transmission models. I am also in the process of getting appointed to Upstate’s Graduate Faculty Organization (GFO), which will allow me to mentor graduate students at Upstate. Working closely with Upstate had led to multiple potential collaborations that couple my expertise in ticks and their pathogens with Upstate investigators interested in the more clinical or immunological side of these diseases.
Karin E. Limburg Students: This past academic year, I continued to bring students more into my professional life. In Fisheries lecture and Practicum, I continued to infuse my classes with current understanding and experiences. In fact, our work in the Practicum revealed some surprising changes at sites where I’d taken that class in the past. Notably, we discovered alarming changes in the fauna of Arbutus, Deer, and Wolf lakes at Huntington – dramatic losses of fishes, and a non-native, freshwater jellyfish (a creature I did not know existed). This prompted the AEC to begin to plan for more intensive monitoring of these lakes; but for the students, I think (as did they) that we may have seen some direct evidence of climate change occurring. This was something they commented on. In addition, I worked closely with my graduate students to share aspects of grant writing that I’d not done before, in order to “show by example” how to master this important skill. Finally, together with faculty colleagues in the Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences major, I participated in events that built a sense of professional camaraderie among undergraduates in that major.
Department/College: I continued to serve on the department’s Graduate Program Advisory Committee, and continued on the College’s P&T oversight review committee. I also initiated a discussion among aquatic science faculty in EFB and several faculty at the Department of Aquatic Resources, Swedish U. of Agricultural Sciences “SLU-Aqua”), about joint doctoral student courses or other activities. We hope to develop something for next spring and/or summer. And, for what it’s worth, my article in The Conversation on oxygen loss in the world’s oceans was read by > 43,000 people, so that could potentially help with ESF’s visibility in the marine realm.
Self Professionally: I continued in my professional activities, notably my participation in two international scientific working groups, both focused on environmental problems in the global oceans. I also continued to work with my (now) 6 Ph.D. students, one of them in Sweden, as well as a Master’s student. This is a very nice cohort to work with, and perhaps finally I’m getting the hang of being a 61
decent mentor. I’ve also benefitted considerably, in a “horizon-expanding” manner, from being a visiting professor at the Department of Aquatic Resources, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU- Aqua) and at the Department of Physics, Nuclear Physics Section, Lund University. The research projects that my students and I are engaged in are supported mostly by external funding, so we are contributing to that aspect of ESF’s mission.Self Professionally: I continued in my professional activities, notably my participation in two international scientific working groups, both focused on environmental problems in the global oceans. I also continued to work with my (now) 6 Ph.D. students, one of them in Sweden, as well as a Master’s student. This is a very nice cohort to work with, and perhaps finally I’m getting the hang of being a decent mentor. I’ve also benefitted considerably, in a “horizon-expanding” manner, from being a visiting professor at the Department of Aquatic Resources, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU-Aqua) and at the Department of Physics, Nuclear Physics Section, Lund University. The research projects that my students and I are engaged in are supported mostly by external funding, so we are contributing to that aspect of ESF’s mission.
Mark V. Lomolino Students: I have continued to teach courses that emphasize fundamental biological, geological and geographic factors that influence biodiversity, and challenge students to develop an integrative understanding of relevant patterns and to articulate this in writing. The mammal diversity course has now grown to approximately 80 students (Fall 2016 enrollment). This course continues to receive excellent reviews from students. The biogeography course I teach (EFB 444/644) is now offered every year, in the fall, along with my course in mammal diversity (EFB 483), with an enrollment of 45 students, 3 to 5 students are graduate level. My exams in each of these courses are written/essay format, with all questions graded by me.
Department/College: My service to the department and college should continue to develop should as deemed appropriate include increasing service on departmental and other committees.
Self Professionally: I have developed my international network of colleagues and research programs in the areas of biogeography, ecology and macroecology. As a result, I have begun to publish with new collaborators, develop new proposal and received invitations to give guest lectures, keynote addresses and serve as external evaluator of faculty and research programs. I have begun new lines of research on Soundscape Ecology and on Palaeo-biogeography, which are emerging disciplines focusing on -- the spatial and temporal variation in the sounds of nature, and patterns in geographic variation of life before the impacts of human activities. We have published our first papers on these new lines of research. As a result, ResearchGate often reports that our papers are the most frequently cited of those from our department.
Gregory G. McGee Students/Department/College: I served again this year as EFB’s Undergraduate Curriculum Director and Curriculum Coordinator for the Environmental Biology major. My ongoing responsibilities as UCD included coordination of undergraduate advising for the department; providing departmental orientation to freshmen and August/January transfer cohorts; pre-registration of all transfer students; representation EFB at two end-of-semester Academic Standards meetings; organization of two departmental open houses and five accepted student receptions, and personal participation in five of these seven events; and maintenance of EFB program catalog descriptions, plan sheets and directed elective offerings for all seven majors. Apart from my own undergrad advisees, I advised numerous other EFB undergraduate students on a variety of curricular matters, provided initial advising for several internal transfer students, and facilitated numerous student petitions. In addition to regular duties associated with this appointment, this year I continued working with the Admissions office to formalize more articulation guidelines for Ranger School students transferring into the ENB, Conservation Biology, Wildlife Science and Forest 62
Health majors. I continued to organize the gathering of assessment data for the department and will be involved this year in the next round of assessment.
Self Professionally: This year I prioritized my research program and have had good success reestablishing lines of research in forest ecology and management (post-agricultural forest understory restoration, beech control, rehabilitation silviculture, EAB biocontrol). In collaboration with students and other colleagues I have had two manuscripts accepted for publication, and I personally delivered or collaborated on several talks or posters at professional meetings this year. This year Neal Abrams and I continued to develop and test a couple of STEM laboratory education modules that are just about ready to submit for peer review.
Stacy A. McNulty Students: My tenth Master’s student graduated this spring with honors. I assisted two undergraduate independent researchers with projects involving 1) long-term salamander demographics and trends relating to climate data and 2) small mammal and habitat characteristics. Both students presented posters at the Spotlight on Research and expressed the experience was a formative step in their education. Finally, I taught EFB484, Winter Mammalian Ecology, for the seventh time and received a mean 9.4 out of 10 on course evaluations. Upperclassmen commented that the course should be required for wildlife science majors (while their enthusiasm is appreciated, the logistics of a larger winter field course would compromise the experience).
Department/College: It was gratifying to be awarded funding for a project on invasive-induced forest biodiversity loss and evaluation of stand rehabilitation. This project was the culmination of a multi-year, team effort across the EFB and FNRM departments, Forest Operations and AEC staff, and it represents a larger cumulative effort of forest research and management at ESF. The project is designed to meet the challenge of retaining and encouraging a desirable mix of forest species and structure for both ecosystem function and economic value.
Self Professionally: My doctoral research proposal in Graduate Program in Environmental Science on natural resource governance has progressed and I continue to find the process a rich, rewarding experience. I am finding the interdisciplinary inquiry (including learning new lines of theory, research tools, techniques and software) has revitalized my interest in academic and professional scholarship in ecology and policy. Still without a solution is the limitation of having only 24 hours in a day.
Lee A. Newman Students: I have continued to teach the three required courses, Cell Biology, Senior Synthesis and Molecular Techniques. I taught the Phytoremediation course (EFB496/796) as a three credit course for the second time this year, and it continues to be well received by the students who liked the expanded format. I will discuss this more in the service to the Department and College. I taught the EFB496/796 Cell Biology Recitation again this year. The students again said that they greatly enjoyed the course and they learned valuable skills in both reading and understanding research articles, as well as presentation skills. I also taught the EFB496/796 Plant Physiology Recitation this year. I plan to continue to teach this course, but have it focus on different areas of plant physiology every year so that students can take the course more than once and continue to learn new material with each time the course runs. Last year, the course focused on carnivorous plants, and area where I do not have any expertise, so it was a learning experience for me as well. I also continue to co-teach Biodiversity II, with the topic area of Procaryotes. It is a fun lecture series, and the students seem to enjoy it and ask a lot of good questions. This year I have had 31 undergraduate students in the lab, 4 PhD, 2 MS students, and two visiting PhD students, one from Tyumen State University, Siberia and one from Thammasat University, Thailand; and one post-doctoral fellow from Iran. In addition, there are/were other international students in the lab, one from China and one from Nigeria. The lab also hosts students from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, including Trinidad, Philippines, and China. The lab hosts not only a diversity of nationalities, but also religious and political 63
backgrounds. Several students are or were in the Honors program, and several others are in CSTEP. The best thing about this is how proud the students themselves are of being in this diverse group. The students are extremely hard working, and this is reflected in the number of awards they have won locally and at internationally attended conferences. I continue to work with the students to develop their sense of community by hosting laboratory trips to places that are both fun and educational. I also work with the students to develop the importance of community service by participating in a food drive – last year the lab purchased and delivered over $1700 of food to a local food pantry and over $500 to support a local pet food pantry. I have always encouraged students to attend local and national conferences to gain experience and also to develop a network of contacts for future careers. This year, I expanded this to include students from the Environmental Health major, as well as academic advisees who work at the Medical School. I hope to be able to generate funds to be able to take any of the Environmental Health students who wish to attend to the Association for Environmental Health Science annual conference in October, held in Amherst MA. I am also encouraging international students who will be in the lab starting in the fall to attend the International Phytotechnology Society Conference in Montreal, Canada, as both of these conferences can be reached by car or van. Finally, I continue to work with other facilities and entities around Syracuse, to develop both internship and research opportunities for students outside the ESF campus to expand their thoughts and options.
Department/College/SUNY: I am continuing my work on the departmental Course and Curriculum Assessment Committee and the Tenure and Promotion Committee, and I am now chair of the college Committee on Research. I also continue to participate in three Hill Collaboration groups, Neuroscience, Cancer, and Wounded Warrior. As part of this last group, we are working for the third year with a former ESF graduate, Dr. Stephen Lebduska, who currently serves as the head of the Spinal Cord Injury Unit at the Syracuse Veterans Hospital on a Horticultural Therapy program for inpatients in the unit. We are working not only with the hospital, but also with other community groups to obtain the plants and supplies for the program, and we currently have a PhD student who is doing this work for his dissertation project, one additional graduate student and seven undergraduate students working at the VA on this program. The program involves growing plants on a rooftop garden, in room plants for patients, maintaining plants in common areas, and devising enrichment programs involving gardens and plants for the patients during the winter months. We are also working with Clear Path for Vets and developed a kitchen garden for their Wednesday Canteen program. I am also designing a natural playground for the site to be used on Saturday Warrior Reset and Family Programs. I was a member of the Chemistry department search committee for the new faculty hire in Environmental Health/Environmental Chemistry. For the 6th year, I was chair of the organizing committee for the Biotechnology Research Symposium, which continues to attract both academic and industry representatives. During the past year in the EFB496/796 Phytoremediation course, I had three speakers give seminars that were open to the college and the public, Ms. Amanda Ludlow of Roux Associates, Dr. Joel Burken from Missouri Science and Technology, and Mr. Tim Carey from the Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory. I am still working with the administration at Brookhaven National Laboratory to develop and forward the major goals of an MOU, which would result in ESF and BNL having closer research ties, including joint management of an ecological preserve. To this end, I brought Dr. Chris Nomura, Dr. Quentin Wheeler, and Susan Sanford to BNL for their Open Stewardship day to tour the site and see the type of work going on there. I have also been working with faculty and staff at ESF to develop a series of courses, to be taught at BNL, which would benefit high school teachers and allow them to earn ESF credits. I have been working with Scott. Shannon to develop a joint diploma program with Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand for the Environmental Biology, Biotechnology, Bioprocess Engineering and Environmental Health majors. This program would allow students from Mahidol University to do their last two academic years here at ESF, and then receive diplomas from both ESF and MU. As the program develops, ESF students would also be able to go to MU for a semester or academic year to participate in an international learning program. We should have our first students coming to ESF in fall 2018, although a few might start this fall. In this vein, I am still working with the SUNY COIL program to develop a jointly-taught 64
course with the University of Parma, where students at both universities would take a phytoremediation course, and run joint literature review projects between the two universities. I continue my involvement in the ESF heath related programs. I have continued working with both ESF and UMU administration to develop and implement a joint MD/PhD program, and this is moving forward. I am the Pre Health Advisor for students in the Environmental Biology Major. I was also the ESF advisor for students wishing to participate in the UMU 3+3 program to earn a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree; however, this program will not be continued after this year. I am also the Coordinator for the Health and the Environment option in Environmental Science, and the Coordinator for Environmental Health, where I am not only doing curriculum coordination, but also updating the web site and promotional materials for students, administrators and fund raising, and worked with Dr. Luzadis on developing descriptions for new faculty hires for the program as well as recruiting new ESF faculty to participate in the program. I am the advisor for two new minors, Environmental Health and Food Studies. This past year I was a member of the search committee for a new hire in Chemistry, to teach in the Environmental Health program (Environmental Sampling). This year, I also took the lead on the submission of the accreditation package to the National Environmental Health Science & Protection Accreditation Council to seek accreditation for the Environmental Health major. This included doing a self study of the program, and completing a course comparison grid to ensure that we are teaching all required material for accreditation. In April, the college hosted the site visitation team, and I met with them for three days to go over the courses, the support and goals of the program. Following their visit, the submitted an evaluation of the program, and I submitted a response to their concerns about the program. This summer, I will be attending the Council’s annual meeting where the program will be reviewed and accreditation voted on. I continue to oversee the management and use of $650,000 of equipment for the Environmental Health/Environmental Medicine Biotechnology center, for use by ESF, Upstate Medical University and the Biotechnology Accelerator personnel. And finally, for the past year, I have lead the efforts to develop research and education collaborations with Tyumen State University in Siberia, including taking part in a 10-day visit to Tyumen, which included visiting multiple research laboratories, technical facilities, two field stations and several cultural site. This visit included Dr. Don Leopold (Chair, EFB), Dr. Russ Briggs (Director, Environmental Science) and Dr. Guy Lanza, Adjunct Professor in ESF. In October and November, I hosted two groups of visitors from TSU, including Dr. Andrei Tolstikov, Vice Rector of Research and several department heads and research team leaders. We visited both the Thousand Island Biological Station, the Adirondacks Ecological Center, as well as cultural and natural sites in New York state. In March, I returned in Tyumen to continue discussions on the development of both a joint MS diploma in Biotechnology, and joint PhD diploma programs in Biology, tick-borne diseases, and environmental chemistry. We have started negotiations on the joint diploma programs, and will have the first student for the program starting in Fall 2017.
Self Professionally: I continue as Editor in Chief for the International Phytoremediation Journal after the untimely passing of the co-Editor, Stephen Ebbs. The journal has continued to increase the number of submissions received every year. The publishers continue to increase the number of issues, and from a quarterly journal we are now publish 12 issues a year, in the 8.5 x 11 page format. Unfortunately, our annual impact factor dropped slightly this year due to increase numbers of published papers, but continues to be strong for a highly specialized journal, being in the upper 50% for all Environmental journals. I continued to serve as the Founding President of the International Phytotechnology Society after serving 6 years as President. The Society continues to grow and the conferences remain strong every year. I was on the organizing committee for last year’s conference, which was held in Hangzhou, China, in September 2016. I continue to chair both the Awards Committee and the Education Committees for the Society. I also continued my role on the Scientific Advisory Board member for the Association for Environmental Health Sciences. I am also working to developing more collaborative ties within the SUNY system, and I am starting to work with colleagues from SUNY Upstate and SUNY University of Albany to develop joint research programs. While my publications remain excellent in quality and are published in top journals in my field, I look forward to increasing the number as more graduate students move through the 65
lab. And finally, I continue to work with an international team of editors to work on the books Phytoremediation: Management of Environmental Contaminants; and have completed volumes 4 and 5 and are in discussions with the publishers for a 6th volume. The volumes continue to be heavily sited and very well received.
Dylan Parry Students: Undergraduate. I teach demanding rigorous classes and refuse to use multiple-choice despite the significant time spent grading written answers. In spring 2017, I again taught EFB-502, continuing to add new components to this course to keep it fresh and current in this rapidly developing field and I turned over more than 20% of the lecture material this year. Although the FTE’s are relatively low (44 students), these are the kinds of courses that set ESF apart from competing institutions and give students value for their dollar and are one of our best marketing tools for getting students to come here. As I have done for 13 yrs., I taught the Entomology component of EFB-202, our flagship field experience course, at Cranberry Lake.
Graduate. I taught one graduate seminar in 2016-2017 (7 students). I also served on GPAC and oversaw the Stegeman Award, again providing a well-deserving student with an award and some supplemental funds for research. I rewrote and restructured the Outstanding PhD award by homogenizing it with the Burgess Award (now the Robert L. Burgess Outstanding Doctoral Scholar Award) as well as chaired the award committee. Four of my students finished and defended their MS degrees this year (Schoppmann, Brown, Leuenberger, Phelps).
Department/College: I represent the College’s interests and perspective as a member on the NY State Invasive Species Advisory Committee, an assemblage of governmental, non-profit, private sector, and academic stakeholders who function to advise NY State on invasive species issues and help to craft legislation that effectively combats targeted species or pathways. We played a significant role in developing and changing the ‘clean-boat’ bill that the governor signed into law, the development of the Invasive Species Awareness Week, and the ‘Three-Tier List’ of prohibited and restricted species. I served the 2nd year of my term as Director of the Graduate Program in Environmental Science, a significant leadership responsibility.
Self Professionally: I am collaborating with multiple investigators (particularly Kristine Grayson, University of Richmond, Derek Johnson and Sal Agosta at VCU & Patrick Tobin with the University of Washington) looking at the effects of climatic shifts on invasive insects. We (Gryason, Agosta, myself) just got NSF funding to conduct some of this research. I have recently partnered with Kimberly Wallin (UVM) and initiated research at Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest. We are cooperators on a large NSF funded project with Lindsey Rustad and John Campbell (US Forest Service), Peter Groffman (Carey Institute) and Charlie Driscoll (Syracuse University) to emulate ice storms in northern hardwood forests. By mechanically applying water to the forest canopy in winter, we have been able to realistically mimic the accretion of ice and subsequent damage. My role is to examine the trophic response of insects and their natural enemies to this disturbance. As lead organizer, I convened a major symposium for the world’s largest international entomological meeting (see above).
William A. Powell Students: I continue to provide a quality education through my classes such as my large Principles of Genetics course. But this year I decided to try something new and teach a graduate level course on how to present research to the public. I was never trained to do this when I attended graduate school and had to learn it from my 27 years of experience presenting my chestnut research to the general public and teaching large classes. The course went very well and the students were able to turn difficult subjects into presentations meaningful to the general population. But in addition to my direct teaching, probably more important are the “learn-by-doing” opportunities my research provides. The American chestnut project 66
continues to grow and provide hands-on research opportunities for our students as well as giving them the satisfaction of contributing to the historical restoration of the American chestnut. In addition to supporting seven graduate students, the project also provides paid jobs for seven undergraduate students and academic credit based research opportunities (BTC420, 498, EFB420, 498) for eight additional undergraduates. As in previous years, we have also provided four high school students with summer internships. My hope for the future is for this project to expand to rescuing other tree species, which will provide even more opportunities for our students in the future.
Department/College: Again, the biggest contribution to our department and college is the success of the American chestnut project. One metric that demonstrates the program’s growth over the past three years is the annual extramural expenditures. In 2015 it was $161,630, in 2016 it was $203,549, and in 2017 it was $307,854. The size of the project has nearly doubled in three years and has the potential to keep rising. But the impact goes beyond extramural funding. This success brings positive publicity to our college through my pubic and professional presentations with about an equal number given by my students. Popular press articles continue to be high, as they have for the past three years, totaling in over 90 to date. The funding and presentations are cyclical, one leading to another. For example, my TEDx talk three years ago lead initially to a donor giving $30,000 to the project. That same donor is now contributing $250,000 per year. This year I was invited by the Templeton Foundation to submit a proposal, which will likely lead to a $190,000 grant to help with the regulatory process. This invitation only came because the president of the foundation read about the research in a popular press article. Getting the word out sometimes requires taking advantage of new and unique opportunities. For example, last year I wrote an article for The Conversation that initially received over 20 thousand reads. Which was a good initial outcome. But because of a Reddit discussion in January of this year, the number of readers has now jumped to over 71,000. This is great advertising for both our department and college. My hope is that this and other forms of outreach will help ESF to establish itself as a tree restoration center, and support spin-off projects such as the rescue of the Ozark Chinquapin and developing a blight resistant European chestnut in the near future, and working with other trees as the time goes on. Once we have regulatory approval, I hope ESF can establish the first demonstration of a Chestnut/Oak restoration forest planted on ESF property and containing all the species associated with the American chestnut. Our students can follow this forest over the next century, continuously providing research opportunities as it matures.
Self Professionally: As I stated last year, nobody on our campus understands the regulatory process for genetically engineered plants, so I have had to take on the task to educate myself. I am doing this along with my Ph.D. student by meeting with the three regulatory agencies in person and through phone conferences and webinars. We are also visiting companies with experience with the review process to gain insights that the regulators might not offer. Lastly, we have sought out several “pro-bono” regulatory consultants to help, with one of the key people being Michael Braverman from the IR-4 project. We have learned that by working with the USDA’s IR-4 project, we can avoid $200,000 to $300,000 in EPA fees. Also, from this “self-education” process, we have learned that you not only need to interact with the federal regulators. But you also have to actively engaged the regulator’s advisors in the Forest Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and hopefully soon the National Park Service. We have also been engaged with the general public and leaders of Indigenous Peoples. This is necessary because we are doing something very new and unique, which is using the tools of genetic engineering to save a species. Because this is new, we have to gain the support of the various stakeholders. I believe we will be successful and will probably help change some of the public’s opinion about genetic engineering and how it may be used to benefit the environment. But it will not be easy and there will likely be challenges to overcome as we go forward. But we are ready.
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Neil H. Ringler EFB: Course contributions were Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy, Aquatic Entomology and a lively new seminar (jointly with Chemistry and Engineering) on Onondaga Lake. Research funding by NYDEC and Honeywell International continues to nurture the graduate program. Of seven graduate students, one graduated (M.S.) and two more are targeted to complete in the summer. Three publications were completed this year, along with success in reintroduction of Atlantic salmon to Onondaga Lake tributaries: several fast-growing individuals appeared in angler catches this spring. Our NOAA NY Sea Grant pre-proposal on Atlantic Salmon restoration was accepted and the full proposal will be submitted June 12, 2017.
ESF: Our Hill Collaboration in Environmental Medicine completed its fourth year of funding collaborative projects among ESF, UMU, SU and Syracuse VA. Results were presented at the 9th Biotechnology Symposium in Syracuse May 18th. The bright futures of the Hill Collaboration and the Institute for Environmental Health and Environmental Medicine were outlined at the Biotechnology Symposium by Dave Amberg and Neil Ringler. These initiatives connect closely to our new academic program in Environmental Health. Similarly, the new TEM and SEM scopes, funded by NSF and NYSTAR, are up and running; these will be among the highlights of the 10th Biotechnology symposium. The equipment in the ESF Biofuels lab within the Syracuse Center of Excellence is now fully functional and ready for instruction and start-up company utilization.
On January 19th 2017 I was named Vice Provost and Executive Director of the Onondaga Lake Science Center, funded by a SUNY 2020 Challenge Grant. Construction of the science building, boathouse and floating classroom for the Center awaits finalization of appropriate land. Programmatic planning has been active, particularly with regard to actual research endeavors on the lake and its tributaries. Planning especially has entailed preparations for the Worldwide Canal Conference September 24-28 based on the Lake and venues in downtown Syracuse, our canal system, and the Inner Harbor.
SUNY RF: I participated actively in meetings of the SUNY/RF Research Council and the Vice Presidents for Research. We welcomed Dr. Grace Wang as the new Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development, and presented to her an outline of ESF’s Research portfolio. I was honored (and surprised!) on March 8, 2017 with a commendation from SUNY/RF, presented at the Syracuse RF Meeting by Provost/Executive Vice Chancellor Alexander Cartwright and Vice Chancellor Grace Wang.
Rebecca J. Rundell Students: Acceptance of evolution among United States citizens is low compared to other industrialized nations (the U.S. is in the mid-to-upper-40% range vs. 80% in Japan and northern Europe; Miller, Scott and Okamoto, 2006). ESF biology students can play an important role in using and disseminating evolutionary knowledge in their careers both in formal and informal contexts. No matter incoming experience and interest level, students need to leave the course with a working understanding of evolutionary biology. This year in collaboration with my graduate TA Jesse Czekanski-Moir we developed a short online test to be administered upon entering the course and again after completing the course, including questions from both the challenging and more basic ends of the spectrum (the latter being more readily Google-able). Students entering the course got an average of 9/16 questions correct. Students leaving the course got an average of 12.5/16 questions correct. Here is one sample question: “Which of the following is not a potential agent of selection? (check all that apply): A. Humans going fishing. B. Genetic drift. C. Annual flooding in the area surrounding a river.” After having taken my course, twice as many students chose the correct answer (B) as had done so in the pre-test.
I also think each student should leave the course with a working knowledge of the span of deep time as well as humans’ relatively minor place in geological time. Based on students’ answers in previous exam questions, this remains a surprisingly resistant area within the brains of even our fairly enlightened and 68
purportedly non-human-centric ESF biology student population. Given the outdoorsy orientation of much of our student body and the potential effectiveness of hands-on teaching methods, I choose to imbue students with a visceral, hands-on sense of time scale through field experience. Each student in the course digs and discovers his or her own Middle Devonian fossils during a field trip, which this year involved 30 deg. F foggy weather with ice and snow on the outcrops. ESF students are tough (and like to be perceived as such!), and always relish this field paleontology experience. While some students have casually looked for fossils before, most cannot recognize a crinoid or brachiopod (or understand the age of the rocks they stand on and their depositional environment) until they have had this hands-on experience with me. After the dig, students tour a world-class museum in our own backyard (the Museum of the Earth in Ithaca, NY) and get additional hands-on time with fossils during a special program with museum paleontologist Dr. Rob Ross. In evaluations, many students report the field trip as an important and beloved part of the course.
Reading Why Evolution is True is complementary to the field experience, since it gives students practical verbal tools for disseminating evolutionary knowledge themselves. At the end of the course students then have the opportunity to ask direct questions to the author, Dr. Jerry Coyne via a live in-class Skype chat. Guest lectures on cutting edge evo-devo research (Longjun Wu, University of Rochester) and kin selection and eusociality (Jesse Czekanski-Moir, evolutionary biologist in my lab, Graduate TA and ant expert) further enhanced the course. Students also work in pairs to read evolution research from the past year and create posters explaining this research to a general, educated audience. Students must choose several relevant evolution keywords to explain in the context of their poster. This exercise, which occurs at the beginning of the course (around Darwin Day, Feb. 12) serves to introduce them to a topic they might not yet have encountered, giving them a window into the broader field that will be explored in more detail later in the course. When the posters are displayed for the public en masse, it also delivers a powerful message that evolution research, and evolution itself, is modern and ongoing. Rather than a controversial topic we much shy away from, evolution plays a central role in all of biology, in their lives, and in students’ future careers. This year we topped off this 174-student course with a tour and hands-on experience with whale bones in rooms on the first floor of Illick, following my lecture on whale evolution in Marshall Auditorium. Until our whales are articulated and hung, I hope to continue this well-received unit of the course. I make a point to bring relevant specimens to class when possible (e.g. 300 Ma plant nodules from Mazon Creek; dinosaur bone; owl flight feathers), since they not only keep students interested, but improve recall of certain concepts. I hope to find ways to better integrate this 3D element into a large traditional lecture hall; Powerpoint and videos are limiting. But consistent specimen use is not straightforward for large, fragile or valuable specimens that cannot be passed around. I also aim to build teaching collections (live and dead) that would best support the concepts I teach. With the proper context, specimens can be straightforward to employ for teaching the history of life on Earth or adaptations (and students remember these examples), but students would also benefit from additional tangible “bookmarks” for concepts they struggle with, such as gene flow. As I work to make the Roosevelt Wild Life Collections more accessible through our new campus Center (see “Dept./College” below), I plan to create additional opportunities for student-specimen interaction for enhancing understanding of abstract concepts.
My Invertebrate Zoology continues to be a hit, and around registration time this year I had more than a dozen extra students clamoring to get into the course. Students respond well to the combination of approaches I use in the course, including drawing and color-coding diagrams to understand the fates of animal germ layers, using phylogeny as an organizational framework, viewing short video clips to understand behavior and ecology, and discussing the conservation relevance of invertebrate animals, including echinoderms, corals, glass sponges, sea mount organisms, animals central to international fisheries, and tropical land snails. In lab we maintain a large cold water touch tank with a live abalone, sea urchins, hermit crabs, and anemones, and temperate tanks with ctenophores, jellyfish and horseshoe crabs. Since many invertebrates do not preserve well, live animal observations are essential to understanding 69
form and function. Each student also dissects an assortment of invertebrate animals, the favorites being the sea urchin (students keep their Aristotle’s lantern and bring it home in a jar), and the fresh squid (which includes my calamari recipe that they can use to cook the remains of the mantle at home). The effort I’ve made in refining the organization of the lab and lecture over the past few years has paid off in terms of student learning outcomes and evaluations. Students are learning a large amount of challenging information, and it showed in their midterm and final exams, as well as their consistent participation in class and good questions during lecture. Student comments show the work was worthwhile, e.g.: “Enthusiastic teaching made 8 a.m. feel more like 9:30” and “I really love invertebrates now! I didn’t care so much to take this course but I’m glad I did.”
Department/College: I work with the Roosevelt Wild Life Station (RWLS) as the Head Curator of the Roosevelt Wild Life Collections (RWLC). In this capacity I have been fortunate to work with RWLS leaders Drs. James Gibbs and Jacqui Frair as well as long-serving Collections Manager Ronald Giegerich. As any of RWLS’s team of Scientists-in-Residence can attest there is no shortage of responsibilities within RWLS, nor ideas for helping the Station evolve in its important role for the College. The Roosevelt Wild Life Collections are particularly important to everything we do as a department and college, since they directly support our substantial natural history education and research foci, strengths that ultimately benefit the agencies, institutions and companies in which ESF students will become leaders. As RWLC Head Curator the main role I played in serving the department and college this year was in bringing in two large grants from the National Science Foundation (co-PI: President Wheeler) and the Institute of Museum and Library Services to help complete the new Roosevelt Wild Life Collections Research and Education Center in the lower level of the Gateway Building. These grants were fully funded ($610,285 total) and leverage an award of $2M made to the College under President Wheeler by the State of New York. By saving, expanding, and making accessible the RWLC within a Roosevelt Wild Life Collections Research and Education Center, we will foster a deep connection between natural history collections and our future environmental leaders. Hundreds of ESF students will take classes in the Center each year. NSF and IMLS support will enable us to resolve current collections conservation problems created by inadequate collections housing and to directly involve students in the process. This new Center will communicate the centrality of authentic specimens in both natural history education and research, and its presence on campus will help ESF emerge as a leader in organismal and natural history education—areas of growing relevance (see Frazer 2016, Scientific American: “80 Percent of Environmental Scientists Could Use More Natural History Training”) that have been departmental and college strengths for ESF’s entire history. A substantial part of bringing this Center to fruition has been working closely with Brian Boothroyd, engineers, and architectural firm QPK as well as other experts and vendors in the planning and design process. I have brought my collections, field and laboratory research, and natural history teaching expertise to bear on these technical aspects of the project. I have also worked with a Wildlife Science undergraduate student to help bring our Collections data into the modern century by developing the open-access Specify database for use with our bird and mammal Collections. I continue to work very closely with Ronald Giegerich in his acquisition and management of Collections to benefit both research and teaching in the department. One of the most exciting projects in Collections this year was working with Giegerich, Gibbs, and the Galápagos Conservancy in the loan, careful preparation and documentation of the skeleton of the Galápagos tortoise Lonesome George. We were also honored by a department visit from the President of the Galápagos Conservancy and the opportunity to prepare a detailed report on Lonesome George’s remains for the Government of Ecuador, which holds Lonesome George’s remains sacred.
Self Professionally: Developing my lab and mentoring graduate and undergraduate students has been one of my biggest commitments this year. The lab has hit a critical mass of passionate and productive students, which has fostered intense and rewarding collaborations centered around conservation, evolution, macroecology, and biogeography of molluscs and other invertebrate animals. My student Ms. Cody Gilbertson graduated with an M.S. in Conservation Biology and a thesis, publication, and job as 70
Lead Research Technician in my lab, working on my new Chittenango ovate amber snail grant (USFWS), which is bringing a second population of rare snails into being through a partnership with the Rosamond Gifford Zoo, State Parks, DEC and USFWS (Officer Robyn Niver). Establishing a second population of endangered snails at another locality is a difficult and risky process that has succeeded elsewhere in the world in just a couple cases—and so far our attempt is working. We will also continue to maintain our population at CIRTAS, thanks to CIRTAS Director Dr. Kim Schulz.
Ph.D. students Mr. Jesse Czekanski-Moir and Ms. T. Rose Osborne both gave two well-received talks at two different large international meetings: Evolution 2016 in Austin, Texas (the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Evolution, American Society of Naturalists, and the Society of Systematic Biologists) and the International Biogeography Society Meeting in Tucson, Arizona. I also co-authored a presentation on whole genome duplication in hexapods at Evolution 2016. T. Rose Osborne won a Best Speed Talk Award at the American Museum of Natural History Student Conference in Conservation Science in New York City. Ph.D. student David Bullis earned Candidacy this year, co-authored a book (Smith Woods: The Environmental History of an Old Growth Forest Remnant in Central New York State) that will foster an upcoming BioBlitz in Smith Woods this September (with the invertebrate component led by Rundell Lab), and received funding to travel to the Bernice P. Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii a second time to work there as a visiting scientist. This work is a follow up to my mentoring and research trip with Bullis last year, where David pursued imaging and other curatorial work on rare Pacific endodontoid land snails, and I pursued collections-based research on the incidence of rat predation in extinct Hawaiian Carelia land snails. Other student funds received in my lab include Osborne’s grants from the Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research (American Philosophical Society), and the Conchologists of America Research Grant. Undergraduate researcher in my lab (Ms. Alyssa Lau) was awarded a BEACON NSF Center for Evolution in Action and Society for the Study of Evolution Undergraduate Diversity at Evolution 2017 Grant in order to present her work this year at Evolution 2017 in Portland, Oregon. Ms. Lau graduated in May and presented her work both at the Student Spotlight and the SUNY Undergraduate Research Conference West at SUNY Fredonia. Another undergraduate researcher in my lab, Mr. Tim Gervascio, graduated with Honors this year upon completion of his thesis, which he will also present at Evolution 2017, and which we will prepare for publication.
Fostering strong education, collaboration and challenges in evolutionary biology among this bright and dynamic team of students (and bringing additional undergraduates into the fold) has been a priority for me. To this end, we have engaged our graduate and undergraduate students with projects and experiences at the Bernice T. Bishop Museum (Honolulu, HI), the American Museum of Natural History, the Cornell University Institute of Biotechnology Imaging Facility, the Paleontological Research Institution (Ithaca, NY), and Cornell University’s EvoDay on Phylogenomics (where Czekanski-Moir gave an invited talk on whole genome duplication in molluscs that was well-received). Our lab also hosted University of Rochester evo-devo researchers Longjun Wu and Adam Johnson for a two-day-long lab exchange where everyone gave talks and discussed research directions. Rundell Lab students themselves have also played important academic leadership roles: Osborne has spearheaded our whole-lab collaboration on the evolution of terrestriality in snails; Czekanski-Moir has developed a frontier-pushing collaboration on mollusc polyploidy with my colleagues at the University of Arizona, developed novel instructional approaches in evolutionary biology in EFB311, and engaged undergraduate students in evolutionary biology in our lab; and Bullis has helped organize the weekly Evolution Discussion Group that is well- attended by faculty, graduate and undergraduate students at ESF and Syracuse University. I am also extremely proud of the course evaluations both Ph.D. students Jesse Czekanski-Moir (Evolution) and David Bullis (Invertebrate Zoology) received this year, which are indicative of what outstanding teachers they will be in their future careers. Students rank them as their favorite TAs at ESF: knowledgeable, approachable, encouraging, and conscientious. Czekanski-Moir has also excelled in individual mentoring of undergraduates in evolutionary biology and is taking a leadership role in developing our upcoming 71
ESF International Course on the Evolution, Ecology, Biogeography, and Conservation of Invertebrates in the Republic of Palau. This course will be the first of its kind in Palau.
In addition to collaborative research with students, I was invited to give seminars this year at the University of Rochester (faculty and graduate students in the Dept. of Biology), and Utica College (Asa Gray Biological Society Seminar Series). Discussions with evolutionary biologists at the University of Rochester were particularly rewarding, and I also had the opportunity to tour their extensive collections of vertebrate specimens originally from Ward’s, including narwhal tusks and an articulated gorilla skeleton. This year I also strengthened a collaboration with Island Conservation (IC), which is planning rat eradications on several islands in Belau (Republic of Palau, Oceania). Because past research has shown that not just birds, but invertebrates might benefit from rat removal, I worked with IC to ensure the collection of baseline data for the first island of Ngeanges, arranging logistics and equipment here at ESF and communicating with colleagues in Belau to implement the work. We are now sorting through the specimens obtained. This is a large-scale field experiment that stands to inform conservation of some of the most endangered animals on Earth, particularly endemic partulid tree snails and helicarionids. While at the Bishop Museum as Visiting Researcher, I also engaged IC staff (including my Ph.D. student David Bullis) in a meeting to discuss future research and conservation management directions between our groups and involving land snails more generally. I have also continued by role as Associate Editor for the journal Malacologia and have been invited by the editor to contribute to the new environmental news site The Revelator (Center for Biological Diversity). I continue several writing projects on the conservation and evolution of Pacific island land snails that will accelerate into the summer.
Kimberly L. Schulz Students: This year I overhauled my 6 guest lectures in Diversity of Life and believe the changes were well-received. I continued to develop video and other demonstration exercises for the Limnology class, and developed several new activities for the Limnology Practicum. We continued and expanded our partnership with a local lake association to provide opportunities for interested students to develop their independent projects on questions of interest to the homeowners. John Stella and I overhauled the graduate level Managing and Archiving Research Data course after Jess Clemon’s departure. I also worked with Ann Moore and others in Environmental Science to help undergraduates develop capstone projects around Owasco Lake and worked with agency personnel to help make these experiences relevant and sustainable in the future.
Department/College: I worked with Greg McGee to continue assessment efforts as head of the CCAC, co- ordinated the large Marine Science Minor and represented EFB in the Water resources minor. I also served on the Ecotoxicology search committee, and participated in several of the GPAC (Graduate Committee) discussions. At the college level I participated on the Capital Planning Board and the search committee to hire the new Vice President of Research. I have nearly completed the outstanding to do list for remaining CIRTAS issues.
Self Professionally: In the second year my own lab was available for use after the flooding and roof project, I again submitted a number of small grants for work on invasive species, harmful algal blooms, climate change and other issues, with several local grants funded successfully and more submitted. My current graduate students are nearing completion and we are submitting manuscripts from their dissertations, one of which (first authored by Brainard) was published earlier this year and is already receiving a number of citations. It is rewarding to see their projects coming to completion so successfully. I worked on establishing some new longer-term collaborations that I will be following up in the coming year.
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Stephen A. Teale In October, I was pleased and honored to be offered an adjunct faculty position in the Department of Forest Protection, Nanjing Forestry University. I have been collaborating with faculty at NFU since 2013 and look forward to further strengthening our mutually beneficial relationship. PhD student Laura Hansen received an award from the NSF East Asia and Pacific Summer Institute (EAPSI) Program to support her dissertation research on semiochemical interactions between the Asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis, and its co-occurring sister species, A. chinensis. Ruixu Chen, a PhD student at NFU, joined my lab in April as a Visiting Scholar for one year and will be conducting research on the chemical ecology of longhorned beetles and other forest insects. In September, post doc Dr. Dong Cha left ESF for a position as a Research Biologist with the USDA-ARS in Hilo, HI where among other things, he supervises two former students from my lab, Max Collignon and Dominick Skabeikis. PhD student Alejandro Mieles received the Gerald N. Lanier Award to support travel to the Annual Meeting of the International Society of Chemical Ecology in Kyoto in August where he will present his work on the chemical ecology of Philornis downsi, an invasive parasite of Darwin’s finches and other land birds.
J. Scott Turner 1 EFB 200 Physics of Life was offered for the eightth time. Its enrollment continues to be strong. Last July, I offered an online version of the course during Summer Session 2. This was the second time. 2 EFB 462 Animal Physiology continued to be offered as a fully online course, in Fall and in Summer Session 1. Enrollment continues to be strong. Production for Animal Physiology Online continues. I am also offering the course on udemy.com. 3 My research project funded by the Human Frontiers Science Program (HFSP) came to an end in December 2016. We continue to write up the work for publication. 4 I am a subcontracting scientist on a grant from the National Institutes of Health awarded to Drs Justin Werfel and Radhika Nagpal of Harvard University. The project explores the behavioral interactions between termites and soils, with the goal of being able to program semi-autonomous robot swarms to do construction. This project supports my post-doc, Paul Bardunias. He organized a symposium at last year’ annual meeting of the Entomological Society of America, to which I contributed. 5 My term as a subcontracting scientist on a grant from the National Science Foundation awarded to Dr Andrea Surovek of the South Dakota School of Mines ended with the end of the funded term of the project. This project ws concerned with mechanical engineering of termite inspired structures. My role is to serve as a scientific advisor and to aid in the development of international research experiences for undergraduates. 6 My hybrid online/field course, Biophysical Field Methods (in collaboration with Prof Berry Pinshow [Ben-Gurion University of the Negev], Dr Eugene Marais [National Museum of Namibia] and Dr Gillian Maggs-Kölling [Gobabeb Desert Research and Training Centre, Namibia]) was offered for the second time in Spring 2017. One student from ESF has completed the online portion and will join ten other students from Israel, Namibia and South Africa this summer at Gobabeb for the field component of the course. 7 My term as Chair of the Academic Governance Standing Committee on Technology ended in August 2016. I served as a member until the end of December 2016. My term on the Executive Committee also ended. 8 I was heavily engaged in production of my third book, Purpose and Desire, scheduled to be released 73
on 12 September 2017. 9 I was part of a working group on biomimicry, which began with a series of meetings at Huntington Wildlife Station, and continued with a workshop event that brought many of the world’s leaders in biomimicry to ESF to discuss how to develop ESF as a center of biomimicry studies. I was appointed as chair of a Presidential Advisory Group charged with developing an undergraduate degree in biomimicry at the College. 10 From January 2017, I have been on sabbatical leave. Six weeks were spent at the Gobabeb Desert Research and Training Centre in Namibia, helping to develop their research theme, Life in the Transients, by carrying out experiments on a variety of species. I also shot footage for the short course on Paleoclimates with Dr Eugene Marais. From mid-March, I have been a resident fellow at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS) in South Africa, where I have been working on production for Purpose and Desire, writing on the subject of evolution as cognition and developing the Life in the Transients theme with the Gobabeb Desert Research Centre. From mid- June to mid-July, I will return to Gobabeb to teach the field course in Biophyical Field Methods, and continue development of Paleoclimates. In mid-July, I will return to STIAS as a resident fellow until the end of August, when I return to ESF. Alexander Weir Students: This past year I taught an overseas course (EFB-500 Natural History and Nature Conservation in Ireland) with the usual enrollment of 8 students, and also helped coordinate a second overseas course (EFB-500 Fungi of Bolivia) led by my grad student Patty Kaishian. This latter course took place over winter break, and had an enrollment of 12 students. I was absent for the fall semester (sabbatical leave) and did not teach my regular EFB 440/640 Mycology class. During the spring semester (2017) I again taught an EFB-496/796 Biology of Lichens (9 students) and contributed to EFB-211 Diversity of Life II. I also accepted one additional graduate student, Ben Zink (MS) who will be working on the ultrastructure of Laboulbeniales.
Department/College: I have continued to oversee digitization of our important mycological collections at the college. This work has been funded by NSF and will continue until March 2018. To date we have digitized more than 11,000 items. This coming fall semester I will have 6 undergraduates helping with this project with the goal of completing documentation of 18,000 specimens by the end of the project. I have also continued in my role as curator of the Plant and Fungal Herbaria at ESF and have facilitated both loans and scientific visits to the collections. This past spring we had 2 researchers from Cornell University who studied our impressive collections of mostly North American lichens. I also contributed to ongoing efforts to remount damaged vascular plant specimens in the Plant Herbarium. I have also participated in the Cranberry Lake Biological Station Advisory Committee, worked with an undergraduate student and ESF Library staff on digitizing CLBS photographs in the College archives, and taught the mycology section of EFB 202 at the Station during May 2017.
Self Professionally: During the fall semester 2016 I took my second sabbatical leave since my arrival at ESF in January 1999. During the sabbatical leave I completed work on three manuscripts (see Publications) and I am at an advanced stage on a fourth manuscript that I hope to complete this summer. One of the submitted manuscripts (Molecular phylogeny of the Laboulbeniomycetes) is a culmination of more than 15 years of work and is the first higher-level phylogeny of this group of fungi based on molecular datasets. I also began work on an outline for a potential textbook for our required Diversity of Life (EFB 210, 211) sequence. I have focused my efforts on a detailed chapter on fungal diversity that could be used as a blueprint for contributions by other teachers in the class. The sabbatical leave also afforded me the opportunity to network with colleagues in Europe on initiatives regarding the conservation of fungi. In addition, I spent time documenting, photographing, and experimenting with lichens and have incorporated much of this activity into the EFB-496/796 Biology of Lichens class that I 74
taught this past spring semester. Finally, I also took the opportunity to co-lead a fungus walk for the general public and was interviewed on foraging of wild mushrooms for an article that appeared in an Irish national newspaper, the Irish Examiner. The final activity outlined in my sabbatical proposal was to co- lead a week-long workshop on insect-associated fungi in Costa Rica. Unfortunately, this was cancelled by the University of Costa Rica and has been re-scheduled for January 2018.
Christopher M. Whipps Students: In Parasitology (EFB453) this year, I incorporated student presentations into the course. This required a multi-step lead up where students gathered research, wrote a summary, outlined a talk, ran through the talk with me, and then presented. Having this be somewhat iterative, I think the students got a lot out of it, and the presentations were fairly well polished when delivered, which was good for the audience too! In EFB103, I continued to use and develop in-class case studies and group work, in addition to using clicker response cards. It does take additional preparation time, but I have found that student engagement has improved with these approaches, and I will continue to explore these and other tools for teaching in a large class (180 this year). In my lab, with the assistance of my grad students and technician, I mentored 4 undergraduate students; two of whom were working on honors theses. I advise students in several majors, but mostly ENB and BTC, and several of these students have pre-health aspirations (e.g., medical or veterinary school). As part of this, I help students set up and oversee various internships and research experiences, either on campus or off. I enjoy hearing about these from the students and the advisors around the country. I am also a CSTEP mentor to 2 students. I am pleased to see the progress that I have from my graduate students, with 2 MPS students finishing their programs, and continued productivity from current and former students (5 of the peer reviewed papers listed in this annual report are directly from the work of these students). In support of both grads and undergrads, I wrote more than 30 reference letters for current and former students applying to various scholarships, jobs, and graduate programs.
Department/College: I have been chair of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) for almost 6 years now, and this past year saw some major changes. Due to new requirements of NSF (and to be compliant with NIH), ESF needed to obtain a Public Health Service Animal Assurance. This was a major effort requiring me to write an entire program for ESF based on templates from Upstate. We also needed to develop an approved Occupational Health program for all animal work. Working with John Wasiel, we wrote up the program and worked with a physician to develop this program. These new requirements have added to the paperwork burden greatly, but overall I now consider our animal care program excellent. The committee is currently overseeing 24 protocols and we have 2 in review. At the SUNY level, I direct the Center for Applied Microbiology, and we are currently looking to develop some key areas for grants and development in the coming years. For example, there are several researchers at ESF working on aspects of ticks and Lyme disease. Given the public interest, this could be an area where the breadth of research at ESF is an incredible asset.
Self: I was very honored to be invited as a speaker to 2 international meetings this year, in Switzerland and Belgium. The meeting in Switzerland was on zebrafish, and I was asked to give an overview of diseases in these important laboratory fish, and how diseases can be controlled. The talk went over well, and I now have several new contacts there, and I was able to help a couple of researchers right away. The meeting in Belgium was a workshop for developing a global database of marine parasites. It was a small group (approximately 20 people) from all over the world (e.g., Australia, England, Czech Republic, Mexico, etc.), each of us representing different parasite groups in which we are considered experts. It was very productive, and we have a goal of launching this global database in the next few years. I continue to enjoy my role as Associate Editor for the Journal of Parasitology, and as I focus on more editorial assignments (15 this year), I have scaled back my other peer review activities (from 16 last year, down to 10 this year). And of course it is difficult to separate the ‘self’ from the other aspects above, so I am glad to see success in my grad and undergrad student mentees, success of colleagues and collaborators, 75
effective teaching methods coming together, programs that I helped develop play a role in the success of others at ESF, etc.
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Appendix C. Faculty Publications (published or in press; papers in review or accepted and waiting revision not included)
Books Leopold, D.J. and L.J. Musselman. Wildflowers of the Adirondacks. Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, MD (in press) Lomolino, M. F. 2017. Biogeography, 5th edition. Sinauer Associates (in press). Turner, J. S. Purpose and Desire. Biology's Second Law. New York, HarperOne (in press).
Refereed Publications
John D. Castello Cale, J.A., Garrison-Johnston, M.T., Teale, S.A., and Castello, J.D. 2017. Beech bark disease in North America: Over a century of research revisited. Forest Ecol. And Manag. 394:86-103.
Jonathan B. Cohen Cohen JB, Hecht A, Robinson KF, Osnas EE, Tyre AJ, Davis C, Kocek A, Maslo B, Melvin S. To exclose nests or not: structured decision making for the conservation of a threatened species. Ecosphere 7:E01499. Johnson BD, Gibbs JP, Shoemaker KT, Cohen JB. 2016. Demography of a small and isolated population of eastern Massasauga rattlesnakes (Sistrurus catenatus) threatened by vegetative succession. Journal of Herpetology 50:534-540. Ryan SJ, Gavard EJ, Cheeseman AM, Cohen JB, Whipps CM. 2016. Reference and baseline hematocrit measures for the threatened New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis) and comparison with sympatric Eastern cottontail (Sylvliagus floridanus) rabbits. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 47:659-662. Peach MA, Cohen JB, Frair JL. A single visit, dynamic occupancy model: an approach to account for imperfect detection with Atlas data. Journal of Applied Ecology. In press. Althouse MA, Cohen JB, Spendelow JA, Karpanty SM, Davis KL, Parsons KC, Luttazi CF. Quantifying researcher effects on staging terns during intensive monitoring. Waterbirds. 39:417-421. Leuenberger W, McNeil DJ, Cohen J, Larkin JL. Vegetation characteristics of golden-winged warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) territories in post-forest fire and post-agricultural communities. Journal of Field Ornithology. In press. Ruskin KJ, Etterson MA, Hodgman TP, Borowske A, Cohen JB, Elphick C, Field CR, Kern RA, King E, Kocek AR, Kovach AI, O’ Brien KM, Pau N, Shriver WG, Walsh J, Olsen BJ. In review. Seasonal fecundity is not related to geographic position across a species’ global range despite a central peak in abundance. Oecologia. 183:391-201. Fuda RK, Ryan SJ, Cohen JB, Hartter J, Frair JL. Assessing impacts to primary productivity at the human-park interface in Murchison Falls Conservation Area, Uganda. Ecosphere 7:E01486. Stantial ML, JB Cohen, AJ Darrah, KE Iaquinto, PH Loring, PWC Paton. Radio transmitters did not affect daily nest and chick survival of Piping Plovers (Charadrius melodus). Wilson Journal of Ornithology. In press.
Stewart A.W. Diemont Law, E.P., S.A.W. Diemont, T. Toland, 2017. A sustainability comparison of green infrastructure interventions using emergy evaluation. Journal of Cleaner Production 145: 374–385. Hamberg, L.J., S. Findlay, K.E. Limburg, S.A.W. Diemont, 2017. Herbivory and post-storm sediment burial as mechanisms of loss for Vallisneria americana in the Hudson River. Restoration Ecology doi:10.1111/rec.12477.
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Martin Dovciak Wason JW*, Dovciak M. 2017. Tree demography suggests multiple directions and drivers for species range shifts in mountains of Northeastern United States. Global Change Biology, doi:10.1111/gcb.13584 (in press). Wason JW*, Bevilacqua E, Dovciak M. 201x. Climates on the move: Implications of climate warming for species distributions in mountains of the northeastern United States. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology (accepted). Wason JW*, Dovciak M, Beier CM, Battles JJ. 2017. Tree growth is more sensitive than species distributions to recent changes in climate and acidic deposition in the northeastern United States. Journal of Applied Ecology, doi:10.1111/1365-2664.12899 (in press). Jaloviar P, Saniga M, Kucbel S, Pittner J, Vencurik J, Dovciak M. 2017. Seven decades of change in a European old-growth forest following a stand-replacing wind disturbance: A long-term case study. Forest Ecology and Management 399:197-205. DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2017.05.036 (in press). Wiezik M, Gallay I, Wiezikova A, Ciliak M, Dovciak M. 2017. Spatial structure of traditional land organization allows long-term persistence of large Formica exsecta supercolony in actively managed agricultural landscape. Journal of Insect Conservation, DOI: 10.1007/s10841-017-9973-3 (in press). Alvarez-Yepiz JC*, Burquez A, Martinez-Yrizar A, Teece M, Yepez EA, Dovciak M. 2017. Resource partitioning by evergreen and deciduous species in a tropical dry forest. Oecologia 183: 607-618 (published). Raney PA, Leopold DJ, Dovciak M, Beier C. 2016. Hydrologic position mediates sensitivity of tree growth to climate: Groundwater subsidies provide a thermal buffer effect in wetlands. Forest Ecology and Management 379, 70–80 (published).
John M. Farrell Gunderson, M. D., K. L. Kapuscinski, D. P. Crane, and J. M. Farrell. 2016. Rapid colonization of the Niagara River by non-native flowering rush Butomus umbellatus (Linnaeus, 1753). Aquatic Invasions Volume 11, Issue 4: 369–380. Crane, D. P., and J. M. Farrell. 2017. Trends in body condition of smallmouth bass and northern pike (1982-2013) following multiple ecological perturbations in the St. Lawrence River. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 10.1139/cjfas-2016-0160. Farrell, J. M., R. G. Getchell, K. L. Kapuscinski, and S. R. LaPan. In press. Long-term Trends of St. Lawrence River Muskellunge: Effects of Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia and Round Goby Proliferation Creates Uncertainty for Population Sustainability. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 85. Casselman, J. M., T. Lusk, J. M. Farrell, and C. Lake. In press. Die-Off of Muskellunge in the Upper St. Lawrence River Caused by Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia, 2005–2008. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 85 (Extended abstract). Gallagher, A., P. Szekeres. S. Cooke, and J. M. Farrell, In press. Tracking Young-of-Year Northern Pike and Muskellunge: Monitoring Behavior and Habitat Use During Fall Outmigration from Nursery Sites. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 85(Extended abstract). Hanchin , P., B. L. Sloss and K. Turnquist, K.L. Kapuscinski J.M. Farrell and L.. Miller. In press. Brood Source Identification and the Effects of Supplementation on Muskellunge in the Great Lakes. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 85. (Extended abstract). Leblanc, J. P., B. L. Brown, J. M. Farrell. In press. Increased Walleye Sander vitreus Egg-to-Larvae survival following spawning habitat enhancement in a tributary of Eastern Lake Ontario. North American Journal of Fisheries Management. Lewis, C., J. M. Farrell, K. l. Sams, E. R. Cornwell, R. G. Getchell. In press. A Comparison of Virulence of Four Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia Virus IVb Strains in Muskellunge. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 85. Miller, L. M., J. M. Farrell , K. L. Kapuscinski, K. Scribner, B. L. Sloss, K. Turnquist, C. C. Wilson. In press. A Review of Muskellunge Population Genetics: Implications for Management and Future 78
Research Needs. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 85. Turnquist, K. N., W. A. Larson, J. M. Farrell, P. A. Hanchin, K. L. Kapuscinski, L. M. Miller, K. T. Scribner. In press Spatial Genetic Structure of Muskellunge in the Great Lakes Region and the Effects of Supplementation on Genetic Integrity of Remnant Stocks. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 85 (Extended abstract). Turnquist; K. N., Wesley L., J. M Farrell, P. A. Hanchin, K. L.Kapuscinski; L. M. Miller; K.T Scribner; C. C. Wilson, and B. L. Sloss. In press. Genetic structure of muskellunge in the Great Lakes region and the effects of supplementation on genetic integrity of wild populations. Journal of Great Lakes Research.
Shannon L. Farrell Marshall, M., A.M. Long, M.L. Morrison, K.B. Hays, and S.L. Farrell. 2017. Responses of a federally endangered songbird to understory thinning in oak-juniper woodlands Environmental Management 59:684-692.
Danilo D. Fernando Bouchard JR, Fernando DD, Bailey SW, Weber-Townsend J and Leopold DJ. Contrasting Patterns of Genetic Variation in Central and Peripheral Populations of Dryopteris fragrans (fragrant wood fern), and Implications for Colonization Dynamics and Conservation. International Journal of Plant Science (in press).
Melissa K. Fierke M. Parisio, J.R. Gould, J.D. Vandenberg, L. Bauer, M.K. Fierke. 2017. Evaluation of Recovery and Monitoring Methods for Parasitoids Released Against Emerald Ash Borer. Biological Control. 106:45-53. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2016.12.009 M.I. Jones, J. Gould, M.K. Fierke. 2017. Mortality of overwintering emerald ash borer associated with an extreme cold event in New York State. Canadian Entomologist. In press.
Jacqueline L. Frair Peach, M., Cohen, J., and Frair, J. (in press) Single-visit dynamic occupancy models: an approach to account for imperfect detection with Atlas data. Journal of Applied Ecology. Bastille-Rouseau, G., Yackulic, C.B., Frair, J.L., Crebrea, F., Rousseau, L.-P., Wikelski, M., Keummeth, F. and Blake, S. (2017) Animal movement in the absence of predation: environmental drivers of movement strategies in a partial migration system. Oikos online early (doi: 10.1111/oik.03928). Tortato, F., Devlin, A., Hoogensteijn, R., May, J., Frair, J., Crawshaw, P., Izzo, T. and Quigley, H. (2017) Infanticide in a jaguar (Panthera onca) population – does the provision of livestock carcasses increase the risk? Acta Ethologica, 20(1):69-73. Petracca, L. and Frair, J. (2017) When methodological flaws limit inference: A response to Caruso et al. (2016). Oryx, 51(2):208. Fuda, R.K., Ryan, S.J., Cohen, J.B., Hartter, J., and Frair, J.L. (2016) Assessing impacts to primary productivity at the park edge in Murchison Falls Conservation Area, Uganda. Ecosphere 7:e01486. Bastille-Rousseau, G., Yackulic, C., Frair, J., Cabrera, F., and Blake, S. (2016) Allometric and temporal scaling of movement characteristics in Galapagos tortoises. Journal of Animal Ecology 85:1171- 1181. Bastille-Rousseau, G., Potts, J., Yackulic, C., Frair, J., Ellington, E.H., and Blake, S. (2016) Flexible characterization of animal movement pattern using net squared displacement and a latent state model. Movement Ecology, 4:15. R package available at: https://github.com/BastilleRousseau/lsmnsd
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James P. Gibbs Bastille-Rousseau, Guillaume, James P. Gibbs, Karl Campbell, Charles B. Yackulic, and Stephen Blake. Ecosystem implications of conserving endemic versus eradicating introduced large herbivores in the Galapagos Archipelago. Biological Conservation 209 (2017): 1-10. Chestin, Igor E., Mikhail Yu Paltsyn, Olga B. Pereladova, Liza V. Iegorova, and James P. Gibbs. Tiger re-establishment potential to former Caspian tiger (Panthera tigris virgata) range in Central Asia. Biological Conservation 205 (2017): 42-51. Cosentino, Bradley J., Jean-David Moore, Nancy E. Karraker, Martin Ouellet and James P. Gibbs. In press. Climate and land use interact to shape geographic variation in a genetically based trait, Ecology and Evolution. Gibbs, James P., Shahrokh Rouhani, and Leyla Shams. Frog and Toad Habitat Occupancy across a Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) Contamination Gradient. Journal of Herpetology 51, no. 2 (2017): 209-214 Gibbs, James P., Shahrokh Rouhani, and Leyla Shams. Population status of freshwater turtles across a PCB contamination gradient. Aquatic Biology 26 (2017): 57-68. Gibbs, James P., Shahrokh Rouhani, and Leyla Shams. Scale-dependence in polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) exposure effects on waterbird habitat occupancy. Ecotoxicology (2017): 1-10. Johnson, Brent D., James P. Gibbs, Kevin T. Shoemaker, and Jonathan B. Cohen. Demography of a Small and Isolated Population of Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnakes (Sistrurus catenatus) Threatened by Vegetative Succession. Journal of Herpetology 50, no. 4 (2016): 534-540. Johnson, Brent D., James P. Gibbs, Thomas A. Bell, and Kevin T. Shoemaker. Manipulation of basking sites for endangered eastern massasauga rattlesnakes. The Journal of Wildlife Management 80, no. 5 (2016): 803-811. Paltsyn, Mikhail Yu., James P. Gibbs, Liza Yegorova, and Giorgos Mountrakis. In press. Estimation and prediction of grassland cover in western Mongolia using MODIS-derived vegetation indices. Rangeland Ecology & Management
Thomas R. Horton Horton TR (in press) Spore dispersal in ectomycorrhizal fungi at fine and regional scales. In: Tedersoo L, ed. Biogeography of mycorrhizal symbiosis. Dordrecht: Springer. ISBN: 9783319563626
Robin W. Kimmerer Fleischner, T.L., R.E. Espinoza, G. Gerrish, H.W. Greene, R.W. Kimmerer, E.A. Lacey, S. Pace, J.K. Parrish, H. Swain, S. Trombulak, S. Weisberg, D.W. Winkler, and L. Zander. 2017. Teaching biology in the field: Importance, challenges, and solutions. BioScience DOI 10.1093/biosci/bix036. BioScience 67 (6): 558-567.
Donald J. Leopold Raney, P.A, D.J. Leopold, M. Dovciak, and C.M. Beier. 2016. Hydrologic position mediates sensitivity of tree growth to climate: groundwater subsidies provide a thermal buffer effect in wetlands. Forest Ecology and Management 379:70-80. Mattingly, K.Z. and D.J. Leopold. Habitat indicators of a federally listed glacial relict plant species restricted to cliffs in the northern U.S. Natural Areas Journal (in press). Bouchard J.R., D.D. Fernando, S.B. Bailey, J. Weber-Townsend and D.J. Leopold. Contrasting patterns of genetic variation in central and peripheral populations of Dryopteris fragrans (fragrant wood fern) and implications for colonization dynamics and conservation. International Journal of Plant Science (in press).
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Karin E. Limburg Hamberg, L.J., S.E.G. Findlay, K.E. Limburg, and S.A.W. Diemont. 2017. Post storm sediment burial and herbivory of Vallisneria americana in the Hudson River estuary: Mechanisms of loss and implications for restoration. Restoration Ecology (online Early View). Hermann, T.W., D.J. Stewart, K.E. Limburg, and L. Castello. 2016. Unravelling the life-history of Amazonian fishes through otolith microchemistry. Royal Society Open Science 3: 160206. DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160206. Huang, R. K.E. Limburg, and M. Rohtla.(in press) Quantitative X-ray fluorescence computed tomography for low-Z samples using an iterative absorption correction algorithm. AIP Advances (in press). Limburg, K.E., and S.M. Turner. 2016. How common is “non-textbook” migration in Hudson River blueback herring? Estuaries and Coasts 39: 1262-1270. Limburg, K.E., and M. Elfman. 2017. Insights from two-dimensional mapping of otolith chemistry. Journal of Fish Biology 90: 480-491. DOI:10.1111/jfb.13048. Pine, W., K. Limburg, B. Gerig, C. Finch, D. Chagaris, L. Coggins, D. Speas, and D. Hendrickson. 2017. Growth of endangered humpback chub in relation to temperature and discharge in the lower Colorado River. Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (online Early View). Walther, B.D., K.E. Limburg, C.M. Jones, and J.J. Schaffler. 2017. Editorial: Frontiers in otolith chemistry: insights, advances and applications. Journal of Fish Biology 90: 473-479.
Mark V. Lomolino Negoita, L., J. D. Fridley, M. V. Lomolino, G. Mittelhauser, J. M. Craine, and E. Weiher, 2016. Isolation-driven functional assembly of plant communities on islands. Ecography (in press) Lomolino, M.V. 2016. The fundamental, unifying principles of biogeography. Frontiers of Biogeography 8.2, e29920 van der Geer, A. A., M. V. Lomolino and G. Lyras. 2016. Island life before man. Journal of Biogeography (in press) doi:10.111/jbi.12857
Gregory G. McGee Hassett, M.R. and G.G. McGee. In press. Negative binomial hurdle models to estimate flower production for native and non-native northeastern shrub taxa. Forest Science. Griffiths, G.R. and G.G. McGee. In press. Lack of herbaceous layer community recovery in post- agricultural forsts across three physiographic regions of New York. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society.
Lee A. Newman Noori, A., J.C. White, L.A. Newman. 2017. Mycorrhizal fungi influence on silver uptake and membrane protein gene expression following silver nanoparticle exposure. Journal of Nanoparticle Research. Nanopart Res (2017) 19: 66. doi:10.1007/s11051-016-3650-4.
Dylan Parry Thompson, L.M., Faske, T.M., Banahene, N., Grim, D., Agosta, S.J., Parry, D., Tobin, P.C., Johnson, D.M. and Grayson, K.L., 2017. Variation in growth and developmental responses to supraoptimal temperatures near latitudinal range limits of gypsy moth Lymantria dispar (L.), an expanding invasive species. Physiological Entomology 42: 181-190. Tobin, P.C., Cremers, K.T., Hunt, L. and Parry, D., 2016. All quiet on the western front? Using phenological inference to detect the presence of a latent gypsy moth invasion in Northern Minnesota. Biological Invasions 18: 3561-3573.
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William A. Powell Steiner, Kim C., Jared W. Westbrook, Fredrick V. Hebard, Laura L. Georgi, William A. Powell, Sara F. Fitzsimmons. 2017. Rescue of American chestnut with extra-specific genes following its destruction by a naturalized pathogen. New Forests. 48:317-336 Oakes, Allison D., Tyler R. Desmarais, William A. Powell, Charles A. Maynard. 2016. "Ex vitro rooting of American chestnut improves acclimatization survival and plantlet quality". Journal of Environmental Horticulture. 34:75-79. Chen, Shuangshuang, Yu Xing, Teng Wang, Qing Zhang, Wenya Yu, Kefeng Fang, Andrew E. Newhouse, Linda D. McGuigan, Kristen Russell Stewart, Charles A. Maynard, William A. Powell. 2016. Ectomycorrhizae symbiosis in Castanea mollissima improves phosphate acquisition through activating gene expression and H+ efflux. Scientia Horticulturae, 210: 99–107.
Neil H. Ringler Johnson, J.H. and N.H. Ringler. 2016. Comparative diets of subyearling Atlantic Salmon and subyearling Coho Salmon in Lake Ontario Tributaries. J. Great Lakes Research 42:854-860. Kirby, L.J., S.L. Johnson and N.H. Ringler. 2017. Diel movement and home range estimation of Walleye (Sander vitreus) within a no-take urban fishery. Journal of Freshwater Ecology. 32(1): 49-64. Kroll, S.A., N.H. Ringler, M.C. Cano Costa, and J. Delas Heras. 2017. Aquatic insects on the front lines: projected community response to temperature and precipitation changes in Mediterranean streams. J. Freshwater Ecology (In Press).
Kimberly L. Schulz Brainard, A.S. and K.L. Schulz. 2017. Impacts of the cryptic macroalgal invader, Nitellopsis obtuse, on macrophyte communities. Freshwater Science 36(1): 55-62. DOI: 10.1086/689676.
Donald J. Stewart Watson, L.C., D.J. Stewart, and A.M. Kretzer. 2016. Genetic diversity and population structure of the threatened giant Arapaima in Southwestern Guyana: Implications for their conservation. Copeia 104(4): 864-872.
Stephen A. Teale Cale, JA, MT Garrison-Johnston, SA Teale, JD Castello. 2017. Beech bark disease in North America: Over a century of research revisited. Forest Ecology and Management 394: 86-103 Cimadom, A, C Causton, DH Cha, D Damiens, B Fessl, R Hood-Novotny, P Lincango, AE Mieles, E Nemeth, E Semler, SA Teale, S Tebbich. 2016. Darwin's finches treat their feathers with a natural repellent. Scientific Reports. 6, Article number: 34559 doi:10.1038/srep34559 Cha, DH, AE Mieles, PF Lahuatte, A Cahuana, MP Lincango, CE Causton, S Tebbich, A Cimadom, SA Teale. 2016. Identification and Optimization of Microbial Attractants for Philornis downsi, an Invasive Fly Parasitic on Galapagos Birds. J. Chem. Ecol. 42(11):1101-1111.
J. Scott Turner Green, Ben, Paul Bardunias, Scott Turner, Radhika Nagpal and Justin Werfel. (in press). Excavation and aggregation as organizing factors in de novo construction by mound-building termites. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Adams, A. M., E. Marais, Turner, J. Scott, Prendini, Lorenzo, Pinshow, Berry. Similar burrow architecture of three arid-zone scorpion species implies similar ecological function. The Science of Nature 103(7): 56-67. Petersen, K, Paul Bardunias, Nils Napp, Justin Werfel, Radhika Nagpal, and Scott Turner. 2015. Arrestant property of recently manipulated soil on Macrotermes michaelseni as determined through visual tracking and automatic labeling of individual termite behaviors.Behavioral Processes 116:8-11.
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Alex Weir Weir, A. (in press – due to be published in 2017). Laboulbeniomyces. Encyclopedia of Life Sciences (eLs) John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Chichester, UK. Editor for Microbiology Prof. Gregg S. Pettis, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA.
Christopher M. Whipps Chang, C.T., Doerr, K.M., Whipps, C.M. (In Press) Antibiotic treatment of zebrafish mycobacteriosis: tolerance and efficacy of treatments with tigecycline and clarithromycin. Journal of Fish Diseases. Alger, K.E., Bunting, E., Schuler, K., Whipps, C.M. (In Press) Risk factors and spatial distribution of Lymphoproliferative Disease Virus (LPDV) in wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) in New York State. Journal of Wildlife Diseases. Youker-Smith, T.E., Whipps, C.M., Ryan, S.J. (2016) Detection of an FV3-like Ranavirus in Wood Frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus) and Green Frogs (Lithobates clamitans) in a Constructed Vernal Pool Network in Central New York State. Herpetological Review. 47(4): 595-598. Ryan, S.J., Gavard, E.J., Cheeseman, A.M., Cohen, J.B., Whipps, C.M. (2016). Reference and baseline hematocrit measures for the threatened New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis). Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine. 47(2): 659-662. Chang, C.T., Amack, J.D., Whipps, C.M. 2016. Zebrafish embryo disinfection with povidone iodine: evaluating an alternative to chlorine bleach. Zebrafish. 13 (Suppl 1): S96-S101. Mason, T., Snell, K., Mittge, E., Melancon, E., Montgomery, R., McFadden, M., Camoriano, J., Kent, M.L., Whipps, C.M., Peirce, J. 2016. Strategies to Mitigate a Mycobacterium marinum outbreak in a Zebrafish Research Facility. Zebrafish. 13 (Suppl. 1): S77-S87. Zhai, Y., Whipps, C.M., Gu, Z., Guo, Q., Wu, Z., Wang, H., Liu, Y. 2016. Intraspecific morphometric variation in myxosporeans. Folia Parasitol (Praha). 63:1-7 83
Appendix D. Papers Submitted, In Review, Accepted and Waiting Revision, and Pending Decision
Jonathan B. Cohen Cohen JB, Maddock S, Bimbi M, Golder W, LeDee O, Cuthbert FJ, Catlin D, Fraser J, Gratto-Trevor C. State uncertainty models and mark-resight models for understanding nonbreeding site use by the piping plover (Charadrius melodus). Ibis. In review. Field CR, Ruskin KJ, Benvenuti B, Borowske A, Cohen JB, Garey L, Hodgman TP, Kern RA, King E, Kocek AR, Kovach AI, O’Brien KM, Olsen BJ, Pau N, Roberts S, Shelly E, Shriver G, Walsh J, Elphick CS. Quantifying the importance of geographic replication and representativeness when estimating demographic rates. Ecography. In review. Stantial ML, Cohen JB. The influence of habitat, tidal stage, temperature and breeding status on the flight behavior of breeding piping plovers (Charadrius melodus). Journal of Ornithology. In review. Darrah AJ, Cohen JB, Castelli P. A Bayesian multinomial logistic exposure model for estimating probabilities of competing sources of nest failure. Ibis. In review. Gibson D, Catlin DH, Hunt KL, Fraser JD, Karpanty SM, Friedrich MJ, Bimbi MK, Cohen JB, Maddock SB> Evaluating the impact of man-made disasters on imperiled species: Piping plovers and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Biological Conservation. In review. Klingbeil B, Cohen J, Correll M, Field C, Shriver G, Hodgman T, Kovach A, Olsen B, Wiest W, Elphick C. Using systematic conservation planning to identify a focal species for tidal marsh bird conservation in the Northeastern United States. Conservation Biology. In review. Petracca LS, Frair JL, Cohen JB, Calderon AP, Carazo-Salazar J, Salazar FC, Corrales-Gutierrez D, Foster RJ, Harmsen B, Hernandez-Potosme S, Herrera L, Olmos M, Pereira S, Robinson HS, Robinson N, Salom-Perez, Urbina Y, Zellar KA. Robust inference on large-scale species habitat use using interview data: The status of jaguars outside protected areas in Central America. Journal of Applied Ecology. In review.
Stewart A.W. Diemont Arrington, A., S.A.W. Diemont, C. Phillips, E. Welty, 2017. Demographic and landscape-level urban foraging trends in the United States derived from web and mobile app usage, Urban Ecology, accepted with minor revision, revised manuscript in review.
Martin Dovciak Alvarez-Yepiz J*, Burquez A, Martinez-Yrizar A, Dovciak M. Integrating research approaches for the conservation of the endangered cycad Dioon sonorense. Oryx—The International Journal of Conservation (submitted). Lawrence GB, McDonnell TC, Sullivan TS, Dovciak M, Bailey SW, Antidormi MR, Zarfos MR*. Acidic deposition combines with beech bark disease to influence composition and structure of sugar maple- beech forests. Ecosystems (submitted). McDonnell T, Sullivan T, Reinds GJ, Clark C, Bonten L, Mol-Dijkstra J, Wamelink W, Dovciak M. Feasibility of coupled empirical and dynamic modeling to assess climate change and air pollution impacts on temperate forest vegetation of the eastern United States. Environmental Pollution (submitted)
John M. Farrell Miano, A., and J. M. Farrell. In revision. Laboratory evaluation of spawning substrate type on potential egg predation by round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) Journal of Great Lakes Research. Farrell, J. M., C. C. Killourhy, and S. V. Stehman, resubmission. Nest Predation on Three Sympatric Centrarchids in the St. Lawrence River Following Introduction of Round Goby (Neogobius melanostomus) Journal of Great Lakes Research.
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Shannon L. Farrell Campomizzi, A. J., S. L. Farrell, K. Smith, and J. E. Groce. Assessing Potential Causes and Identifying Geographic Locations of Woodland Loss for Conservation Planning of the Endangered Golden- cheeked Warbler. New submission to Condor in review.
Danilo D. Fernando Salazar AM and Fernando DD. Isolation and Sequence Analysis of Secretory Proteins Associated with Pollen Germination in Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda). Submitted to Proteomics.
Donald J. Leopold Raney, P.A. and D.J. Leopold. Fantastic wetlands and where to find them: Modeling rich fen distribution in New York State with maxent. Wetlands (accepted).
Gregory G. McGee McGee, G.G., M.E. Cardon and D.H. Kiernan. In review. Variation in sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marshall) bark and stemflow characteristics: implications for epiphytic bryophyte communities. Northeastern Naturalist.
Lee A. Newman Noori, A, S. Taghavi, D. van der Lelie, L.A. Newman. 2017. Elucidating Mechanisms of Biopesticide Induced Plant Pathogen Resistance for Bacillus Species. Advances in Environmental Biology. Accepted.
Dylan Parry Leuenberger, W, E. Larsen, J. Leuenberger, and D. Parry. Predation on Plasticine Caterpillars: Engaging High School Students using Field-Based Experiential Learning and the Scientific Process. American Biology Teacher. Submitted.
Rebecca J. Rundell Li, Z., Reardon, C.,Kidder, T.,Rundell, R.J., and Barker, M.S. Submitted. Multiple whole genome duplications during the evolution of hexapods. PNAS [Previously submitted to Nature, Science, and Science Advances]
Donald J. Stewart Silva, E.A., and D.J. Stewart. [Accepted, pending final edits]. Reproduction, feeding and migration patterns of Prochilodus nigricans (Characiformes: Prochilodontidae) in northeastern Ecuador. Neotropical Ichthyology.
Stephen A. Teale Xu T, H Yasui, SA Teale, N Fujiwara-Tsujii, JD Wickham, M Fukaya, L Hansen, S Kiriyama, D Hao, A Nakano, L-W Zhang, T Watanabe, M Tokoro, JG Millar. (In review) Identification of a male- produced sex-aggregation pheromone for a highly invasive cerambycid beetle, Aromia bungii.
J. Scott Turner Ocko, Samuel A, Hunter King, David Andreen, Rupert Soar, J Scott Turner, L Mahadevan. (submitted). Circadian-insolation-powered ventilation of African termite mounds. Journal of Experimental Biology.
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Alex Weir Kaishian, P. and Weir, A. New species of Prolixandromyces from South America. Submitted to Mycologia and currently in review. Goldmann, L. and Weir, A. Molecular phylogeny of the Laboulbeniomycetes. Submitted to Fungal Biology and currently in review.
Christopher M. Whipps Berkman, L.K., Frair, J.L., Marquardt, P.E., Donner, D.M., Kilgo, J.C., Whipps, C.M. (In Review) Spatial analysis reveals genetic admixture among coyotes (Canis latrans) in New York State. Journal of Mammology. Gavard, E.J., Whipps, C.M., Cohen, J., Ryan, S.J. (In Review) Gastrointestinal parasites of the New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis) and eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) in the Hudson Valley, New York. Journal of Parasitology 86
Appendix E. Papers/Posters Presented at Science Meetings
Jonathan B. Cohen Peach M*, Cohen J, Frair J. Single-visit dynamic occupancy models: An approach to account for imperfect detection with Atlas data. 6th North American Ornithological Conference. Washington, DC. August 2016. Awarded best student paper. Althouse M*, Cohen J, Spendelow J, Karpanty S, Davis K, Parsons K, Luttazi C. Evaluating anthropogenic disturbances to minimize effects on staging seabirds. 6th North American Ornithological Conference. Washington, DC. August 2016. Kocek AR*, Cohen JB, Elphick C, Hodgman T, Kovach A, Olsen B, Shriver G, Benvenuti B, Borowske A, Field C, Garey L, Kern B, Roberts S, Ruskin K, Walsh J. Nest fates influence renesting characteristics in a tidal marsh sparrow. 6th North American Ornithological Conference. Washington, DC. August 2016. Darrah AJ, Cohen JB. An interactive decision support tool to predict the demographic consequences of exclosure use in U.S. Atlantic Coast Piping Plovers. 6th North American Ornithological Conference. Washington, DC. August 2016. Cohen JB, Maddock S, Bimbi M, Golder W, LeDee O, Cuthbert F, Catlin D, Fraser J, Gratto-Trevor C. State uncertainty models and mark-resight models for understanding nonbreeding site use by the piping plover (Charadrius melodus). Poster. 6th North American Ornithological Conference. Washington, DC. August 2016. Stantial ML*, Cohen JB. Understanding spatial and temporal distribution of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in piping plover nesting habitat in southern New Jersey. Poster. 6th North American Ornithological Conference. Washington, DC. August 2016. Droke J*, Cohen J, Schummer M, Stiller J. Comparison between spring migration strategies of mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) and black ducks (Anas rubripes) wintering in the Finger Lakes region. Poster. 6th North American Ornithological Conference. Washington, DC. August 2016. Bleau A*, Cohen J, Schummer M, Droke J. Comparisons of habitat selection and behaviors between mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) and American black duck (Anas rubripes) in the finger lakes region during winter. Poster. 6th North American Ornithological Conference. Washington, DC. August 2016. Davis K, Karpanty S, Spendelow J, Cohen J, Althouse M*, Parsons K, Luttazi C. Hatch year roseate tern (Sterna dougallii) behavioral responses to anthropogenic disturbances and natural events. 6th North American Ornithological Conference. Washington, DC. August 2016. Kovach A, Wash J, Cohen J, Elphick C, Hodgman T, O’Brien K, Olsen B, Shriver WG. Gene flow and adaptation in a tidal marsh specialist. 6th North American Ornithological Conference. Washington, DC. August 2016. Olsen B, Ruskin K, Longnecker R, Kocek A*, Cohen J, Elphick C, Kovach A, Shriver WG. Matryoshka niches: niche correlates of hypothesized time since colonization of a novel ecosystem. 6th North American Ornithological Conference. Washington, DC. August 2016. Ruskin K, Borowske A, Correll M, Field C, Wiest W, Cohen J, Hodgman T, Kovach A, Olsen B, Shriver WG. Abundance and demographic rates are not correlated across the global range of a species. 6th North American Ornithological Conference. Washington, DC. August 2016. Elphick C, Shriver WG, Kovach A, Cohen J, Correll M, Field C, Ruskin K, Wiest W, Hodgman T. The conservation status of tidal marsh birds in the northeastern United States. Poster. 6th North American Ornithological Conference. Washington, DC. August 2016. Klingbeil B, Cohen J, Correll M, Field C, Hodgman T, Kovach A, Olsen B, Shriver G, Wiest W, Elphick C. Trade-offs in tidal marsh bird conservation planning for northeastern North America. 3rd North American Congress for Conservation Biology. Madison, WI. July 2016.
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Stewart A.W. Diemont Diemont, S.A.W., E. Arnow, A.B. Arrington, A. Bunge, T.B. Falkowski, E.P. Law, I. Martinez, 2016. Ecological engineering for food: Succession and wild edibles. American Ecological Engineering Society 16th Annual Meeting, Knoxville, Tennessee, June 7. Bunge, A., S.A.W. Diemont, 2016. Urban foraging for food security: Quantifying edible forest yield in Syracuse, New York using five native fruit and nut tree species, Syracuse Food Justice Symposium, Syracuse, New York, November 16. Bunge, A., S.A.W. Diemont, 2017. Quantifying edible forest yield in Syracuse, New York using four common fruit and nut producing street tree species. Tufts Future of Food and Nutrition, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts, April 7.
Martin Dovciak Dovciak M‡, Wason J*, Lesser M, Hurst J, Frair J. 2017. Climate and other drivers of forest understory plant richness and composition in the Adirondacks and New York State. Adirondack Research Forum, Old Forge, New York, March 1. Dovciak M‡, Wason J*, Lesser M, Hurst J, Frair J. 2016. Warming climate may negatively affect native forest understory plant richness and composition by increasing invasions of non-native plants. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA, Dec. 12-16. Dovciak M‡, Wason J*, Lesser M, Hurst J, Frair J. 2016. Ecological drivers of native and non-native forest plant species diversity and composition in New York State. Ecological Society of America, Annual Meeting, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Aug. 7-12. Whalen M‡*, Dovciak M, Lawrence G, McDonnell T, Sullivan T. 2017. Exploring legacy effects of acid deposition on northern hardwood understory plant community dynamics. Adirondack Research Forum, Old Forge, New York, March 1. Lawrence GB‡, Sullivan TJ, McDonnell TC, Bailey SW, Dovciak M, Antidormi MR. 2016. Influence of soil-base availability on composition and structure of Adirondack, NY, sugar maple-beech forests. Soil Science Society of America Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ, Nov. 6-9. Sullivan T‡, McDonnell T, Beier C, Belyazid S, Burns D, Clark C, Cosby B, Dovciak M, Driscoll C, Jackson W, Lawrence G, Reinds G, Sams C, Shao S, Whalen M*. 2016. Ecosystem recovery from S and N deposition and associated critical loads in context of changing climate. NAPD Fall Meeting, Santa Fe, NM. Oct. 31- Nov. 4. Nowak C‡, Quant J, Dovciak M. 2016. Human-based spread of invasive plants from powerline corridors in New York State. Invited paper presented at the Annual Utility Arborist Association New York Fall Regional Meeting, Liverpool, NY. Oct. 13. * graduate student advisee; ‡ presenter
John M. Farrell Farrell, J. M. 2016. St. Lawrence River Fisheries Long-Term Research in a Changing Environment. Great Lakes Fishery Commission Lake Ontario Unit Meeting (Invited). Watertown, NY. Farrell , J. M., J. P. Leblanc, N. Satre, A. J. Miano , R. G. Getchell , P. R.Bowser, and E. R. Cornwell. 2017. Round Goby dynamics in the upper St. Lawrence River: Population trends and complex effects on native fishes. (Invited) New York Chapter of the American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting. Buffalo, NY. Motwani, S., Augustyn, E. A., and J. M. Farrell, 2017. A Look At Piscivorous Insect Distribution in a Partially Restored Drowned River Mouth. Spotlight on Student Research & Outreach Symposium. State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Syracuse, New York. Augustyn, E. A. and J. M. Farrell. 2017. Restored connectivity in Typha dominated wetlands: Effects on early life stages of northern pike. Oral presentation at: New York Chapter of the American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting. Buffalo, NY. February 1-3, 2017. Best Student Paper Award Recipient. 88
Augustyn, E. A. and J. M. Farrell. 2016. Restored connectivity in Typha dominated wetlands: Effects on early life stages of northern pike. Poster presented at: SUNY ESF Board of Trustees Conference. Clayton, NY. Augustyn, E. A. 2016. Restored connectivity in Typha dominated wetlands: Effects on early life stages of northern pike. Oral presentation at: 2016 Esocid Working Group Conference. Clayton, NY. Augustyn, E. A. and J. M. Farrell. 2016. Restored connectivity in Typha dominated wetlands: Effects on early life stages of northern pike. Poster presented at Great Lakes Coastal Managers Meeting. Clayton, NY. Getchell, R G., E. R. Cornwell, J. M. Farrell , S. Bogdanowicz , J. Andrés, J. G. Choi, J. Kramer, A.Schulman and P. R. Bowser Following two invaders: The infection dynamics of VHSV and Round Goby in the Upper St. Lawrence River. New York Chapter of the American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting. Buffalo, NY. (Poster presentation). Walton, S.E, J.M. Farrell and S.J. Cooke. 2016. Spatial ecology of YOY esocids in nursery embayments in the St. Lawrence River. Oral presentation at: SMARTER (Stream Monitoring and Research Team - Eastern Region) Meeting. Ottawa, ON. Walton, S.E, J.M. Farrell and S.J. Cooke. 2016. Spatial ecology of YOY esocids in nursery embayments in the St. Lawrence River. Oral presentation at: International Esocid Working Group Meeting. Clayton, NY. Walton, S.E, J.M. Farrell and S.J. Cooke. 2017. Seasonal spatial ecology of age-0 Esocids in nursery embayments of the St. Lawrence River. Poster presented at: CCFFR (Canadian Conference for Fisheries Research). Montreal, QC. Walton, S, J.M. Farrell and S.J. Cooke. 2017. Seasonal spatial ecology of age-0 Esocids in nursery embayments of the St. Lawrence River. Poster presented at: GLATOS (Great Lakes Acoustic Telemetry Observation System) Conference. Ann Arbor, MI.. Walton, S.E, J.M. Farrell and S.J. Cooke. 2017. Seasonal spatial ecology of age-0 Esocids in nursery embayments of the St. Lawrence River. Poster presented at: AFS-OC (American Fisheries Society- Ontario Chapter) Conference. Orillia, ON. Walton, S.E, J.M. Farrell and S.J. Cooke. 2017. Spatial and behavioural ecology of juvenile esocid fish: Muskellunge and Northern Pike. Poster presentation at: OCIB (Ottawa-Carleton Institute of Biology) Symposium. Ottawa, ON..
Melissa K. Fierke M.I. Jones, J.K. Gould, & M.K. Fierke. Phenology of emerald ash borer and its introduced larval parasitoids in the northeast. Poster Presentation. North American Forest Insect Working Conference, Washington D.C. July 2016. M.I. Jones & M.K. Fierke. Overwintering mortality of emerald ash borer in New York. Poster Presentation. North American Forest Insect Working Conference, Washington D.C. July 2016 . M.I. Jones, J.K. Gould, & M.K. Fierke. Phenology and overwintering survival of the introduced larval parasitoids of emerald ash borer in the northeast. Oral Presentation. Emerald Ash Borer Research and Technology Development Meeting, Wooster, OH. October 2016. M.I. Jones, J.K. Gould, & M.K. Fierke. Phenology and overwintering survival of the introduced larval parasitoids of emerald ash borer in the northeast. Poster Presentation. 28th Annual USDA Interagency Research Forum on Invasive Species, Annapolis, MD. January 2017. M.I. Jones, J.K. Gould, & M.K. Fierke. Studies on biological control and phenology of emerald ash borer in New York. Oral Presentation. New York Society of American Foresters Annual Meeting, Syracuse, NY. January 2017. M.I. Jones, J.K. Gould, & M.K. Fierke. Phenology and overwintering survival of the introduced larval parasitoids of emerald ash borer in the northeast. Poster Presentation. New York Society of American Foresters Annual Meeting, Syracuse, NY. January 2017. M.I. Jones, J.K. Gould, & M.K. Fierke. Biological control of emerald ash borer in New York. Oral Presentation. Baltimore Woods Nature Center, Marcellus, NY. February 2017. 89
N. Piedmonte, S. Shaw, M. Prusinski, M.K. Fierke. Environmental features associated with blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) abundance and tick-borne pathogen prevalence in Onondaga County, New York. New York Society of American Foresters Conference. Syracuse, New York. January 2017. Poster Presentation. N. Piedmonte, S. Shaw, M. Prusinski, M.K. Fierke. Biotic and abiotic factors affecting blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) distribution and tick-borne disease prevalence in Onondaga County, New York. Entomological Society of America’s XXV International Congress of Entomology (ICE 2016). Orlando, Florida. September 2016. Oral Presentation. N. Piedmonte, S. Shaw, M. Prusinski, M.K. Fierke. Ticks and Tick-borne disease in New York State.Syracuse Chapter of the American Wildlife Conservation Foundation. Dewitt, New York. September 2016. Oral presentation. N. Piedmonte, S. Shaw, M.K. Fierke. Effects of Habitat and Forest Cover on Blacklegged Tick (Ixodes scapularis) Distribution in Onondaga County, New York –Entomological Society of America Integrated Tick Management Symposium: Solving America's Tick-Borne Disease Problem. Washington D.C. May 2016. Poster Presentation. N. Piedmonte, S. Shaw, M. Prusinski, M.K. Fierke. Enhanced Surveillance of Blacklegged Tick (Ixodes scapularis) Density and Tick-borne Disease Prevalence in Onondaga County, NY. New York State Department of Health Tick Workshop. Latham, New York. February 2016. Oral and Poster Presentation. N. Piedmonte, S. Shaw, M. Prusinski, M.K. Fierke. Blacklegged Tick (Ixodes scapularis) Density and Tick-borne Disease Prevalence in Onondaga County, NY. New York Society of American Foresters Conference. Syracuse, New York. January 2016. Oral and Poster Presentation. G. Tumminello, T. Volk, S. McArt, M.K. Fierke. Pollinator associations with willow biomass crops utilized for phytoremediation. Entomological Society of America’s XXV International Congress of Entomology (ICE 2016). Orlando, Florida. September 2016. Oral Presentation. D. Brennan, J. Gould, G. McGee, M.K. Fierke. Effects of sugar resource use and quality on emerald ash borer parasitoid longevity. Poster Presentation. 28th Annual USDA Interagency Research Forum on Invasive Species, Annapolis, MD, January 2017. D. Brennan, J. Gould, G. McGee, M.K. Fierke. Effects of sugar resource use and quality on emerald ash borer parasitoid longevity. New York Society of American Foresters Conference. Syracuse, New York. January 2016. Oral and Poster Presentation. E. McPhail and M.K. Fierke. Powerline Rights-of-Way (ROWs) as Pollinating Insect Habitat. Pollinator Protection Symposium. November 2016. Oral presentation. E. McPhail, C. Nowak, and M.K. Fierke. Elucidating Pollinator Assemblages Along Powerline Rights-of- Way in Ohio and New York. NYSAF Conference. Syracuse, New York. January 2017. Poster. J. VanSplinter, C. Nowak, and M.K. Fierke. Importance of shrub cover in providing early season floral resourse for pollinators. NYSAF Conference. Syracuse, New York. January 2017. Poster. F. Miller, J.K. Gould, M.K. Fierke, M.I. Jones, J. Kaltenbach. Compatibility of insecticides and biocontrol for controlling EAB in urban environments. Emerald Ash Borer Research and Technology Development Meeting, Wooster, OH. October 2016. J.K. Gould, M.I. Jones, M.K. Fierke. Dispersal of the parasitoid Tetrastichus planipennisi relative to the movement of EAB populations. Emerald Ash Borer Research and Technology Development Meeting, Wooster, OH. October 2016. I. Weinstein, C. Whipps, C. Foelker, M.K. Fierke. Establishing host-parasitoid linkages among Sirex noctilio, Sirex nigricornis, and native hymenopteran parasistoids using genetic markers. SUNY ESF Spotlight on Research. April 2017. E. Steiber, A.J. Smith, B. Duffy, N. Ringler, M.K. Fierke, J. Lojpenberger. Evaluating a provisional macroinvertebrate lake index of biotic integrity: potential drivers of macroinvertebrate community dynamics and water quality in lakes across New York. SUNY ESF Spotlight on Research. April 2017. 2nd place.
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Hyatt C. Green Distributions of Bacterial Generalists Among the Guts of Birds, Fish, and Mammals. International Symposium on Microbial Ecology. Montreal, CA, 2016 Sources of Fecal Bacteria to Onondaga Lake, NY State Biotechnology Symposium, SUNY-ESF, May 18, 2017.
Thomas R. Horton Ectomycorrhizal Fungi from Resistant Spore Banks Support Post-Fire Pines. 4/23/2017. Northeast Natural History Conference. Cromwell Connecticut.
Robin W. Kimmerer “Learning From the Land” Keynote at College of the Menominee Nation National Educators workshop. Audience 125 June 7-9, 2016 University of Michigan Ann Arbor MI Keynote “The Honorable Harvest” August 29, 2016 audience 80 Notre Dame University: Sharing Indigenous Wisdom Conference Keynote September 13 2016 audience=100 Oklahoma State University Keynote Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation. “The Fortress, The River and the Garden” Audience=300 State of the Stopover Annual Meeting, USFWS Migratory Bird meeting, Milwaukee WI Keynote “Reciprocity and Restoration: indigenous Knowledge for wetland Restoration”. Audience=250 University of Nebraska, Lincoln . Center for the Great Plains. Keynote: “The Honorable Harvest” audience=150 University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Biology seminar series. Audience=30 Syracuse University, Department of Geography seminar. “Indigenous Knowledge for Biodiversity Conservation”. Audience=40 University of Vermont, Rubenstein School of Natural Resources. “Indigenous Knowledge for Biodiversity Conservation”. Audience=100 Yale University, Franke Lecture in Science and the Humanities. Keynote Feb 14, 2017 Audience=300 Yale University, Program in Religion and Ecology, Seminar. Feb 15, 2017 Audience=50 Vassar College, “The Honorable Harvest” Feb 16, 2017 University of Arizona, Literature of Nature seminar. Tucson, Az. Audience=20 Feb. 23, 2017 Tohono O’odham Tribal College, Masabe AZ. “Indigenous Knowledge for Biodiversity” audience=40 EPA Tribal Leaders Forum, Syracuse NY. “Biocultural restoration” May 11, 2017 Audience= 30 Environmental Educators of Canada Annual Meeting, Nova Scotia. Keynote: “The Land as Teacher”. Audience=300
Donald J. Leopold Weber, J., D.J. Leopold, and J.J. Wiley, Jr., Greenhouse germination trials with federally-listed Houghton’s goldenrod: Evaluating factors associated with population persistence, National Native Seed Conference, Washington, D.C., February 2017 (poster presentation).
Brian F. Leydet April 25, 2017. SUNY-ESF Spotlight on Student Research, Syracuse, NY. Monitoring Phenotypic Transitions of Borrelia burgdorferi Under Normal and Nutrient Limiting Conditions Christiano, A., Leydet, B.L. April 25, 2017. SUNY-ESF Spotlight on Student Research, Syracuse, NY. Quantifying Borrelia burgdorferi biofilm formation in vitro Sorlie, A.M., Leydet, B.L.
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Karin E. Limburg Limburg, K. E., Walther, B., Lu, Z., Casini, M., Altenritter, M., Samson, M. Hypoxia as Perceived by Fish: Empirical Observation and Modeling. ASLO Ocean Sciences Meeting, Honolulu, February 2017. (Poster) Samson, M.A. and K.E. Limburg. Tracking Hypoxia Exposure in Yellow Perch with Otolith Chemistry: Spatial Variation in Lake Erie. Poster presentation, American Fisheries Society, Kansas City, August 2016. (Won best poster for the Habitat Section) Limburg, K.E. Ecosystem services at risk from global ocean deoxygenation. UNESCO, Paris, September 2016
Gregory M. McGee Brennan, D., J. Gould, G. McGee and M. Fierke. Effects of Sugar Resource Use and Quality on Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis) Parasitoid Longevity. 28th USDA Interagency Research Forum on Invasive Species, January 10-13, Ananapoliss, MD. McGee, G.G. Epiphytic bryophyte and lichen communities of old-growth Adirondack northern hardwood forests. Northeast Natural History Conference, April 21-23, Cromwell, CT.
Stacy A. McNulty Rusty Blackbirds in the Northern Forest: Breeding Season Status and Habitat Associations at Local and Landscape Scales. Vermont Monitoring Cooperative meeting, December 2016, Burlington VT. Gladiator Salamanders as Biological Indicators of Climate Change. Lewis, J., S. McNulty and D. Kiernan. ESF Spotlight on Research Poster Session, Syracuse, NY, April 2017. Comparing the Diversity of Small Mammal Communities and Habitat in the central Adirondack Mountains, NY. Lee, J. and S. McNulty. ESF Spotlight on Research Poster Session, Syracuse, NY, April 2017.
Lee A. Newman The Effects of Herbicide Safeners on Nickel Uptake and Toxicity in Maize. L.A. Newman and F. Afelumo. 22-26 September 2016. 5th International Conference on Soil Pollution and Remediation, September 2016 in Hangzhou, China The Gordon Award. 27-30 Sept 2015. 26-29 September 2016. 13th International Phytotechnology Conference, Hangzhou, China. Phytoremediation of Organics: State of the Science. L.A. Newman. 26-29 September 2016. 13th International Phytotechnology Conference, Hangzhou, China. Hyperspectral Investigation of Trichloroethylene in Groundwater. A. Keith, D. Lewis, A. Hoffman and L.A. Newman. 20-24 November, 2016. 3rd International Conference on Contaminated Land, Ecological Assessment and Remediation, Taipei, Taiwan. Physiologic & genetic impacts of exposure to Enterobacter 638 in tomato plants. L.A. Newman and G. Fanfan. 18-19 May 2017. 9th Annual New York State Biotechnology Symposium, Syracuse, NY.
Seminars Presented Phytotechnologies at SUNY ESF. Lake Bilal, Tyumen State University, Russia 26 June 2016 Phytoremediation: Using Plants to Solve Environmental Problems. Tyumen State University, Russia 12 March 2017 Use of Molecular Techniques in Phytoremediation. Tyumen State University, Russia 13 March 2017 Environmental Biology, Biochemistry and Biotechnology at the College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Tyumen State University, Russia 14 March 2017
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Student and Post-Doc Presentations (student and post-doc names italicized) Engineered Nanomaterials and Agricultural Crops: Co-contaminant Interactions. R. De La Torre-Roche, I. Pagagano, S. Majumdar, H. Hamdi, J. Hawthorn, Y.Q. Deng, B.S. Xing, W.J. Cai, L.A. Newman, Q. Wang, X.M. Ma and J.C. White. 26-29 September 2016. 13th International Phytotechnology Conference, Hangzhou, China. A Screening Study: Phytotoxicity of Uncoated Metal Nanoparticles to Crop Plants Compared to Their Corresponding Bulk Particles and Salts. W.J. Cai, J. White, B.S. Zing, X.M. Ma, B. Agtuca, and L.A. Newman. 26-29 September 2016. 13th International Phytotechnology Conference, Hangzhou, China.
Dylan Parry Invited Oral D. Parry, K.L. Grayson and P.C. Tobin. Climatically driven range expansion and contraction along the 2000 km gypsy moth invasion front. Entomological Society of America, Eastern Branch. Symposium II: Individual, Population, and Community Responses of Insects to Climate Change. Newport, RI. March 17-20, 2017. D. Parry, C. Jahant-Miller, P.C. Tobin. More than a number: Spatiotemporal drivers of variation in trap captured male gypsy moth wing morphology. 28th USDA Interagency Research Forum on Invasive Species January 10-13, 2017. Annapolis, Maryland. D. Parry, C. Robinet, and P. Tobin. Forest insect invasion in a changing climate: An overview. XXV International Congress of Entomology. Orlando, FL. September 25-30, 2016. D. Parry, C. Jahant-Miller, P.C. Tobin. More than a number: Biotic drivers of temporal and spatial change in the wing length of trap captured male gypsy moths. Annual Gypsy Moth Review National Meeting. Columbus, OH Oct. 24-27, 2016. D. Parry. Defoliating Insects and Anthropogenic Forest Change. Seminar, The Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. University of Vermont, Burlington, VT. April 6, 2017.
Other Submissions The opening and closing of climatic envelopes in the gypsy moth invasion of North America. Grayson, K., L. Thompson, T. Faske, P. Tobin, C. Friedline, A. Eckert, D. Parry, and D. Johnson. XXV International Congress of Entomology. Orlando, FL. September 25-30, 2016.
Graduate Student Posters and Talks Brown, A., W.A. Powell, D. Parry Unintended impacts of the transgenic American chestnut (Fagales: Fagaceae) on lepidopteran biopesticide efficacy and parasitoid success. XXV International Congress of Entomology. Orlando, FL. September 25-30, 2016. Jahant-Miller, C., P.C.Tobin and D. Parry. Evaluating morphological characteristics of pheromone- trapped male gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar L.) as an index of habitat quality. XXV International Congress of Entomology. Orlando, FL. September 25-30, 2016. Leuenberger, W., S. Hollister (REU co-presenter), K. Wallin, and D. Parry. 2016. Ice storm experiment: response of Lepidoptera and their predators. Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study 53rd Annual Cooperator’s Meeting. North Woodstock, NH. July 13-14, 2016. Leuenberger, W., S. Hollister, K. Wallin, and D. Parry. 2016. Response of forest insects and their natural enemies to experimental ice storms in a northern hardwood forest. International Congress of Entomology. Orlando, FL. September 25-30, 2016. Leuenberger, W., J. Wilson, E. Larsen, J. Leuenberger, and D. Parry. 2016. Predation on plasticine caterpillars: Engaging high school students using scientific research methods. Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting 2016. Ft. Lauderdale, FL. August 7-12, 2016. Leuenberger, W., S. Hollister, K. Wallin, and D. Parry. 2016. Invited presentation. Responses of functional community assemblages to experimental ice storms in a northeastern forest. Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting 2016. Ft. Lauderdale, FL. August 7-12, 2016. 93
Manderino, R. PC. Tobin, and D. Parry. Parasitism of silk moths by the tachinid Compsilura concinnata along forest compositional gradients. International Congress of Entomology. Orlando, FL. September 25-30, 2016.
William A. Powell Using the Tools of Genetic Engineering to Help Save the American Chestnut. 5/31/16-6/3/16. Invited speaker. 2016 North American Forest Insect Working Conference. Washington, DC. Using the Tools of Genetic Engineering to Help Save the American Chestnut. Invited speaker. American Chemical Society 252nd National Meeting, 8/21/16 -8/24/16. Using the Tools of Genetic Engineering to Help Save the American Chestnut. Invited speaker. Cornell Alliance for Science teaching conference. 9/14/16. ~20 international students attending. Where There Be Mountains, There Be Chestnuts. Invited Speaker. Tree Canopy Conference. Haverford, PA. 10/12/16 - 10/13/16
Rebecca J. Rundell Czekanski-Moir, J.E.* and R.J. Rundell. Land snail patterns in Palau: Community assembly in a 14,000 year-old tropical forest fragmentation experiment. International Biogeography Society Meeting. Tucson, Arizona. Poster. 9-13 January 2017. Osborne, T.R.* and R.J. Rundell. 2017. Measuring biodiversity across ecological and geographic variables among diplommatinid land snails of Belau (Republic of Palau, Oceania). International Biogeography Society Meeting. Tucson, Arizona. Poster. 9-13 January 2017. R.J. Rundell. 2017. Conservation and evolution of poorly known invertebrate animals. New York State Biotechnology Symposium. “Molecular Tools and Biodiversity.” SUNY-ESF. Talk. 19 May 2017. Czekanski-Moir*, J.E., M. Barker, Z. Li*, R.J. Rundell, and C. Reardon*. 2017. Inferring ancient whole genome duplication events in the Mollusca. EvoDay: Phylogenomics. Cornell University. Talk. 11 May 2017. Lau, Alyssa**, J.E. Czekanski-Moir*, and R.J. Rundell. 2017. The synonymous and nonsynonymous substitution ratios (dN/dS) associated with habitat transitions in the Gastropoda. SUNY Undergraduate Research Conference West. SUNY Fredonia. Poster. 22 April 2017. Gervascio, Tim**, J.E. Czekanski-Moir*, and R.J. Rundell. 2017. Dating the terrestrial invasion of the Cyclophoroidea (Mollusca: Gastropoda) using the fossilized birth-death model. SUNY ESF Student Spotlight. Poster. 25 April 2017. Lau, Alyssa**, J.E. Czekanski-Moir*, and R.J. Rundell. 2017. The synonymous and nonsynonymous substitution ratios (dN/dS) associated with habitat transitions in the Gastropoda. SUNY ESF Student Spotlight. Poster. 25 April 2017. Osborne, T.R.* and R.J. Rundell. 2016. Testing the adaptive significance of body size in Belau’s land snails. Evolution 2016 (the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Evolution, American Society of Naturalists, and the Society of Systematic Biologists). Austin, Texas. Talk. 17-21 June 2016. Czekanski-Moir, J.E.*, M. Barker, Z. Li, R.J. Rundell, and C. Reardon*. 2016. Inferring paleopolyploidy in the Mollusca. Evolution 2016 (the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Evolution, American Society of Naturalists, and the Society of Systematic Biologists). Austin, Texas. Talk. 17- 21 June 2016. Li, Z.,* Reardon, C.,** Kidder, T.,** Rundell, R.J., and Barker, M.S. 2016. Multiple whole genome duplications during the evolution of hexapods. Evolution 2016 (the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Evolution, American Society of Naturalists, and the Society of Systematic Biologists). Austin, Texas. Talk. 17-21 June 2016.
* Graduate student, ** Undergraduate student
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Donald J. Stewart Stewart, D.J. Taxonomic and conservation status of Arapaima mapae: data deficient fishes in limited habitat, 6-10 Jul. 2016, Annual Meeting American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, New Orleans, LA. Palumbo,, J., Clifford,, K., and Stewart, D.J. Morphological variation among Bowfin (Amia) populations from the Carolinas and Laurentian Great Lakes: Taxonomic and conservation implications, 22 Aug. 2016, Annual Meeting American Fisheries Society. Invited presentation to special symposium: Angling for Dinosaurs: Status and Future Study of the Ecology, Conservation and Management of Ancient Fishes, Kansas City, MO.
Stephen A. Teale Teale, S.A. “Longhorned beetle pheromones and sustainable forest pest management” IUFRO Regional Congress for Asia and Oceania, October 24–27, 2016, Beijing, China (Invited) Cha DH (presenter), A Mieles, C Causton, P Lahuatte, A Cahuana, P Lincango, S Teale. “Identification and field evaluation of yeast volatiles attractive to Philornis downsi, a hematophagous invasive parasite of Darwin’s finches in the Galapagos” XXV International Congress of Entomology, Orlando, FL, 27 September, 2016 Faal H (presenter), D Cha, S Teale. Response of wasp parasitoid Ibalia leucospoides to volatiles from fungal symbiont (Amylostereum areolatum) of Sirex noctilio. XXV International Congress of Entomology, Orlando, FL, 29 September, 2016
J. Scott Turner Insect-built structures and swarm cognition. Invited presentation to the International Congress of Entomology Symposium on Excavation and Construction by Social Insects. 29 September 2016. Animal cities. Invited presentation to the workshop on Nature-inspired urbanism, University College London Centre for Nature-Inspired Design. 14 December 2016. https://prezi.com/8ei9to24v6zj/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share Homeostasis, adaptation and the problem of biological design. Invited presentation to the workshop on Architecture and Collective Behavior. Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona. 5-7 October 2016. http://prezi.com/jtgioetfxnum/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy What’s so inspiring about life? Physiomimetics, adaptation and persistence in harsh environments. Invited presentation to NASA Biomimicry Summit and Education Forum 2016, Ohio Aerospace Institute, Cleveland, Ohio. 2-4 August 2016. http://prezi.com/atoltdci6gty/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy
Christopher M. Whipps Presentations by Whipps April 24-25, 2017. Workshop: World Register of Parasites of Marine Species. Oostende, Belgium. Myxosporean Diversity. [Invited Speaker] February 19-22, 2017. Aquaculture America 2015. San Antonio, TX. Mycobacteriosis: Studies on Surface Biofilms and Implications for Monitoring. [Invited Speaker] January 27, 2017. The 10th Annual Swiss Zebrafish Meeting. Bern, Switzerland. Impact and Control of Diseases in Zebrafish Research Facilities. [Invited Speaker]
Student and other co-authored presentations (presenter underlined) April 25, 2017. SUNY-ESF Spotlight on Student Research, Syracuse, NY. Can strain typing help us understand Mycobacterium marinum outbreaks at zebrafish research facilities? Chang, C.T., Clemons, B.M., Whipps, C.M [Poster] 1st place student poster award April 25, 2017. SUNY-ESF Spotlight on Student Research, Syracuse, NY. Establishing host-parasitoid linkages among Sirex noctilio, Sirex nigricornis, and native Hymenopteran parasitoids using genetic markers. Weinstein, I.L., Fierke, M.K., Whipps, C.M. [Poster] 95
April 25, 2017. SUNY-ESF Spotlight on Student Research, Syracuse, NY. Tracking Long Term Transmission Observation of Infectious Disease in Laboratory Zebrafish (Danio rerio) Lewis, J, Chang, CT, Whipps, CM [Poster] April 25, 2017. SUNY-ESF Spotlight on Student Research, Syracuse, NY. Detection of blood parasites in Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) in New York State, using molecular techniques. Alsafadi, O., Fox, K.A.W., Chang, C.T., Alger, K.E., Whipps, C.M. [Poster] April 25, 2017. SUNY-ESF Spotlight on Student Research, Syracuse, NY. Developing an Effective Method to Determine the Presence of Neospora caninum. Williamson, J., Frair, J.L., Whipps, C.M. [Poster] April 3, 2017. American Fisheries Society Fish Health Section / Great Lakes Fishery Consortium Fish Health Committee Joint Meeting, Lansing, MI. Tolerance and efficacy of tigecycline and clarithromycin for the treatment of mycobacteriosis in laboratory zebrafish. Chang, C.T., Doerr, K.M., Whipps, C.M [Oral] Best student presentation award April 2, 2017. American Fisheries Society Fish Health Section / Great Lakes Fishery Consortium Fish Health Committee Joint Meeting, Lansing, MI. Can strain typing help us understand Mycobacterium marinum outbreaks at zebrafish research facilities? Chang, C.T., Clemons, B.M., Whipps, C.M [Poster] Best student poster award February 19-22, 2017. Aquaculture America 2015. San Antonio, TX. Tolerance and efficacy of antibiotic treatments of zebrafish mycobacteriosis. Chang, C.T., Doerr, K.M., Whipps, C.M [Oral] February 19-22, 2017. Aquaculture America 2015. San Antonio, TX. Transmission of Pseudoloma neurophilia in zebrafish (Danio rerio) when using a mass spawning chamber. Peneyra, S.M., Cardona-Costa, J., White, J., Whipps, C.M., Riedel, E.R., Lipman, N.S., Lieggi, C. [Oral] January 9-12, 2017. New England Cottontail Technical Committee Meeting. Report on progress of NEC research at SUNY-ESF; including updates on successful methodology, demographics, home range, and habitat use by NEC and conspecific EC in the lower Hudson valley. Cheeseman A.E, Cohen, J., Ryan, S.J., and Whipps, C.M. [Oral] December 9, 2016. Mid-Atlantic Regional Zebrafish Meeting, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD. Preventing mycobacteriosis in zebrafish colonies through embryo disinfection. Chang, C.T., Whipps, C.M. [Poster] October 30–November 3, 2016. AALAS 67th National Meeting. Charlotte, NC. Transmission of Pseudoloma neurophilia in zebrafish (Danio rerio) when using a mass spawning chamber. Samantha M. Peneyra, Jose Cardona-Costa, Julie White, Christopher M. Whipps, Elyn R. Riedel, Neil S. Lipman, and Christine Lieggi [Oral] September 7-11, 2016. Association of Zoos & Aquariums 2016 Annual Conference. San Diego, CA. Enhancing Captive Breeding Standards for Species Survival Plans: A Genomic Analysis for Markhor (Capra falconeri heptneri. Cassandra B. Elliott, Janet L. Huie, Anthony J. Greenburg, Thomas LaBarge, Christopher M. Whipps [Oral] June 24-28, 2016. 96th Annual Meeting of American Society of Mammalogists, Minneapolis, MN. Parasite mediated competition between the New England and eastern cottontail. Mello, S.L., Cohen, J.B., Whipps, C.M. [Poster] June 24-28, 2016. 96th American Society of Mammalogists. Habitat selection of sympatric lagomorphs supports competition hypothesis, provides management suggestions for a declining lagomorph. Cheeseman A. E, Cohen, J., Whipps, C. M., and Ryan, S. J. [Oral] 96
Appendix F. Faculty Grants (active during reporting period)
Jonathan B. Cohen Cohen JB, Kocek AR, Liner J, Mazzocchi I, Shulenburg P, Nyver R. Informing Restoration of the Endangered Piping Plover to Lake Ontario. $21,751. 3/2017-12/2019. NY Department of Environmental Conservation. Cohen JB, Darrah A. Increasing Benefits of Piping Plover Nest Exclosures. $137,000. 1/2017-1/2018. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Cohen JB, Durkin M, Pruner R, Bromley . Effects of Vegetation and Substrate on Nest Site Selection and Nest Survival of Beach-Nesting Birds. $9,998. 1/2017-1/2018. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Cohen JB, Stantial M. Factors Affecting Piping Plover Reproductive Success in Southern New Jersey and Priorities for Improving Monitoring and Management. $28,404 4/2017-12/2018. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Cohen JB, Cheeseman A. New England cottontail habitat use, dispersal, and survival in New York. $5,563. 5/2016-7/2016. Gordon Douglas. Cohen JB, Schummer ML. Ecological separation of wintering mallards and black ducks in New York. New York DEC. $346,062. 4/2015-3/2018. Cohen JB, Schummer ML, Swift B. Ecological separation of wintering mallards and black ducks in the Finger Lakes Region. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. $119,958. 10/2015-12/2017 Cohen, J.B, Pruner R, Bromley C, Durkin M. Experimental management of vehicle mortality and chick predation to benefit beach-nesting birds at Gulf Islands National Seashore. National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. $105,000. 1/2016-12/2016. Cohen JB, Stantial M. Piping plover reproductive success at the Edwin B. Forsythe Nationa Wildlife Refuge. $113,483 3/2016-5/2018. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Cohen JB, Stantial M. Factors Limiting piping plover productivity in Southern New Jersey. $50,000 12/2015-6/2017. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Cohen JB. Factors limiting piping plover productivity in New Jersey. $150,000 2/2015-3/2017. National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Cohen JB. Decision support modeling for recovery of the piping plover at Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. $270,000 11/2014-11/2016. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Elphick C, Olsen B, Shriver G, Cohen JB, Kovach A. Response of the tidal marsh bird community to Hurricane Sandy. $1,573,950 ($155,466 managed by Cohen). 10/2014-9/2016. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Olsen B, Elphick C, Shriver G, Cohen JB, Kovach A. Response of the tidal marsh bird community to Hurricane Sandy. $1,409,127 ($104,819 managed by Cohen). 1/2015-11/2017. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Karpanty SM, Cohen JB, Parsons KC, Jedrey E. Obtain critical management information regarding endangered roseate terns. $330,039 ($91,892 managed by Cohen). 7/2014 – 12/2017. National Park Service. Cohen, J.B., C. Whipps, and S. J. Ryan. Assessing the use of newly-restored early successional forest by the endangered New England cottontail, using genetic dispersal analysis. McIntire-Stennis, $51,929, 8/2015 – 9/2017. Cohen, J.B., S.J. Ryan, and C. Whipps. Factors Limiting New England Cottontail Populations in New York – NYDEC, $860,000, 8/2013 – 7/2017. Cohen, J.B. Population-level effects on Snowy Plovers of road mortality at Gulf Islands National Seashore – National Fish and Wildlife Foundation via National Audubon, $274,225, 1/14 – 8/17.
Stewart A.W. Diemont Klossner, R. (PI), S.A.W. Diemont S.A.W. City of Syracuse creekwalk landscaping design. Spanfelner Fund/Central New York Community Foundation, $50,000, 12/1/12-12/31/16. 97
Kimmerer, R., S.A.W. Diemont, C. Beier, E. Folta, J. Manno. Sowing synergy: A graduate program to integrate indigenous and scientific knowledge for sustainability. US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture, $642,811, 3/1/16 - 2/28/19.
Martin Dovciak NYSERDA. “Effects of acidic deposition and soil acidification on forest understory plant biodiversity in the Adirondack Mountains”. T. Sullivan (PI), M. Dovciak, G. Lawrence, T. McDonnell; $200,000; 3/2015-10/2016. ($87,001 to M. Dovciak). NYS DEC. “Evaluating deer impacts on forests of New York State”. M. Dovciak (PI), J. Frair, J. Hurst, P. Curtis, P. Smallidge. $312,213. 4/2014-3/2017.
John M. Farrell Farrell, J. M. 4/1/16-3/31/21. Water Level Regulation Adaptive Management Research: Coastal Wetland Health Indicators and Sportfish Production in the Upper St. Lawrence River. NYS Department of Environmental Conservation Coastal Lakes and Oceans Program (funded $1,417,046; at-risk $60.3K) Farrell, J. M. and S. J. Cooke. 10/1/2015-9/30/2017. The St. Lawrence River Fish Habitat Conservation Strategy: Evaluation of Habitat Enhancements and Development of Novel Restoration Approaches. US Fish and Wildlife Service, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Special Project. J. M. Farrell and S. Cooke (Carleton University). $583,967 ($299,407 to ESF).
Shannon L. Farrell U.S. National Park Service Continuing Assessment of populations and white-nosed syndrome at Cape Cod National Seashore. Dates: Jan 2016- Jan 2017. PI: S. Farrell. Funds: $76,200. U.S. National Park Service. White Nose Syndroem Funding 2016. Fall Migration, Swarming, and Hibernation Ecology of Northern Long-eared Bats at Cape Cod National Seashore, and Implication for Ameliorating Impacts of White-nose Syndrome. Awarded: $199,600. Dates: 1/1/2017- 12/31/2018. PI: S. Farrell. NSRC Theme Four: Biodiversity and protected area management. Imperiled Bats in Northeastern Forests: balancing bat conservation with forest management. PI: S. Farrell. Co-PI R. Germain. Awarded: $121,029. Dates: 9/1//2017-12/31/2018. McIntire-Stennis Research Program. 2015-16. Mapping the distributions of forest mammals across NY State: Phase 1. Dates: Aug 2017- Dec 2019. PI: S. Farrell Co-PI: J. Frair, A. Fuller (Cornell). Awarded: $57806. McIntire-Stennis Research Program. 2015-16. The Sky is Falling: Invasive-induced Forest Biodiversity Loss and Evaluation of Stand Rehabilitation. Dates Aug 2017-Aug 2019. PI- Stacy McNulty. Co-PI: R. Germain, G. McGee, S. Farrell. Awarded: $65,568.
Danilo D. Fernando USFWS-GLRIP. Phylogeography, intraspecific variation and conservation genetics of American hart’s- tongue fern (AHTF, Asplenium scolopendrium var. americanum). $25,000. March 2017 to November 2017. PI: DD Fernando. Range-Wide Genetic Analyses of American Hart’s-Tongue Fern (Asplenium scolopendrium var. americanum) - Part II: Michigan, Tennessee, Alabama and Ontario (Canada). USF&WS Cortland Office; $18,923. PI: DD Fernando. June 8, 2015 to June 7, 2016. NYS DEC Section 6 Endangered and Threatened Species Monitoring and Management. American hart’s- tongue fern genetics and reintroduction. $20,000. PI: DD Fernando. June 1, 2016 to August 2017.
Melissa K. Fierke Nowak, C., M.K. Fierke (co-PIs). Exploring pollinator dynamics on powerline corridors in the Northeastern United States. Electric Power Research Institute. 05/2016–08/2021. $628,146. 98
Fierke, M.K. Geographical comparisons of the synchrony and phenology of emerald ash borer and its introduced larval parasitoids in New Your State. 04/15–05/18. $360,000. Cooperative Workplan with J. Gould, USDA APHIS. Fierke, M.K. Assessing compatibility of insecticides and biocontrol for controlling emerald ash borer in urban environments. 05/15–05/18. $66,000. Cooperative Workplan with J. Gould, USDA APHIS. Fierke, M.K., G.G. McGee. Restoration of understory vascular plant and pollinator assemblages in post- agricultural forest of central NY. McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry. 08/15–09/17. $57,669. Shaw, S., M.K. Fierke. Elucidating characteristics of forest/residential land interfaces associated with increased risk of tick-borne diseases. McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry. 08/15–09/17. $59,694. McGee, G.G., M.K. Fierke. Nutrient resources associated with establishment and long-term maintenance of emerald ash borer biocontrol agents. McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry. 08/14–05/17. $53,860.
Jacqueline L. Frair NY State Department of Environmental Conservation, “Wildlife research and management support”, $3,359,864 total for 2013-2018, $593,583 for 2016-17. PI: J. Frair. Provides support to 8 different research projects (PI’s Dovciak, Cohen, Whipps and Frair), and I manage each as a sub-award under the main grant. Grants directly supporting J. Frair listed below: “Status of river otter in reintroduction area”, PI: J. Frair. $180,229 total (2015-2018), $74,850 for 2016-17. “Monitoring and modeling moose populations in NY”, PI: J. Frair. $627,107 total (2014-18), $210,516 for 2016-17. “Indices to track ecological impact of white-tailed deer”, PIs: M. Dovciak, J. Frair. $311,500 total (2013-2015), $0 for 2016-17 but carryover supporting sub-contract with Cornell University. “Statistical support for wildlife management and research”, PI: J. Frair. $713,509 total (2014-2018), $149.574 for 2016-17. “Other program support for wildlife management and research”, PI: J. Frair. $150,003 total (2014- 2018), $48,453 for 2016-17. US Army Corps of Engineers, “Research for carnivore management on Fort Drum”, $73,649 total 2015-2017, $28,946 for 2016-17. PI: J. Frair US Forest Service (Joint Venture Research Agreement), “Identifying wolf and bat movement corridors in the Great Lakes region using a landscape genetics approach”, now $294,299 total (2012-2017) following modifications of agreement in June 2014 and 2016. $48,328 for 2016-17. PI: J. Frair. NY State Department of Environmental Conservation, “Internships for Fish, Wildlife, and Marine Resource Management”, $173,808 total (2014-2019). Managed originally by James Gibbs and now by J. Frair. U.S.D.A. McIntire-Stennis Program, “Mapping the distributions of forest mammals across NY State: Phase I”, $55,496 total (2016-2019). PIs: Shannon Farrell, J. Frair, and Angela Fuller.
James P. Gibbs BASF Corporation, “Status, movements, and habitat assessment for map turtles (Graptemys geographica) within the Hudson River in the vicinity of Rensselaer, New York,” J.P. Gibbs, $245,198, 1/1/15 – 12/31/17 (Julia Vanaman supported) Cornell University, “Linking Land Use and Climate Dynamics to Ecological Responses of Amphibians and Reptiles within New York State Watersheds: An Integrative Approach Using Citizen Science, $10,040, J.P. Gibbs 4/1/2017-12/31/2017. US Dept. Agriculture / Northeastern States Research Cooperative (NSRC), “Using social media to quantify forest-based tourism in the Northern Forest,” D. Kuehn and J. P. Gibbs, $116,000, 9/2016- 8/2018. 99
US Environmental Protection Agency, “Determining the Importance of Vernal Pools Across Geophysical and urbanization Gradients to Inform Regulation, Conservation, and Management,” M.D. Schlesinger, J.P. Gibbs, S. A. McNulty, D. J. Evans, $324,516, 1/12016-6/30/2019 (Leah Nagel supported). US National Academy of Sciences (Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research or PEER), “Quantifying biodiversity impacts of hydroelectric expansion and river use changes in the Brazilian Amazon,” D. Norris, F. Michalski, J. Gibbs, $225,525, 1/2016-12/2018 (various graduate students at Amapa State Univ. supported) US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (Science Mission Directorate / Earth Science Division), “Management of Social-Ecological Grazing Systems in the Altai Mountain Transboundary Zone” G. Mountrakis and J. P. Gibbs, $779,061, 6/1/15-5/30/18 (Mikhail Y. Paltsyn, Ielizaveta Iegorova supported). US National Park Service, "Assessment of natural resource condition for Weir Farm NHS," G. Tierney and J.P. Gibbs, $45,000, 9/15/14-3/31/16 (Dr. G. Tierney supported) US National Park Service, “Assessment of Natural Resource Condition for Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site,” $44,811, J. P. Gibbs, and G. Tierney (10/1/2016- 5/16/2018 16 (Dr. G. Tierney supported). US National Park Service, “Reptile and Amphibian Surveys of Franklin D. Roosevelt NHS”, $34,000,, 7/1/2014-6/30/2017 (Sam Dean supported) US National Park Service, National Center for Preservation Technology and Training, “Novel electronic technology for real-time detection of trespass at archeological sites”, J. Gibbs and S. Burnett, $40,000, 1/2016-5/2018. US National Science Foundation/Population and Community Ecology: “How Environment, Physiology and Life History Interact to Determine Pattern in Animal Migration Proposal 1258062,” J. P. Gibbs, S. Blake, S. Deem, J. Frair. 3/13-2/15. $600,000 (Dr. Guillaume Bastille-Rousseau supported). Wildlife Conservation Society, “Enhancing Tiger Conservation in Thailand: The Role of Peripheral Protected Areas in Supporting Regional Tiger Populations”, J.P. Gibbs, 8/29/2016- 8/31/2018.
Hyatt C. Green Utah Division of Water Quality, “E. coli Source Identification in Emigration Canyon, UT” Marian Rice (PI), Hyatt Green (Co-PI), $136,474 (Contract still in negotiation), 07/01/2017-06/30/2020 SUNY-ESF, Center for Applied Microbiology, “Identification of Fecal Contaminants on the Onondaga Lake Shoreline”, Hyatt Green (PI), $4,600, 07/01/201-06/30/2016 State Wildlife Competitive Grants Program, US Fish and Wildlife Service, “Multistate Recovery Actions For The Bog Turtle And Associated Headwater Wetland Species Of Greatest Conservation Need”, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PI), Large interstate consortia (Co-PI), Hyatt Green (Co- PI), $117,000 to ESF ($499,970 total), 10/01/2015-06/30/2018 SUNY-ESF Seed Grant, “Microbial Dark Matter in Green Lake, NY”, Hyatt Green (PI), $6,666, 06/01/2016- 05/31/2017
Thomas R. Horton Horton TR. USDA McIntire-Stennis Program. Increasing success of pitch pine restoration through soil microbe management. $56,819. 8/15/16 – 9/30/19. Taylor Patterson, MS. Aimee Hudon, MS. Yanai R, Horton TR. NSF. Collaborative Research: IDBR: Type A: The Nanaphid: A novel aphid-like nanosensor network for real-time measurements of carbohydrates in live plant tissue. National Science Foundation. $59,816 for the ESF component, $24,780 to Horton lab. Other institutions: SUNY Albany, SUNY College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, Boston University. 2/1/15 – 1/31/17. Claudia Victoroff, MS.
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Robin W. Kimmerer USDA Higher Education Challenge Grant, “Sowing Synergy:A graduate program to integrate scientific and traditional knowledge for sustainability. $683,000. With Diemont, Beier, Folta, Manno co-PIs. April 2016-August 2019. USEPA Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Education Program. $30, 900 “Using the Thanksgiving Address to Advance Environmental Literacy and Environmental Stewardship” with Dr. Phil Arnold and Rachel May and Beth Folta. Syracuse University. USDA Higher Education Challenge Grant, Learning From the Land: a cross-cultural partnership in forest stewardship education for climate change adaptation in the Northern Forest. Co-PI Colin Beier $712,000 with College of the Menominee Nation. 2012-2016. United States Department of Agriculture, Multicultural Scholarship Program, $200,000. Tribes and Climate Change: engaging northeastern indigenous nations. US Forest Service $60,000 2011- 2016 US Forest Service, Voices of Mother Earth: Native Women’s Climate Change Summit, $60,000 May 2015-May 2018 National Science Foundation, participating partner with Dr. Jay Johnson at Kansas University, FIRST : Facilitating Indigenous Research, Science and Technology Research Coordination Network grant $800,000. 2015-2018 National Science Foundation: ITEST: Earth Partnership: Indigenous Arts and Sciences—Connecting STEM to Native Science. Advisor to project $1.2 million by PI Cheryl Bauer Armstrong at University of Wisconsin-Madison. National Science Foundation: Collaborative Research: Restoring Biotechnology’s Moral Fiber; Genetically Modified Chestnut Trees, Responsible Innovation and Environmental Justice. in partnership with North Carolina State University.$28,000 subward
Donald J. Leopold Honeywell International Inc., Onondaga Lake and adjacent lands: Habitat assessment and restoration, vegetation issues; $19,956; January 2014 to December 2016; D.J. Leopold. NYS-DEC, New York Natural Heritage Program; $3,273,393; July 2012 to June 2017; D.J. Leopold. NYS-DEC, Invasive plants program coordinator; $164,763; July 2015 to June 2017; D.J. Leopold. USFWS (GLRI), Restoring critical habitat, mitigating multiple threats, and evaluating population statuses for bog turtle, eastern massasauga rattlesnake, and Houghton's goldenrod co-occurring in a single...; $128,064; August 2012 to April 2016, D.J. Leopold and J.P. Gibbs. USFWS (GLRI), Range wide status assessment of Houghton’s goldenrod, with a special emphasis on niche limit, demographic transitions, and population stability; $149,600; February 2016 to December 2017. D.J. Leopold. National Park Service, Impacts of hurricane Sandy and white-tailed deer on maritime vegetation recovery at Fire Island National Seashore; $224,619; July 2014 to July 2016; H.B. Underwood and D.J. Leopold. NOAA, Factors affecting dune and vegetation recovery from superstorm Sandy in the Otis Pike High Dune Wilderness Area on Fire Island National Seashore (FIIS), NY; $40,000; July 2016 to July 2017; H.B Underwood and D.J. Leopold. NYS DEC, Abundance, distribution and management of white-tailed deer in the Town of Dewitt, NY; $230,916; August 2016 to July 2018; H.B. Underwood and D.J. Leopold
Brian F. Leydet Leydet BL. SUNY-Center for Applied Microbiology, Studying in vivo gene expression of the tick-borne pathogen Borrelia burgdorferi via enrichment of pathogen specific RNA transcripts from host tissues by micro-column capture and RNA-Seq. (April 2017 – Sept 2017) - $7,184. Leydet BL, Farrell J. Great Lakes Research Consortium. Influence of Spawning and Nursery Habitat in Shaping the Northern Pike (Esox lucius) Gut Microbiome. (3/1/17 – 12/31/19) - $22,500 101
Karin E. Limburg Baltic Sea 2020: “Eastern Baltic Cod: Solving the ageing and stock assessment problems with combined state-of-the-art tagging methods.” 27M SEK (approx. $3.2 million), 1/01/2016 – 12/31/2019; supports 3 PhD students in 3 Baltic countries; KL is co-PI and leading the otolith chemistry work package. Cornell University, NY Water Resources Institute: “Temporal changes in spawning in signature fishes of the Hudson River estuary.” 1/01/2015 – 12/31/2016, $10,000. Hudson River Foundation: “Assessing silver eels in Hudson River tributaries.” 6/1/13 – 06/30/17, $134,838. Hudson River Foundation: Mark Bain Fellowship award to Thomas Evans, “Understanding ammocoete movement and ecology.” 9/01/14 – 3/31/17; $17,000. Hudson River Foundation: Mark Bain Fellowship award to Christopher Nack, “Evaluating the impacts of large storm events on the early life stages of American shad.” $17,000, 7/01/15 – 12/31/16. Hudson River Foundation: “Looking into the big green and blue boxes: insights on critical habitat for young and adult blueback herring to assess resilience.” 6/01/2017 – 12/31/2018, $138,069. National Science Foundation: “Collaborative Research: Consequences of sub-lethal hypoxia exposure for fishes: a trans-oceanic comparison.” 9/1/14 – 8/31/18, $283,564. National Science Foundation: “REU Supplemental: Consequences of sub-lethal hypoxia exposure for fishes: a trans-oceanic comparison.” 5/2017 – 8/2017, $6550. NYSDEC, Mohawk River Basin Action Agenda (w/Neil Ringler). KL’s part: “Determining the provenance and life histories of blueback herring in the Mohawk River.” 9/1/14-9/30/17, $115, 171; supplemental funding awarded ($15,000) for pilot study on use of “sonar camera” to count herring locking through into the Mohawk River (May 2017) NY Sea Grant: “Reconnecting waters for eels and river herring: a mediated modeling approach to assess receptivity to dam removal in the Hudson-Mohawk watershed.” 2/01/16 – 1/31/18, $132,780. Swedish Research Council FORMAS: “Losing track of time: dubious age determination of Baltic cod, probable causes and promising solution.” 3M SEK (approx. $353,000), 1/01/16 – 12/31/18. USGS: “Natal origins of humpback chub aggregations determined by otolith chemistry.” 7/1-13 – 3/31/17, $112,670. Virginia Sea Grant: “Impacts of large storm events on the early life stages of American Shad and the importance of non-mainstem habitat.” 7/1/2016-6/30/2017, $30,000.
Mark V. Lomolino PI - NSF – Of Mice and Mammoths: Toward a General Theory of Body Size Across Space and Time requested $420,681, received partial funding $100,000 for initial period of grant; August 2010 to 2016.
Gregory G. McGee McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Research Program. (PI, with M.K. Fierke), “Nutrient resources associated with establishment and long-term maintenance of emerald ash borer biocontrol agents.” - $53,860 total, $23,301 current year, 10/15-9/16. Partial support for D. Brennan (MS, started on grant support 5/16). McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Research Program, (CoPI with M.K. Fierke), “Restoration of Understory Vascular Plant and Pollinator Assemblages in Post-Agricultural Forests of Central New York.” $57,669 total, 8/15-9/17, $31,376 current year, support G. Griffiths, PhD student. Mianus River Gorge Preserve Graduate Research Assistant Program. Development of restoration protocols for native herbaceous plant species in post-agricultural second-growth forests. $15,000 total, $5000 current year, 4/15-4/18. Partial summer support for G. Griffiths, PhD student. 102
McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Research Program, (CoPI with S. McNulty, S. Farrell, R. Germain), “The sky is falling: invasive-induced forest biodiversity loss and evaluation of stand rehabilitation.” $56,604 total, 8/17-9/19. Wildlife Conservation Society Climate Adaptation Fund, co-PI w/ G. Sargiss (Nature Conservancy), P. Smallidge (Cornell Cooperative Extension), K. Ferrare (Cornell Cooperative Extension). “Setting northern New York forests on climate-adapted trajectories by improving regeneration and forest structure.” $166,925, 11/16-10/18.
Stacy A. McNulty Schlesinger, M., J. P. Gibbs and S. McNulty. Determining the importance of vernal pools across geophysical and urbanization gradients to inform regulation, conservation, and management. EPA Wetland Program Development Grant. $324,515. 1/1/16 - 12/31/18. McNulty, S. and J. Stella. McIntire-Stennis program. Beaver Influence on Vegetation Structure and Avian Diversity at Local and Landscape Scales. $52,027. 5/1/13 – 9/30/18. Rooks, M., S. McNulty, C. Beier, P. Hai, D. Patrick, and T. Howard. EPA Wetland Program Development Grant. Building a Monitoring Framework for Detecting Climate Change Effects on Wetlands in the Adirondack Park: Phase II. $865,848, $340,000 (ESF portion $73,527). 1/1/12 – 12/31/16. Beier, C., S. McNulty, P. Hirsch and A. Parker. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Application of GIS to Resource Inventory for Unit Management Planning, $1,300,000, $125,313, 6/1/03 – 8/31/16.
Lee A. Newman US Department of Agriculture; Nanoparticle Contamination of Agricultural Crop Species; $1,498,080; Mar 2011 to Mar 2017; JC White, X. Ma, L Newman and B. Xing. National Aeronautics and Space Administration; Development of Hyperspectral Imaging of Plants to Detect Contamination; $355,509; March 2011 to Dec 2017; current year $32,268;L Newman. Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation; Fellowship Exchange Student Support; $23,800; October 2016 to May 2017; L. Newman. Multiple Sponsors; New York State Biotechnology Symposium, $18,807.00; Dec 2016 to November 2017; Katherina Searing, L. Newman, A. Stipanovich, T. Amadon. Gifford Foundation; Construction Funds for Horticultural Therapy; $1000; June 2013 to Sept 2016; L. Newman. American Legion Ladies Auxillary; Funds for Horticultural Therapy; $2500; May 2013 to open ended; L. Newman. USDA McIntire-Stennis Program through ESF; Understanding the Role of Select Endophytic Bacteria in Enhanced Growth and Disease Resistance; $53,847, current year $22,673; June 2014 to August 2017; L. Newman. ESF Seed Grant; Isolation of Genetic Promoters to Increase Production of Plant-Based Biopharmaceuticals; $7,000; April 2015 to June 2017; L. Newman. US-Russia University Partnership Program (UPP) Eurasia Foundation; Modernizing Graduate Education at the University of Tyumen; $39,515; April 2016 to December 2016. L. Newman and G. Lanza
Dylan Parry 2017-2019. KL. Grayson, S. Agosta. D. Parry. Collaborative Research: Linking thermal tolerance to invasion dynamics: Climate and physiological capacity as regulators of geographical spread. National Science Foundation. Macrosystem Biology. $299,988. (Not sure if this grant – awarded 5/17 with August 2017 start date- goes here or in pending) 2015-2017. D. Parry Respite from a Rogue: Northern Hardwood Forests as a Refuge for Giant Silk Moths Threatened by Non-Target Biological Control. Northeast States Research Cooperative. 122,496. 103
2015-2017. D. Parry, P.C. Tobin and B.A. Aukema. Rapid, Recent Poleward Expansion at Northern Range Limits of a Major Invasive Species. $56,400. USDA McIntire-Stennis.
William A. Powell USDA-Biotechnology Risk Assessment Grant program (BRAG), Evaluating Environmental Impacts Of Maturing Transgenic American Chestnut Trees Relative To Chestnut Trees Produced By Conventional Breeding. Total $500,000, current year $38,900 (9/1/12-8/31/14 – no cost extension to 8/31/16). PI with co-PIs, Dr. Maynard, Dr. Parry, Dr. Briggs, Dr. Nowak, and Dr Tschaplinski (ORNL). Forest Health Initiative. Preparing for Long-term, Landscape Level Studies of American Chestnut Forests – travel and collaborator’s conference grant. $25,000 (10/1/16 – 9/30/17). PI. USDA IR-4 project. Regulatory studies for the transgenic American chestnut. $44,000 total, current year $15,000 (5/1/15-6/31/17). PI. Asking for a no cost extension to 9/30/17. New Crowd Funding Campaign, 10,000 Chestnut Challenge. $130,000 (no term date). PI. The American Chestnut Foundation, Stanback Grant. The American chestnut research. Total funding $530,000, current year $250,000 (7/1/16-6/30/17). PI. (being renewed this year, 2017, with possible renewals for 3 more years). New York State legislation line item. American chestnut research and restoration project. Total $200,000, current year $100,000 (7/1/15 – 6/30/17, renewed this year, 2017, for another $100K).PI. Mississippi Fish & Wildlife, Testing for deregulation of blight resistant American chestnut. Total $120,000, current year $60,000 (9/1/16-8/30/18). PI.
Neil H. Ringler U.S.Geological Survey, Restoration of Lake Ontario Native Fish Species, 2% CY PI, $378,580 (flow through to USGS Cortland), 7/30/14 – 8/31/17 NYDEC, Biological Condition Estimation for New York Lakes: Application and Evaluation of Lake Assessment Biological Metrics, 2%CY PI, $86,000, 8/24/17 – 8/23/17 NYS Economic Development (NYSTAR), Hi-Tech Match for Grant Acquisition: Cryo-Field Emission Transmission Electron Microscope, 1% CY PI, $215,000, 9/1/15 -8-31/18 Honeywell International Inc., Onondaga Lake Biological Assessment and Monitoring, 10% CY PI, $128,893, 7/01/16 – 6/30/17 USDA Forest Service, Enhanced Effectiveness of Planning and Managing (Moon Library lease), 7.5% CY, $13,500; 9/22/16 – 12/31/17
Rebecca J. Rundell Rundell, R.J. (PI). U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Endangered Species Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), “Removing the threat of stochastic extinction for the Chittenango ovate amber snail: A collaborative captive propagation effort to develop ex situ population in New York State,” $90,000, 4/17/2017 – 2/28/2018. Rundell, R.J. (PI) and Q. Wheeler (co-PI) National Science Foundation Collections in Support of Biological Research (CSBR). DBI-Biological Research Collections. Program Solicitation National Science Foundation 15-577. CSBR: Natural History: Securing, Expanding, and Making Accessible the Roosevelt Wild Life Collections at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. $491,591. (6/1/2017-5/31/2019) Rundell, R.J. (PI). Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Museums for America Program. Submitted 30 November 2015. Roosevelt Wild Life Collections. $118,694. (10/1/2016-9/30/2018).
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Kimberly L. Schulz Great Lakes Research Consortium, Analysis of a Large Multi-Lake Dataset to Advance Understanding and Management of Harmful Algal Blooms in New York State Lakes; Matthews, D.A., Schulz, K.L., S.A. Kishbaugh, and N.J. Mueller; $14,838 ($5,000 to KLS); 3/31/2016-3/31/2017; extended to 3/31/2018 Owasco Lake Enhanced Watershed Restoration Action Plan (DEC, Cayuga Community College), Development of Monitoring Buoys to Provide Real-Time Surveillance of Harmful Algal Blooms in Owasco Lake (Schulz subcomponent: Food web monitoring program); Schulz, K.L. and Upstate Freshwater Institute; $22,000 to KLS, $47,320 to UFI; summer 2016-summer 2018 (final dates awaiting various DEC, permitting and QAPP approvals at several levels); money arrives on campus summer 2017 due to delays in contracting from OWLA to UFI New York State Aquatic Invasive Species Spread Prevention Program; C-OFOKLA (Cortland-Onondaga Federation of Kettle Lake Associations), Cortland County Soil and Water Conservation District (CCSWCD) and SUNY-ESF (subcontractor); $99,039.40 to CCSWC, with subcontracts to COFOKLA and SUNY ESF, May 2016-April 2019
Donald J. Stewart Center for Biodiversity in Amazonia (http://www.labex-ceba.fr), Is the bony-tongue fish Arapaima (Teleostei, Osteoglossiformes) really a monotypic genus? US$ 12,651 [11,292 Euros], P.I. - C. Tougard, Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier, France, and Co-P.I.s D.J. Stewart, F. Justy, P. Gaubert, and C.R. García-Dávila (May 2017 – Feb. 2018). EPA-F2013-STAR-F1: Aquatic Systems Ecology; Unraveling linkages between river floodplain dynamics, fish populations, and habitat structure in the Amazon. $10,000 + Graduate Research Fellowship for Daniel Gurdak (Sept., 2014 – Aug., 2016).
Stephen A. Teale USDA APHIS “Targeted Identification of Pheromones and Related Attractants for Invasive Cerambycid Beetles from Asia” PIs: Millar, J.G., L. Hanks & S. Teale $163,074 01-SEP-2015 To 31-AUG-2016 ($34,609 to SUNY-ESF). USDA APHIS “Targeted Identification of Pheromones and Related Attractants for Invasive Cerambycid Beetles from Asia” PIs: Millar, J.G., L. Hanks & S. Teale $190,218 01-SEP-2016 To 31-AUG-2017 (38,192 to SUNY-ESF). Alphawood Foundation, PI: Teale, S. “Asian Longhorn Beetle Research at SUNY-ESF” $ 95,078; MAY- 2015 To MAY-2017 Alphawood Foundation, PI: Teale, S. “Asian Longhorn Beetle Research at SUNY-ESF” $ 95,895; 1- FEB-2016 To 31-JUL-2017 Helmsley Trust/International Community Foundation, PI: C. Causton. “Protect Galapagos Landbirds from Invasive Species” ~$800,000/3 yr. $84,123 to ESF (23-NOV-2016 To 22-NOV-2017). Helmsley Trust/International Community Foundation, PI: C. Causton. “Protect Galapagos Landbirds from Invasive Species” ~$800,000/3 yr. $98,350 to ESF (31-NOV-2015 To 31-OCT-2016).
J. Scott Turner Human Frontiers Science Program, From swarm intelligence to living buildings. Novel concepts of managing internal climates; $1,350,000; December 2012 to 2016, PI/coPI’s? National Institutes of Health, Modeling termite construction behavior; $594,343; September 2014 to August 2019; PI/coPI’s?
Alexander Weir National Science Foundation, Microfungi Collections Consortium, Grants to Advance Digitization of Biological Collections; ESF Portion - $49,748
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Christopher M. Whipps Kent ML, Whipps CM, Dolan B, Tanguay R. NIH Resource Related Research Projects for Development of Animal Models and Related Materials (R24) (07/1/2013 -06/30/2017) $858,720 (SUNY Subaward $370,950). Control and Impact of Diseases in Zebrafish. Role: Conduct outbreak investigations, characterize Mycobacterium species, assess disinfection and treatment options. Cohen J, Ryan S, Whipps CM. New York DEC (8/1/12-4/30/2017) $854,516. Factors Limiting New England Cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis) Populations in New York: Implications for Habitat Restoration. (5% AY) Role: Genotyping cottontail rabbits. Alger KE, Whipps CM. New York DEC (6/1/14-4/30/17) $25,500. Lymphoproliferative Disease Virus (LPDV) in Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) in New York State, U.S. Whipps CM. New York DEC (04/01/14-4/30/17) $132,222. Increasing Capacity for Genetic Analysis at SUNY ESF Cohen J, Whipps CM, Ryan SJ. USDA-CREES/McIntire-Stennis Program (8/15/2015 – 9/30/2017). $51,042. Assessing Use of Newly-Restored Early Successional Forest by the Imperiled New England Cottontail, Using Genetic Dispersal Analysis. 106
Appendix G. Service to Department, College, and University
John D. Castello Associate Chair Member, President's Campus Climate Task Force (April 2016-present)
Jonathan B. Cohen Faculty advisor for student chapter of The Wildlife Society CCAC GPAC, chair IACUC ESF Committee on Curriculum Reviewer for Sussman Internship Applications
Stewart A.W. Diemont Assessment Committee, Environmental Biology Undergraduate Program Hiring Committee for Director of College Libraries Hiring Committee for Assistant Professor, Landscape Architecture Department, External Committee Member Graduate Program in Environmental Science, Ecosystem Restoration, Area Leader Center for Native People and the Environment, Advisory Board Academic Governance Awards Committee Academic Governance Library Committee, Chair Academic Governance Executive Committee Society for Ecological Restoration, ESF Student Chapter, Adviser
Martin Dovciak Conservation Biology Major representative, Spring Open House for accepted and prospective students. Search Committee for Instructional Support Specialist (Gen. Biology, Plant Sci., Microbiology, Genetics) Graduate Program Advisory Committee, member Scientist-in-Residence and Roosevelt Forest Ecologist, Roosevelt Wild Life Station Regular meetings with visiting prospective graduate students and visiting scientists (I met one-on-one with all visiting candidates for both searches for a plan/tree physiologist both at ESF/FNRM and SU. Other examples include a meeting with Dr. Ortiz and W. Viggiano from the Galapagos Program of the IES). Graduate Program in Environmental Science–Ecosystem Restoration Program, member Graduate Program in Environmental Science–Environmental Monitoring and Modeling Program, member CSTEP program mentor Young Forest-Wildlife working group, member Beech Working Group, member Center for Urban Environment, member
John M. Farrell Served as Chair of the Environmental Toxicologist Search Committee Brought on three new graduate students – one to be co-advised with Dr. John Stella and one co-advised with Dr. Brian Leydet Served on Promotion and Tenure Committee Mentored an Assistant Professor in EFB Reviewed teaching performance of several faculty seeking promotion/tenure Hosted AFS major potluck meeting with graduating seniors 107
Served as Director, TIBS; maintained facility, boats, gear, equipment, hired and supervised staff, students and volunteers, managed long-term data collection and research program, conducted community outreach. Hosted a group from Russia from Tyumen University brought by Drs. Lee Newman and Don Leopold at TIBS. Gave presentation with students at ESF College Foundation Board meeting in Clayton NY Working on agreement between Thousand Islands Land Trust, the Research Foundation (W. Nicholson) ESF (D. Artz) that led to construction of a new mainland research and storage facility for TIBS. Roosevelt Wild Life Station (RWLS) – Scientist in Residence – provided input to RWLS initiatives; gave updates on research and educational activities related to RWLS PI on numerous grants; policy/agreements between RF and outside organizations
Shannon L. Farrell GPAC committee Dept awards: Baldassarre Award, coordinator 2014-present Chamberlain Award, coordinator 2014-present Dence award, coordinator Fall 2015- present Open House/ Accepted Student Reception: one in Fall 2016 and 1 in Spring 2017 Undergrad independent project (EFB 498) advising: Makayla McCormick. Featured faculty speaker at convocation Aug 2016 IQAS committee Fall 2013-present Fink Fellowship Committee Fall 2013-present. Birding Club faculty advisor CSTEP Mentor: Coordinated birding for 2nd annual Field Days event
Danilo D. Fernando Director, EFB Graduate Program Member, Graduate Program Advisory Committee EFB New Graduate Student Orientation, Fall 2016 EFB New Graduate Student Orientation, Spring 2017 SU Biology Dept Faculty Search Committee, Fall 2016
Melissa K. Fierke Graduate Program Advisory Committee – Revised the EFB Graduate Student Handbook Scholarship committees: Roskin undergraduate award to outstanding female senior Chun Wang to outstanding female senior undergraduate award Outstanding PhD student award Lanier, Stegeman, and Simeone Endowed Entomology Fellowships Secretary, Faculty Governance Faculty Governance Executive Committee Co-Chair, Bicycle Safety Committee Sustainability Committee Athletics Committee First Year Experience Committee Graduate Assistant Colloquium on Teaching and Learning Blackboard training ESF in the HS biology course, in collaboration with Outreach and local high school teachers and administrators, now offered in 4 local high schools December and May Senior Soirees
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Jacqueline L. Frair Associate Director, Roosevelt Wild Life Station Drafted annual report for the station. Working with the ESF College Foundation, the Camp Fire Club of America and the NY State DEC, I was instrumental in securing a $1 million endowment to fund a named professorship in wildlife conservation at ESF. Search to fill professorship to begin August 2017. Delivered second externally-sponsored RWLS field course at the Lucky Star Ranch. Assisted with other fundraising and outreach efforts. Roosevelt Wildlife Collection Supervised curator, Ron Giegerich. Curriculum Coordinator for Wildlife Science major Worked with Jonathan Cohen and Shannon Farrell to revised and deliver the third annual exit exam to graduating seniors. Worked with Jonathan Cohen, Shannon Farrell, and James Gibbs to evaluated faculty and course needs in the Wildlife Science and Conservation Biology program. Submitted a proposal to the administration to meet current needs and support future program growth through a series of programmatic changes and the addition of one new faculty member. Served on search committee for Major Gifts manager in the ESF College Foundation, summer/fall 2016.
James P. Gibbs Director, Roosevelt Wild Life Station Member, Promotion and Tenure Committee Coordinator, Conservation Biology Major Associate Chair
Hyatt C. Green GPAC, Evaluation of graduate applicant ranking system, Spring 2017 Biotechnology Major Representative for EFB Spring Open House 2017 EFB202 Project Judge at Cranberry Lake, Aug 2016 Instructional Support Specialist Hiring Committee Summer 2017 Attended search talks for Toxicologist postion
Thomas R. Horton Promotion and Tenure Committee Manage plant growth chambers in Illick Hall 308 Participated in the Toxicology search Lowe-Wilcox/Zabel/Morrell student awards committee, chair I put together a large dataset of General Ecology student grades for the 2016-2017 assessment Participated in searches for Plant Physiology positions at FNRM and SU Biology. I include the SU Biology search because of the importance of Plant Physiology to the botanical research and student training in EFB.
Robin W. Kimmerer Co-director, Cranberry Lake Biological Station 2016 Chair, Cranberry Lake Advisory Committee Peer classroom evaluation for Promotion and Tenure Committee Mentor for junior faculty member Coordinate Chun June Wang Award
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Director, Center for Native Peoples and the Environment. Highlights of the year include: Organizing and hosting an historic 4 day gathering of 70 indigenous women from 15 different nations for the “Voices of Maple Nation: Indigenous Women’s Climate Change Summit” Collaborative development and dissemination of the “Indigenous Science Declaration” engaging the indigenous science community and presented at a national and international level for the March For Science which gained extensive recognition Design and delivery of an EPA funded environmental education program based on Haudenosaunee traditional environmental philosophy Recruiting 5 new Native American graduate students for our new Sowing Synergy graduate initiative in Fall 2017 Development of a new course and curriculum in Biocultural Restoration Hosting five on-campus educational events Numerous collaborations with tribal nations and institutions Details are available in the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment Annual Report (www.esf.edu/nativepeoples) College Diversity Committee Promotion and Tenure Committee, outside member, Environmental Studies College-wide Awards Committee Assist Admissions Office with recruitment strategies for Native American students ESF Representative to Great Law of Peace Educational Center Advisor to Primitive Pursuits student organization CSTEP Mentor Minor Coordinator, Native Peoples and the Environment Coordinate with Development Office on initiatives for Center for Native Peoples and the Environment Honor’s Thesis advisor Alumni weekend nature walk Alumni Weekend organization (with collaborators) at Cranberry Lake Bio Station
Donald J. Leopold Chair, Department of Environmental and Forest Biology General Summary of Regular Duties Supervisor for about 35 faculty, two Secretary 1 positions (incl. my administrative assistant), two Instructional Support Specialists and other staff Related: promoting faculty and staff within and outside of the department and facilitating the many good ideas that regularly emanate from faculty and staff Manage allocation of state, Research Foundation (research incentives), and College Foundation accounts Manage allocation of 40 state graduate teaching assistantships Convene regular department meetings Represent department at biweekly Academic Council meetings Work with Development Office for fundraising Responsible for making sure that all regular and new undergraduate and graduate courses are offered as listed in the College Catalog or webpage; main contact with Registrar for any course changes. Work with Physical Plant on all planned renovations and emergency repairs Represent department at all college open houses and other department events Prepare annual department report Chair, ESF Vice President of Research search committee, 2016 Member, Search Committee for ESF Major Gifts Officer, May 2017 to present Member, Core Team for Academic Research Building (since March 2010) 110
Member, Core Team for Roosevelt Wild Life Education and Research Center in ESF’s Gateway Center (since Fall 2014) Roosevelt Field Ecologist, Roosevelt Wild Life Station, SUNY-ESF Participant in the Environmental Health undergraduate level curriculum group. Organizer and Host, Dale L. Travis lectures, twice each year. Presenter, Graduate Colloquium August 2015, “A Vision of Excellence in Teaching and Scholarship” Presenter (twice, on campus trees and shrubs) for annual Alumni, Family, and Friends BBQ, October 2016 ESF Fall Field Days Event, Tree identification on campus and in Oakwood Cemetery, two walks, September 2016
Brian F. Leydet Environmental Toxicologist Search Committee, Spring 2017 Participated in Accepted Student Receptions, March & April 2017 SUNY-ESF Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC), Founding Member Assisted in writing a funded SUNY Empire Innovation Program Grant- Joint submission with SUNY- Upstate ($1,500,000, ESF award: $600,000)
Karin E. Limburg Member, Graduate Program Advisory Committee Member, College-wide P&T Review Committee Member, Adirondack Ecological Center advisory board Provost search committee
Mark V. Lomolino Spotlight on Student Research Judge Academic Standards Committee, EFB representative Spring 2017
Gregory G. McGee EFB Undergraduate Curriculum Director ENB Curriculum Coordinator EFB Curriculum Coordination and Assessment Committee CLBS Advisory Committee CLBS Reunion, August 5-6. ESF Academic Standards Sub-Committee Financial Aid Task Force CSTEP Advisory Board Led ‘CONNECTIONS’ pre-orientation forest walk at Green Lakes State Park (8/22) Workshop on Laboratory Report Writing (9/27) Workshop on Metacognition & Study Habits (4/26) ESF Writing Resource Center – Technical Writing Workshop for Tutors (w/ N. Abrams (9/29) ESF in the Classroom Coordinated and provided instructional support to local high school sections of General Bioly I & II Laboratory. Led discussion on careers in Biology/Environmental Science for four separate school groups (10/14, 10/28, 11/18, 12/2) 2016 ESF Graduate Assistant Teaching Colloquium (8/25) Facilitated two sessions on grading papers and written work. Jamesville Community College Environmental Science Department, External Program Review Team.
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Stacy A. McNulty Associate Director, Adirondack Ecological Center Council for Geospatial Modeling and Analysis (CGMA)
Lee A. Newman Course and Curriculum Assessment Committee member. Core Team Member for the Academic Research Building. Fall and Spring Transfer Student Advising Point person for deionized water treatment system Spoke at EFB and BTC orientation seminars Pre-Med Advisor, Environmental Biology students Chun Wang Award Committee, member Tenure and Promotion Committee Member, Environmental Chemistry Faculty Search Committee Chair, Committee on Research Member, Academic Governance Executive Committee Coordinator, Environmental Health major Curriculum group participant of Environmental Science Mentor for Undergraduate Honors and CSTEP programs Spoke at Environmental Science Orientation seminar Lead in developing MD/PhD program with Upstate Medical University Advisor, 3 + 3 Doctor of Physical Therapy Program Lead in developing NIEHS grant program Curriculum group participant of Environmental Science Coupled Natural and Human Systems Coordinator, Environmental Science’s Health and the Environment focus area Member of Hill Collaboration Nervous System Group Member of Hill Collaboration Cancer Group Member of Hill Collaboration Wounded Warrior Group Chair, Biotechnology Research Symposium organizing committee Supervisor, Environmental Health/Environmental Medicine Biotechnology Core Facility Advisor: Food Security Minor Advisor: Environmental Health Minor Lead, in developing 2+2 joint diploma programs with Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand, in the majors of Environmental Biology, Biotechnology and Environmental Health Developing a collaborative program between Environmental Health group and the NYS Department of Health at the Wadsworth Center in Albany Development of ESF/Brookhaven National Lab Research and Education Collaborations Development of Research Collaboration program between ESF and Tyumen State University, Russia Development of joint MS and PhD degree programs between ESF and Tyumen State University, Russia COIL participant Development of SUNY/Brookhaven National Lab Research and education collaborations Developing a collaborative program between the Environmental Health group, and the University of Albany Department of Environmental Health
Dylan Parry Director – Graduate Program in Environmental Science (January 2016 – to date) GPAC – committee member Leroy C. Stegeman Award in Invertebrate Ecology – Chair and award presenter Burgess Outstanding PhD Award – Chair and award presenter. Search Committee Member, Tree Physiologist (FNRM) Reviewer, P. Hersch tenure package 112
William A. Powell Coordinator for the undergraduate Biotechnology major Awards Ceremony: Presented the Distinguished Scholar Award in Biotechnology. Served on the Applied Environmental Tree Physiologist (AETP) search committee which successfully hired an outstanding new faculty member. Director of the American Chestnut Research and Restoration project Director of the Council on Biotechnology in Forestry Roosevelt Wild Life Station Scientist in Residence IBC (Institutional Biosafety Committee) member
Neil H. Ringler Ex-officio Committee on Research McIntire-Stennis Authorized Technical Representative Vice Provost and Executive Director Onondaga Lake Science Center SUNY/RF Research Council SUNY/RF Vice Presidents for Research/Officers SUNY/RF Network of Excellence Co-leader with SUNY Stony Brook, Albany, Binghamton SUNY Distinguished Academy; SUNY Senate Committee on Research and Graduate Education Co-Director Hill Collaboration Environmental Medicine with UMU, SU, ESF, VA Advisory Council, Biotechnology Accelerator Planning Team, Center of Excellence Biofuels Laboratory Planning Team, Institute for Environmental Health and Environmental Medicine (2020 Challenge Grant) Planning Team Worldwide Canal Conference (scheduled Sept 24-28 2017 Syracuse NY)
Rebecca J. Rundell Head Curator, Roosevelt Wild Life Collections (development, planning and oversight of Collections) Worked with Roosevelt Wild Life Collections Manager Ron Giegerich on plans for permitting, acquisition, preparation and curation of vertebrate specimens. Supervised Roosevelt Wild Life Collections Assistant in developing and implementing Specify database for RWLC Worked extensively with architects (QPK) and Brian Boothroyd on new museum building and associated classroom design and materials, planning, safety, and workflow Leadership committee of the Roosevelt Wild Life Station, contributing to e.g. visioning, strategic planning and providing Collections expertise Scientist-in-Residence and Roosevelt Invertebrate Zoologist, Roosevelt Wild Life Station, SUNY-ESF EFB Herbarium Remounting Project, co-supervisor (with Dr. Alex Weir); handled isolation of pesticide issues in herbarium in Fall 2016 Biotechnology Major Committee Provide mentoring to undergraduate students in the Marine Biology Minor led by Dr. Kim Schulz EFB prospective student open house (Conservation Biology Major Representative). Gave educational tours of Roosevelt Wild Life Collections whale bone room to parents and prospective students. 29 October 2016 Facilitated loan and preparation of Lonesome George Galápagos tortoise specimen with James Gibbs and Galápagos Conservancy Photographed Lonesome George Galápagos tortoise specimen for archival purposes, both during entire preparation process, and post-preparation. Also facilitated additional promotional footage through ESF Communications Office. Contributed to official report for the Ecuadorian government on Lonesome George Galápagos tortoise specimen; provided input related to the specimen and helped facilitate visit from Galápagos Conservancy President. 113
Roosevelt Wild Life Collections Education and Research Center exhibit planning and design (with Dr. James Gibbs) Roosevelt Wild Life Collections Education and Research Center Building Design and Architecture, as well as advising on equipment needs and specifications Roosevelt Wild Life Station Collections Committee (leadership of Honorary Advisory Council members) Provided input on Half-Earth proposal to MacArthur Foundation (Sept. 2016) Destiny USA, Traveling and Other Exhibit Explorations (donors, specimen acquisition, design, and implementation) The Revelator environmental news site (Center for Biological Diversity; therevelator.org): Invited by editor John Platt to contribute essays and issues Rundell Lab (EFB, Illick Hall) hosts President Quentin Wheeler’s remotely operable digital microscope to facilitate global cybertaxonomy
Kimberly L. Schulz Ecotoxicologist Search Committee member EFB Course and Curriculum Assessment Committee Chair Faculty mentor for Greg McGee, Beth Folta Occasional participant on GPAC Vice President of Research committee member Capital Planning Committee Member Nautilus Club Advisor Environmental Science advisor and Curriculum Group Participant in Division of Environmental Science area of Watershed Science EFB representative to the Water Resources Minor Faculty advisor to the Nautilus Club (student marine science club) Marine Science Minor coordinator Member of AEC advisory board Roosevelt Wild Life Station Scientist-in-Residence: Roosevelt Aquatic Ecologist Coordinating effort to develop CIRTAS – Center for Integrated Research and Teaching in Aquatic Science, to find funding to develop a collaborative aquatic science experimental facility for teaching and research at ESF, and participating in efforts to further organize aquatics group in EFB
Donald J. Stewart Coordinator, Aquatic and Fisheries Science Major.
Stephen A. Teale Promotion and Tenure Committee (member, Chair) Biosafety Committee (member)
J. Scott Turner Chair, Technology Committee (through August 2016). Member, Technology Committee (September 2016 through December 2016. Chair. Presidential Advisory Group: Building a Culture of Media at ESF. Chair, Presidential Advisory Group. A Biomimicry Bachelors Degree at ESF
Alex Weir Cranberry Lake Advisory Committee Curator of EFB Herbaria Active participant in EFB majors for Forest Health, Conservation Biology, and Environmental Biology Member, Lowe-Wilcox, Zabel, and Morrell Award Committees
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Christopher M. Whipps ESF Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (Aug 2011-present). Chair: Christopher Whipps ESF Honors Program Faculty Council (Aug 2011-present). Director: William Shields. ESC Health and the Environment Curriculum Group Participant (Mar 2011-present) ESF Academic Research Building Core Team (Apr 2010-present) SUNY Center for Applied Microbiology (Feb 2013 – present) Director: Christopher Whipps 115
Appendix H. Unfunded Service to Governmental Agencies, Public Interest Groups, etc.
Jonathan B. Cohen Advisor to the U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan (US Fish and Wildlife Service)
Stewart A.W. Diemont Municipality of San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. Natural wastewater treatment plant system design and siting, rain water capture, stream and wetland restoration; consulting to first festival of water Municipality of Vitoria Gasteiz, Spain. Green infrastructure design and socio-biological flows: biolocultural restoration in the neighborhood of Zabalgana, Vitoria Gasteiz, Spain. Village of Lacanja Chansayab, Chiapas, Mexico. Biocultural restoration project: Creating a Lacandon Maya field guide for educating children about their own traditional ecological knowledge
Martin Dovciak Provided an interview to P. Kitchen, Newsday.com on the effects of weather on pollen loads Shingle Shanty Preserve and Research Station, Adirondacks, NY. Vegetation monitoring (informal advisor). Regular interaction with the public/answering of inquiries on plant ecology, taxonomy, global change, and sustainability.
John M. Farrell USGS – contributions to their educational program including ESF student visits to the USGS Lake Ontario Biological Station, Oswego NY and the Tunison Laboratory, Cortland NY. NY Chapter American Fisheries Society – Native Fishes Committee Save The River, Inc. Clayton NY, Muskellunge Release Program Thousand Islands Land Trust, events and land stewardship and research partnerships Northeast Underwater Explorers (NEUE) Citizen science programing Project Baseline, diver citizen science program Muskies Inc., tours, presentations, research and management activities Ducks Unlimited, proposal development, project management USGS, educational activities, research partnerships
Shannon L. Farrell NY Fish and Wildlife Management Board. SUNY-ESF representative.
Melissa K. Fierke Serve on the City of Syracuse Emerald Ash Borer Task Force attending meetings with other collaborators, e.g., the Syracuse City Arborist, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Onondaga Director of the Environment. Answered questions from the public on insects/arthropods throughout the reporting period. Serve on the Advisory Board for New York Natural Heritage’s efforts on native New York pollinators.
Jacqueline L. Frair International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation, Applied Sciences Division – appointed Deputy Director in April 2017
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James P. Gibbs On-going unfunded consultation with “COmMON” Foundation Holland: External Science Advisor for 5 year project focused on application of Groasis / Waterboxx Technology for ecosystem restoration and enhancing agricultural production in arid areas
Hyatt C. Green Onondaga Lake Watershed Bacterial Trackdown Working Group
Thomas R. Horton Scientific advisor – Central New York Mycological Society Scientific advisory board – Mianus River Gorge Preserve
Robin W. Kimmerer Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation Great Law of Peace Education Center Initiative, Steering Committee Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force Spring Creek Project for Nature, Philosophy and the Written Word (Senior Fellow) Center for Nature and Humans, Senior Fellow The Wild Center, Tupper Lake NY
Donald J. Leopold Vice Chair, Board of Trustees, The Wetland Trust, Inc. National Technical Committee for Wetland Vegetation, northeastern U.S. representative from academia to this US Army Corp of Engineers advisory committee, January 2007 to present. Upper Susquehanna Coalition, consulting on various wetland issues Frequent contributor, upon request, to the Syracuse Post-Standard Frequently answer questions from city of Syracuse employees regarding city trees, park plantings, and green infrastructure projects Numerous local and national TV and radio interviews including interviews on fall color, Gateway Building green roof, drought, invasive species, allergy season, and native plant species; including live interview with The Weather Channel August 10 on emerging fall colors
Brian F. Leydet Judge for the 2017 Environmental Challenge, May 23rd Syracuse NY
Karin E. Limburg TNC committee on Targeted Ecosystem Characteristics – restoration of Hudson River tributaries (dam removal) NOAA Technical Working Group on River Herring Hudson River Estuary Program committee on Gays Point wetland restoration Advisory board LabEx COTE (center of excellence), University of Bordeaux, France Co-chair, Continental Margins Working Group of IMBeR (= Integrated Marine Biosphere Research, an international collaborative scientific project; www.imber.info) Member, Global Ocean Oxygen Network (GO2NE), a working group under UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission
Gregory G. McGee The Nature Conservancy, Central & Northern NY Chapter, Tug Hill Forest Properties Management Advisory Committee.
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Stacy A. McNulty Cohosted Tyumen University (Siberia) field station delegation visit to Newcomb Various presentations on field science, research and monitoring to visiting school groups
Lee A. Newman Judge for International Genius Olympiad, SUNY Oswego, 16 June 2015 Multiple Roles for Clear Path for Veterans, Chittenango, NY Strategic Planning Committee Property Committee Kitchen garden design, installation and maintenance Natural Play area design Director of Horticultural Therapy Program, Syracuse Veterans Administration Hospital Director of Horticultural Therapy Program, Brookdale of Manlius, an Alzheimer care facility
William A. Powell Advisor to the NY chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation Science advisory board member of the national American Chestnut Foundation. Chair of the 3BUR committee whose charge is to find ways to integrate biotechnology, biocontrol, and breeding programs.
Rebecca J. Rundell Representative-at-Large, Board of Directors. Natural Science Collections Alliance (part of the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS)) (Term: 3 years beginning Fall 2014). [The NSC Alliance is a national organization that influences policies and resources for institutions that house collections (e.g. connecting to congress, NSF and other agencies.] Participated in Board of Directors meetings. Contributed to governmental advocacy, visioning, mission statement and strategic planning for the organization and represented university Collections, particularly small university Collections. Provide land snail ecology, taxonomy, and field expertise and field supplies to Island Conservation [Island Conservation is an NGO that works to prevent extinctions by removing invasive species from islands.]
Kimberly L. Schulz Upstate Freshwater Institute Board Member October 2011-current Onondaga County Water Protection Scientific Advisory Board 2012-current Assisted Otisco Lake Association with grant proposal preparation for control of invasive species
J. Scott Turner Member. Science Advisory Board. Cheetah Conservation Fund. Video production services, Tully Arts Council
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Appendix I. Unfunded Service to Professional Societies and Organizations
Jonathan B. Cohen The Waterbird Society, Chair of Conservation Committee
Martin Dovciak International Association for Vegetation Science (IAVS)- Editorial Board Member New York Climate Change Science Clearinghouse (NYCCSC)- Sector Expert: Agriculture and Forestry Mountain Research Initiative- Expert Database Member New York Invasive Species Research Institute- Expert Database Member
John M. Farrell American Fisheries Society (AFS), International Association of Great Lakes Researchers (IAGLR)
Shannon L. Farrell The Wildlife Society Elected Eastern Region Rep for the University Education Working Group Early Career Professionals working group team Special Recognition and Honorary Membership committee
Jacqueline L. Frair The Wildlife Society College and University Wildlife Education Working Group (member, 2011-present)
James P. Gibbs Board member, The Wetland Trust Board member, Altai Assistance Project Board member, Nine Mile Creek Conservation Council
Thomas R. Horton Student Awards Committee, Mycological Society of America. 2013-2017. Chair 2017
Robin W. Kimmerer American Indian Science and Engineering Society “Lighting the Path” Mentor
Donald J. Leopold Vice-chair, board of directors, The Wetland Trust
Karin E. Limburg American Fisheries Society, Estuaries Section president (2015-2017) Co-sponsor of two symposia at the 2017 annual AFS meeting, Tampa (August) Led a Section-based, by-invitation contribution to a special issue on climate change in inland waters, Fisheries Magazine (July 2017) American Fisheries Society, Governing Board member American Fisheries Society, President-elect, New York Chapter (2017) Board member, Hudson River Environmental Society Committee member, Margaret A. Davis Award in coastal stewardship – Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation (CERF) Nominator for 3 awards in American Fisheries Society
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Lee A. Newman Secretary, Organization of Biological Field Stations Board Member, Northern New York Audubon Working Group Co-Chair, Northeastern Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation
Dylan Parry Member, New York State Invasive Species Advisory Council (Not sure whether this should be listed here or as unfunded governmental service (or in both). It does have a designated legislative charter and is composed of professionals. Member, New York Forest Health Advisory Group. Share information, collaborate and coordinate activities of academic and government agencies involving major threats to the health of New York’s forests. National Gypsy Moth Management Board. Member, Program Committee for Annual Meeting.
Rebecca J. Rundell Member and Specialist, IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Species Survival Commission, Molluscs
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Appendix J. Funded Service to Governmental Agencies, Industrial and Commercial Groups, Public Interest Groups, etc.
Stewart Diemont City of Syracuse and MLK Elementary School. With graduate and undergraduate students from ESF, educated elementary school students on green infrastructure through experimental and display rain gardens along the Creek Walk near the Inner Harbor of Syracuse.
Martin Dovciak New York Power Authority. Contributing to the development of guidelines on the effectiveness of cleaning techniques for controlling transport of invasive exotic plants on power line rights-of-way in New York by vegetation management crews. New York State DEC, Cornell Cooperative Extension. Contributing to the development of public outreach and citizen science component of the project on the impacts of deer on forests of New York State.
John M. Farrell DEC – numerous activities related to long-term research partnership Great Lakes Fisheries Commission – contributed reports to the GLFC Lake Ontario Report and information towards the annual meeting. USFWS – Research and monitoring activities related to Fish Habitat Conservation Strategy and habitat enhancement projects.
Shannon L. Farrell Lesser Prairie Chicken conservation planning: Review of Relist Petition. Multiple stakeholders including USFWS, Environmental Defense Fund, and Oil and Gas Industry partners. Freshwater mussels in Texas: evaluating available science to identify needs, risks, and opportunities for conservation planning. River Authorities in conjunction with multiple stakeholders including USFWS, Environmental Defense Fund, and Oil and Gas Industry partners.
Jacqueline L. Frair Industrial Economics, Ltd. – consulted on environmental impact analysis research.
James P. Gibbs Participant, Montpelier - Design Congress - October 10-12 2017, Nelson Byrd Woltz LSA and The Montpelier Foundation. General Electric Corporation (on-going consultation regarding wildlife research on Upper Hudson River) Janice Parker Landscape Architects (on-going consultation regarding property restoration, Southampton, Long Island) Galapagos Conservancy (on-going consultation as co-leader of Galapagos Conservancy’s Giant Tortoise Restoration Initiative and as Galapagos Conservancy’s Adjunct Scientist)
Thomas R. Horton Project at the Albany Pine Bush Preserve to help with pine restoration effort
Robin W. Kimmerer Great Lakes Intertribal Fish and Wildlife Commission, consultant on Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Climate Change Consultant/Collaborator: Salish Kootenai Tribal College NASA Grant: Living Landscapes."
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Donald J. Leopold Project (with J. Gibbs) on Long Island for Janice Parker Landscape Architects, on restoring a degraded parcel of land after we made a biological assessment.
William A. Powell Served on USDA NIFA Biotech Risk Assessment Grant panel, 6/21/16 – 6/23/16
Rebecca J. Rundell Sotheby’s. Consult on conservation status (CITES, etc.) for art objects and artifacts that include invertebrates
Kimberly L. Schulz Assisted C-OFOKLA on educational outreach for invasive species grant
Stephen A. Teale Provided forensic analysis of extensive wood boring insect damage to cabinetry in support of plaintiff’s law suit.
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Appendix K. Presentations to the Public
Martin Dovciak Invited webinar for CEATI International Inc., AND (2) Invited workshop lecture for New York Society of American Foresters, Annual Meeting.
John M. Farrell Farrell, J. M. 2016. The ESF Thousand Islands Biological Station Long-Term Aquatic Research in a Changing Environment. Dinner Speaker. ESF College Foundation Board Meeting, Clayton NY (40 attendees) Farrell, J. M. 2016. Managing Fisheries in a changing environment: Long term studies on the St. Lawrence River Depauville Free Library Lecture Series. (25 attendees). Farrell, J. M. 2016. The St. Lawrence River Ecosystem Long-Term Research in a Changing Environment. Chippewa Bay Community Association (40 attendees). Farrell, J. M. 2016. Aquatic Research in the Upper St. Lawrence River: Long-term Studies in a Changing Environment. Wellesley Island Nature Center, NYS Parks and Recreation, lecture series (40 participants). Walton, S.E, J.M. Farrell and S.J. Cooke. 2017. Seasonal spatial ecology of age-0 Esocids in nursery embayments of the St. Lawrence River. Oral presentation and poster presented at: Cape Vincent Dive Club Meeting. Cape Vincent, NY. Save The River! and LaFargeville Central Schools. In The Schools Program. Welcome to TIBS teachers tour, presentation and interpretive program. Clayton NY. (20 participants). Antique Boat Museum, Campers Program. Welcome to TIBS! Presentation and tour. (10 participants Thousand Islands Land Trust, Ichthyologist for a Day – led children ages 5-12 and adults through a series of modules on fish and river ecology on the St. Lawrence River (40 participants) Thousand Islands Biological Station, numerous tours to community members throughout the season (~100 participants). Thousand Islands Land Trust Zenda Farms Picnic, Provided live fish and poster displays as part of community event (June 2015; ~250 attendees) Thousand Islands Land Trust, Grindstone Island Informational Session, gave presentation and answered questions. (20 participants) Muskies Inc. Canada International Fishing Day. Interpretive program and tour of TIBS. (25 participants). Muskies Inc. Canada. Meeting and visit of TIBS Muskellunge Research Program. Led to feature article in Muskies magazine (>10,000 subscribers) on muskellunge conservation and management efforts by TIBS and the St. Lawrence River.
Shannon L. Farrell WCNY TV Panel discussion on the topic of the Montezuma Wildlife Refuge eagle statue raising. 10/7/2016
Melissa K. Fierke N. Piedmonte, S. Shaw, M. Prusinski, M.K. Fierke. Environmental features associated with blacklegged tick density and tick-borne disease prevalence in Onondaga County. TNT Dewitt Community Meeting. Dewitt, New York. December 2016. Oral Presentation. 40 people. N. Piedmonte, S. Shaw, M. Prusinski, M.K. Fierke. Blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) and tick-borne disease in Onondaga County, NY. Dewitt Deer Management Committee Meeting. Dewitt, New York. March 2016. Oral Presentation. 25 people.
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Media Southeastern Neighborhood Association: Ticks and Tick-borne Disease in Onondaga County. April 2016. Syracuse NY. ~70 attendees (including Syracuse Mayor Miner). http://www.syracuse.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2017/03/deer_tick_warning_suny_esf_tells_students_to _be_on_lookout_this_winter.html “County Cuts Down Number of Ash Trees to Prevent Emerald Ash Borer Spread.” Interviewed by Iris St. Meran. Spectrum News, Syracuse, NY, 1 March 2017. Television. http://www.twcnews.com/nys/central-ny/news/2017/03/1/county-cuts-down-large-number-of-ash- trees-to-prevent-spread-of-emerald-ash-borer.html http://www.localsyr.com/news/local-news/ticks-could-be-out-in-high-numbers-in-2017/690258397
Invited Research Presentations Chris Nowak and M.K. Fierke. A first year of exploring pollinator dynamics on powerline corridors in the continental United States. 08/2016. Webinar. Electric Powerlines Research Institute Advisory meeting, New Orleans, La. M.K. Fierke & Chris Nowak. Pollinator dynamics on powerline corridors in the continental United States. 08/2016. Webinar. Electric Powerlines Research Institute Advisory meeting, Newport Beach, Ca. M.K. Fierke. Forest Entomology and Beyond: Ticks/Lyme and Pollinators. 03/2017, SUNY Potsdam, NY. M.I. Jones & M.K. Fierke. Emerald ash borer in New York. New England Kiln Drying Association, Johnstown, NY, May 2017. Deferred to PhD student.
Jacqueline L. Frair Top dog? The ecological role of the coyote in northeastern forests. Dale L. Travis Public Lecture Series, SUNY ESF, Syracuse, NY, March 2017, audience ~400 people.
James P. Gibbs Dale Travis Lecture: Restoring the Giant Tortoise Dynasties of Galapagos October 18, 2016 (attendees ~350), SUNY-ESF
Hyatt C. Green Microbial Dark Matter in Green Lake, NY. American Fisheries Society Chapter Meeting. SUNY-ESF, Syracuse, NY, 2016
Thomas R. Horton Mushrooms at the Albany Pine Bush Preserve – A Walk in the Woods. 9/18/2016. About 25 attendees. Vince O’Neil Mushroom Festival. 10/9/2016. About 100 attendees through the day; 25 who joined the walk. Quoted in an article by Marc Heller (online:Greenwire March 9, 2017) on the controversy over whether dead wood helps or hinders the spread of wildfires http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/03/09/stories/1060051219. The Fungus Among Us – A Cazenovia Preservation Foundation walk. 4/29/2017. About 20 attendees.
Robin W. Kimmerer National Museum of the American Indian. Keynote for IWISE June 1, 2016 audience=100 Schuylkill Nature Center, panelist on The Meeting of Art and Science July 24, 2016 audience=35 Adirondack Museum Summer Lecture Series, Blue Mountain Lake, NY audience=100 July 25, 2016 Clark Reservation State Park, “Culturally Significant Plants of Central New York” guided walk. Audience=25 August 21, 2016 124
Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Shawnee Oklahoma. Center for Native Peoples and the Environment. Audience=15 “Voices of Maple Nation: Indigenous Women’s Climate Change Summit” Keynote. October 15, 2016 “Water is Life” Program for Standing Rock. Washington DC National Mall Nov 27, 2016 Audience 4000 Union College, Schenectady NY. Kelley Lecture Series “A wealth of plants” Audience 200 University of Arizona, Fiske School of Music. Pre-concert talk for the world premiere of “Braiding” Feb 22, 2017 audience=50 College of the Menominee Nation, Keshena Wisconsin March 2, 2017. “Braiding Sweetgrass” presentation for Community-wide “One Book” event. Audience=80 May Memorial Unitarian Society, March 5, 2017. “Returning the Gift” Audience=100 Old Dominion University, Musselman Natural History Lecture Feb 23, 2017 Audience=150 United States Botanical Garden, Washington DC “A wealth of plants” March 25, 2017 audience=30 Planet Forward Symposium, Keynote. Washington, DC. “Indigenous Storytelling in times of crisis” Audience=200 March for Science, Washington DC, presenter on main stage “The Indigenous Science Declaration” audience=40,000 estimated Syracuse Garden Club, Syracuse NY May 8, 2017 “Returning the gift of plants” Audience=120 “Americans Who Tell the Truth” portrait unveiling, Blue Hill, Maine. Remarks on cultures of gratitude. May 13, 2017 audience=100 University of Maine, Orono. May 15, 2017. “What does the Earth ask of us?” Audience=300 Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Dowagiac MI. May 25, 2017. “One Story: community-wide read event” Audience=75
Donald J. Leopold Native plants for the landscape, Great Swamp Conservancy, Canastota, June 2016, about 40 people in attendance Father’s Day nature walk, Clark Reservation State Park, June 2016, about 40 people in attendance Nature hike at Nelson Swamp, Cazenovia Preservation Foundation, June 2016, about 40 people in attendance Wildflowers of the Adirondacks, Syracuse Men’s Garden Club, Syracuse, September 2016, about 40 people in attendance. Tree identification, ecology, and natural history (walk), Cornell Cooperative Extension of Onondaga County, Syracuse, May 2017, about 30 people in attendance (Oakwood Cemetery, Syracuse). Creating and Restoring Sustainable Landscapes with Native Plants and Natural Plant Communities. Rutgers Master Gardeners of Mercer County, Princeton, March 2017, about 300 people in attendance Oaks and Other Trees of Oakwood Cemetery (walk), Historic Oakwood Cemetery Preservation Association, Oakwood Cemetery, May 2017, about 50 people in attendance
Brian F. Leydet Interviewed on LocalSYR News Channel 9 for “Some ticks found to carry virus worse than Lyme disease” story. May 03, 2017 Interviewed by Syracuse NCC News for article “Increased Chances of Lyme Disease This Season”. April 18, 2017 Interviewed by WAER for article “Heading Outdoors? SUNY ESF Professor Offers Tick and Lyme Disease Tips as Warmer Temps Settle in”. April 14, 2017
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Karin E. Limburg Limburg, K.E., S.J. Mount, and C. Bowser. American eels in the Hudson River estuary: from glass to silver. Hudson River Foundation, May 2017. Attendance: 40 in room, 30 on webinar. Participation in workshops, “Conservation Leaders of Tomorrow,” April 19-20, Vassar College. In attendance: 60. Limburg, K.E. Living on the margin in the Anthropocene: engagement arenas for sustainability research and action at the ocean–land interface, and Perspectives on engaging in the international science world, and where can YOU fit in? University of Akron, May 2017. Attendance: ca. 70. Limburg, K.E. Hypoxia is not the same old dead zone: global deoxygenation, and how an 'otolithologist' approaches the study of impacts on fish and fisheries. Cornell University, Department of Natural Resources, April 2017. Attendance: 20. Limburg, K.E. The “other” biogeochemistry: otolith chemistry to unlock the secret lives of fishes. Lund University, Dept of Geology, December 2016. Attendance: ca. 25. Limburg, K.E. The “other” biogeochemistry: otolith chemistry to unlock the secret lives of fishes. Syracuse University, Dept of Earth Sciences, October 2016. Attendance: ca. 60.
Gregory G. McGee NY Masters Teachers Workshop on Forest Ecology, 10/15/16, w/ Neal Abrams, attendance ~20. Wild Ones – Habitat Gardening in Central New York, 4/30/17 Restoration of CNY wildflower communities, attendance ~50. Spring Wildflowers Identification & Discussion of the Wildlife Benefits Associated with Old Forest Structure and Grasslands – NYSAF Central New York Chapter, 5/5/17, attendance ~30.
Dylan Parry WCNY Public Television. Guest Appearance on “Insight” as one of 3 panelists discussing biological invasions in forests. 6/22/2016.
William A. Powell DEC tours of chestnut project field sites, greenhouses, and labs. 6/8/16 (small group of representatives) Ozark Chinquapin Foundation annual meeting. Presentation: Using the Tools of Genetic Engineering to Help Save the American Chestnut. 7/5/16 – 7/6/16. Tahlequah, OK. ~ 40 attending. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (first contacts) webinar presentation: American Chestnut Research & Restoration Project. 9/26/16. ~ 10 attending. Hosted the USDA NE-1333 Chestnut meeting on the ESF campus with presentations and tours. 9/30/16 – 10/1/16. ~ 40 attending. Homer Garden club. Invited speaker. Where There Be Mountains, There Be Chestnuts. 10/6/17. Homer, NY. ~60 attending. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Endangered Species Consultation Branch Coordinators, webinar presentation: American Chestnut Research & Restoration Project. 10/27/16. ~ 10 attending. Updates on the American chestnut Project and presented workshops. Annual meeting of the New York Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation. 10/28/16 – 10/29/16. Ithaca, NY, approximately 50 attending. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Recovery Branch Coordinators, webinar presentation: American Chestnut Research & Restoration Project. 11/8/16. ~ 10 attending. TACF board meeting – presenting 3BUR report. 11/10/16 – 11/12/16. Louisville, KY. ~ 40 attending. Meeting with U.S. Forest Service and leaders in Natural Resources Conservation Service. American Chestnut Research & Restoration Project Presentation given to FS. 2/8/17. Washington, DC. ~ 25 attending. Webinar/phone conference with the EPA to discuss regulatory procedures. 2/16/17. ~10 attending. TACF Chapter’s Science meeting. Presented an update on our chestnut research and discussed implementation of 3BUR agreement. 2/23/17- 2/25/17. Pittsburg, PA. ~ 40 attending. 126
10,000 Chestnut Crowd-funding Campaign. 3/6/17 – 3/20/17. Reddit “ask me anything”. 3/17/17. 1,239 people responded with 89% upvoted. NASA Langley Research Center – two presentations on our American chestnut project. 4/4/17. Hampton, VA. ~ 40 attending. TACF spring board meeting – discuss 3BUR agreement. 4/6/17-4/8/17. Abingdon, VA. ~ 30 attending. Two presentations about the chestnut project at Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum. 4/16/17 -4/18/17. Boston, MA. ~ 50 attending. One presentation on the chestnut project and two Q&A sessions at the Indian Nations Leaders Conference. 5/9/17 – 5/10/17. Syracuse, NY. ~ 30 attending.
Interviews leading to 22 (possibly more) popular press articles, blogs, radio and TV shows (there were 38 last year and 31 the year before for a total of 91+ articles in the past 3 years). The Chestnut Project in the News links (6/3/16 – 5/15/17): 1. Penn State Blog: Return of the Ents 2. Toronto Star: Science finds a way to bring back the American chestnut tree 3. The Winnower: Science AMA Series: ESF American Chestnut Project 4. Crop Biotech Update: ESF Scientists Develop Transgenic American Chestnut Trees 5. Christian News Today: Science finds a way to bring back the American chestnut tree 6. Cape Cod Times: Frontiers in biotechnology hold vast promise 7. Cornell Alliance for Science: Restoration forest project will showcase GMO chestnut trees 8. ScienceDaily: Mighty American Chestnut poised for return to America's forests 9. Mighty American Chestnut Poised for Return to America’s Forests 10. ScienceLine: The American chestnut tree has a good shot at making a comeback 11. Transgenic News: Transgenic Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire 12. Phys.org: Spread by trade and climate, bugs butcher America's forests 13. Planet Forward: Chestnut revival: How genetics could bring back an American giant 14. Genetic Literacy Project: Genetic engineering could help restore endangered trees and boost natural ecosystems 15. North Country Public Radio: Can GMOs save the wild American chestnut tree? 16. WSKG: Can Science Resurrect The American Chestnut? 17. WRVO: Can science help the American chestnut make a comeback? 18. Cedar Rapids Gazette: Chestnuts link American past with Iowa future 19. National Geographic: How the DNA Revolution Is Changing Us 20. Olean Times Herald: Two trees with connections to Flight 93 planted at Nannen Arboretum 21. Entomology Today: Can Genetically Modified Trees Save American Forests? 22. Genetic Literacy Project: Biotechnology could save trees decimated by invasive insects, disease
Rebecca J. Rundell Rundell, R.J. 2016. Diversification and conservation of Belau land snails (Republic of Palau, Oceania). University of Rochester Department of Biology Seminar Series. University of Rochester (Rochester, NY). 28 October 2016. (Invited Seminar; 20 attendees) Rundell, R.J. 2016. Evolution and conservation in land snails: Pacific islands to New York State. Asa Gray Biological Society Seminar Series. Utica College (Utica, NY). 7 November 2016. (Invited Seminar; 50 attendees) SUNY-ESF Darwin-Wallace Day/International Darwin Day Poster Event at Moon Library. Feb. 16- March 10, 2017. (400 attendees)
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Kimberly L. Schulz Cortland County Field Days – 22 and 23 September – Elementary school outreach program with Cortland Onondaga Federation of Lake Associations; helped design, implement and present an educational program related to aquatic invasive species to elementary school students in Cortland County; served several hundred students and their teachers.
Donald J. Stewart SUNY-ESF Chapter of The Wildlife Society, Seeking and saving the diversity of Arapaima: Charismatic megafishes of the Amazon. 23 Mar. 2017, est. 20 attending. Cranberry Lake EFB 202 Class, evening lecture, Seeking and saving the diversity of Arapaima: Charismatic megafishes of the Amazon. 31 May 2017, est. 25 attending.
Stephen A. Teale Teale, SA. “Pheromones of Longhorned Beetles in China” Department of Forest Protection, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China, 20 Oct 2016; invited departmental seminar, attendance ~100 Teale, SA. “Seeing the Forest for the Trees: Assessment of Forest Insect Impacts” Department of Forest Protection, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China, 22 Oct 2016; invited departmental seminar, attendance ~50
J. Scott Turner Evolution as cognition. Invited presentation to the Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria. 25 May 2017. http://prezi.com/w5rt7sftwhg5/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy
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Appendix L. Miscellaneous Publications and Outreach Activities and Materials
Shannon L. Farrell Farrell, S., and R. J. Cooper. Assemblages and Communities. 2018. In Morrison, M.L., A.D. Rodewald, G. Voelker, M.R. Colón, and J.F. Prather, eds.Ornithology: Foundation, Critique, and Application. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland.
James P. Gibbs Gibbs, James P. Galapagos giant tortoises make a comeback, thanks to innovative conservation strategies. The Conversation. February 15, 2017 https://theconversation.com/galapagos-giant-tortoises-make-a- comeback-thanks-to-innovative-conservation-strategies-67591 (25,000 “reads” to date) Gibbs, James P. Home Again: The long journey of Lonesome George. Galapagos Conservancy Blog March 27 2017 https://www.galapagos.org/blog/long-journey-of-lonesome-george/ Cayot, L.J., Gibbs, J.P., Tapia, W. & Caccone, A. 2017. Chelonoidis porteri - (Rothschild, 1903) IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org. Cayot, L.J., Gibbs, J.P., Tapia, W. & Caccone, A. 2017. Chelonoidis becki - (Rothschild, 1901). IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org. Cayot, L.J., Gibbs, J.P., Tapia, W. & Caccone, A. 2017. Chelonoidis chathamensis - (Van Denburgh, 1907). IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org. Cayot, L.J., Gibbs, J.P., Tapia, W. & Caccone, A. 2017. Chelonoidis donfaustoi - Poulakakis, Edwards & Caccone, 2015. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org. Cayot, L.J., Gibbs, J.P., Tapia, W. & Caccone, A. 2017. Chelonoidis hoodensis - (Van Denburgh, 1907). IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org. Cayot, L.J., Gibbs, J.P., Tapia, W. & Caccone, A. 2017. Chelonoidis duncanensis - (Garman in Pritchard, 1996). IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org. Cayot, L.J., Gibbs, J.P., Tapia, W. & Caccone, A. 2017. Chelonoidis niger - (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824). IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org. Cayot, L.J., Gibbs, J.P., Tapia, W. & Caccone, A. 2017. Chelonoidis porteri - (Rothschild, 1903). IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org.
Robin W. Kimmerer Kimmerer, R.W. 2017 “The Covenant of Reciprocity”. The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Religion and Ecology,J. Hart editor. pp 368-382 Kimmerer, R.W. 2017 “Heal-All” in Nature, Love, Medicine: Essays On Healing In Wildness.T.P Fleischner, ed. Torrey House Press in press Kimmerer, R.W. 2016 “Listening to Water” in “Forest Under Story:Creative Inquiry in an Old Growth Forest” N. Brodie,C. Goodrich and FJ Swanson, eds. University of Washington Press Kimmerer, R.W. 2016 “Interview with a Watershed” in “Forest Under Story:Creative Inquiry in an Old Growth Forest” N. Brodie,C. Goodrich and FJ Swanson, eds. University of Washington Press Kimmerer, RW and KD Moore. 2016 “The White Horse and the Humvees: Standing Rock is Offering Us a Choice” . http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/the-humvees-and-the-white-horse2014two- futures- Kimmerer, RW 2016. The case for more land conservation and a new national monument. The Hill http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/energy-environment/309419-the-case-for-more-land- conservation-and-a-new-national
Karin E. Limburg Forbes, D., K.E. Limburg, et. al. 2017. Report from a workshop on Arctic continental margins supported by IGBP/ESA. Final report to the European Space Agency, for the Continental Margins Working Group of Future Earth Coasts and IMBeR. 129
Limburg, K.E. 2017. President’s Corner, Winter/Spring 2017. AFS Estuaries Section newsletter, Winter 2017. Limburg, K.E. 2016. Post Kansas City musings, or, I wish I could get more of that barbecue…! AFS Estuaries Section newsletter, Fall 2016. Limburg, K.E. 2016. The ocean is losing its breath – and climate change is making it worse. The Conversation. (online: https://theconversation.com/the-ocean-is-losing-its-breath-and-climate-change- is-making-it-worse-66192#comment_1132011) Limburg, K., R. Brown, R. Johnson, W. Pine, R. Rulifson, D. Secor, K. Timchak, B. Walther, and K. Wilson. 2016. Round-the-Coast: Snapshots of Estuarine Climate Change Effects. Fisheries 41(7): 392:394. Limburg, K.E. 2016. Is it wrong to be a mycophilic fish biologist? AFS Estuaries Section newsletter, Spring 2016.
Mark V. Lomolino Lomolino, M. V. (2016) Biogeography, History of. In: Kliman, R.M. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Biology. vol. 1, pp. 155–159. Oxford: Academic Press. Lomolino, M. V. 2016. Wallace at the foundations of biogeography and the frontiers of conservation biology. Chapter in The Alfred Russel Wallace Companion Project. University of Chicago Press.
Stacy A. McNulty McNulty, S. 2017. Phenology: tracking the natural events occurring all around us. New York State Conservationist Magazine, February 2017:24-26. Langdon, S.F., G.J. Edinger, S. McNulty, E. Snizek and L. Walrath. 2017. Detecting Climate Change in Wetlands in the Adirondack Park: No-Cost Extension 2016. EPA Wetland Program Development Grant CD#96295000. Final Report and Addendum. https://www.apa.ny.gov/Research/DetectingClimateChangeAdirondacks_96295000_FinalAddendum _20170321.pdf Langdon, S.F., G.J. Edinger, P.B. Hai, S. McNulty, S. Beguin, D. Patrick, E. Snizek and L. Walrath. 2017. Detecting Climate Change in Wetlands in the Adirondack Park: Phase II. Report to US Environmental Protection Agency. https://www.apa.ny.gov/Research/DetectingClimateChangeAdirondacks_96295000_FinalReport_201 70321.pdf
William A. Powell Powell, W.A. Nut Production Orchards. Chestnut (The Journal of the American Chestnut Foundation) Fall 2016 Issue, p13. 130
Appendix M. Foreign Travel
Stewart A.W. Diemont Southern Mexico, Belize and Guatemala, July 5 – August 29, 2016 Research on traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of the Maya, working with doctoral student Tomek Falkowski; taught ESF course EFB 434/634 Ecosystem Restoration Design August 17 – 27, 2016 with 15 ESF students (14 undergraduate students and one graduate students), Chiapas, Mexico; conducted interviews with Mayan farmers in Chiapas, Mexico and Belize to determine local adaptation to climate change in traditional agroforestry systems; visited field site learn about Mayan channel design and rehabilitation and advise on natural bank stabilization for National Geographic- funded project. Vitora Gasteiz and Madrid, Spain, May 15-31, 2017 Taught nine students (six undergraduate and three graduate) in an ESF field course (EFB/LA 496/796) in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, the 2012 European Union Green City, and Madrid, Spain, with Emanuel Carter (LA); participated in a sponsored workshop through the Center for Environmental Studies (CEA) GreenLab to design green infrastructure, ecological and social connectivity for a neighborhood in Vitoria-Gasteiz; collaborated with CEA biologists, engineers, architects, and landscape designers in green design for Vitoria-Gasteiz.
Martin Dovciak Western Carpathians and Technical University in Zvolen, Slovakia (July/August, 2016). Collaborative Research: Long-term dynamics of old-growth forests; effects of changing land- use (2 papers in press). Old-growth dynamics work related to the sabbatical goals to study and use long-term databases of the national monitoring system of old-growth forests in western Carpathians, Slovakia.
James P. Gibbs Galapagos, Ecuador June 14-July 6 2016 Galapagos, Ecuador Mar 12-18 2017
Hyatt C. Green Montreal, CAN, August 21-26, International Symposium on Microbial Ecology
Donald J. Leopold In July 2016, a group of us from ESF (L. Newman, R. Briggs, G. Lanza) travelled to Tyumen State University (TSU) in Tyumen, Russia (southwest Siberia) to discuss collaborative teaching and research opportunities between our institutions.
Karin E. Limburg Paris, France, September 2016, UNESCO – participated in Global Ocean Oxygen Network working group meeting Sweden, various locations, December 2016 – serving as visiting professor and visiting various labs as part of my duties Prague, Czech Republic, March 2017 – co-led a workshop for the Continental Margins Working Group on Arctic continental margin issues Lund, Sweden, April 2017 – to work with colleagues and my doctoral student
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Lee A. Newman Tyumen, Siberia, Russia. 17-28 July 2016. To develop international research and education opportunities with students and faculty at Tyumen State University. Hangzhou, China. 24-27 September, 2016. Present at 5th International Conference on Soil Pollution and Remediation Taipei, Taiwan. 20-24 November, 2016. Present at 3rd International Conference on Contaminated Land, Ecological Assessment and Remediation Tyumen, Siberia, Russia. 12-18 March 2017. To develop international research and education opportunities, and dual diploma programs with students and faculty at Tyumen State University.
Stephen A. Teale Nanjing, China, 19-23 Oct 2016, Purpose: To meet with collaborators, to give two departmental seminars, and to receive Adjunct Faculty appointment Beijing, China, 23-27 Oct 2016, Purpose: To give an invited presentation at the IUFRO Regional Congress for Asia and Oceania Galapagos, Ecuador, 2-28 Mar 2017, Purpose: To conduct field research on Philornis downsi, an invasive parasite of Galapagos landbirds
J. Scott Turner Namibia. January 2017. Sabbatical South Africa, March 2017. Sabbatical
Alex Weir Ireland, May/June 2016 – overseas field trip with 8 EFB students.
Christopher M. Whipps Bern, Switzerland. January 27, 2017. Invited speaker at Swiss Zebra zebrafish conference. Impact and Control of Diseases in Zebrafish Research Facilities. Oostende, Belgium. April 24-25, 2017. Invited as key participant at Workshop: World Register of Parasites of Marine Species. Myxosporean Diversity.
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Appendix N. Theses and Dissertations completed (i.e., all requirements met and degree awarded)
M.S. Theses Althouse, Melissa. Behavioral and demographic effects of anthropogenic disturbance to staging roseate terns (Sterna dougallii) in the Cape Cod National Seashore (Cohen). Arrington, A. Where the fruit falls: Utilizing a web and mobile community monitoring application to study geo-demographic and landscape level urban foraging trends across the United States (GPES, Diemont) Barner, Jerome Colin. Ectomycorrhizal fungi contribution to nutrient cycling of nitrogen, phosphorus, and calcium in northern hardwood forests (Horton). Brennan, Dana. Effects of sugar resources on longevity of two emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) parasitoids (Fierke) Brown, Aaron. Comparative efficacy of entomopathogens and parasitoids of Lepidopteran larvae among transgenic blight resistant American chestnut and conventionally bred cultivars (Parry). Bunge, A. Urban foraging for food security and food sovereignty: Quantifying edible forest yield in Syracuse, New York using five common fruit- and nut-producing street trees (GPES, Diemont). Dean, Samantha. Distribution, Abundance, and Habitat Associations of Amphibians and Reptiles within an Urban Protected Area: The Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site (Gibbs) Durkin, Maureen. Impacts of anthropogenic disturbance on breeding snowy plovers (Charadrius nivosus) in the Florida Panhandle (Cohen). Fishman, Michael S. Roost and foraging habitat for Indiana bats (Myotis sodalis) in the southeastern Ontario lake plain of New York State (Gibbs). Gilbertson, Cody. Developing captive ex situ populations of the endangered Chittenango ovate amber snail Novisuccinea chittenangoensis (Succineidae: Pulmonata: Mollusca) for population augmentation in New York (Rundell). Hazelton, Erik. Discovering the source and characteristics of an unmanaged population of Walleye (Sander vitreus) in a recovering urban lake (Ringler). Howard, Jacqueline. NYS parks and augmented reality: exploring the relationship between visitor learning and sense of stewardship through augmented reality games at Clark Reservation state park and Green lakes state park. (Folta) Iegorova, Ielizaveta. Interacting effects of socio-political and environmental factors on rangeland dynamics in the Altai Mountains in central Asia (Gibbs) Kocek, Alison. Factors impacting tidal marsh sparrow nesting presence and nest survival in an urban environment of New York City (Cohen). Kudalkar, Sahila. Microhabitat relationships of two murid rodents Rattus andamanensis and Niviventer fulvescens in protected forests of northeastern India (Gibbs). Leuenberger, Wendy. Response of larval Lepidoptera and their avian predators to experimental ice storms in a northeastern forest (Parry). Pachomski, Amanda. Foraging habitat characteristics, prey availability, and detectability of Rusty Blackbirds: implications for land and wildlife management in the Northern Forest (McNulty) Phelps, Kara. Effects of calcium, nitrogen, and phosphorus fertilization on foliar nutrient dynamics of three northern hardwood tree species (GPES, Yanai and Parry) Piedmonte, Nicholas. Black legged ticks, Ixodes scapularis (Say), in NY: density, distribution, and prevalence of associated human pathogens (Fierke and Shaw) Regan, Matthew. Plant community response to wetland enhancement techniques in coastal wetlands of the Upper St. Lawrence River (Leopold) Robinson, C.J. Relationship between intensity of recreational land use, elevation, and the distribution and prevalence of the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (McNulty). 133
Schoppmann, Neil. Historic and contemporary distributions of pine barrens specialist Lepidoptera in northeastern North America (Parry). Smith, Sara. Looking through two lenses: an ecological study on ectomycorrhizal succession in White Pine stands on the Menominee Reservation and an ethnomycological study on the traditional knowledge of the Menominee Nation (Kimmerer) Tomes, Andrew. Managing plant communities after anthropogenic perturbations. (Kimmerer and Horton) Tuminello, Giuseppe. Insect pollinators of a short rotation coppice willow biomass agroecosystem (Fierke and Volk) Weber-Townsend, Joshua. Contributions of genetic data to the conservation and management of the threatened American Hart’s Fern (Asplenium scolopenrium var. americanum) (Fernando) Youker, Tess E. Epidemics of an amphibian ranavirus in two species of vernal pool-breeding anurans: Disease surveillance and environmental drivers of prevalence (Gibbs and Ryan)
Ph.D. Dissertations Evans, Thomas. Evaluation of lamprey populations with natural and artificial tags to understand the evolution of lamprey life histories (Limburg) Halpern, Alison. Aquatic nuisance species: ecology and control of the invasive plant Hydrocharis Morsus-ranae in Eastern Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River wetlands. (Leopold and J. Farrell) 134
Appendix O. MPS students who completed degree requirements
Atti, Charlotte (Newman) Arnow, El. Native wild edible productivity and soil characteristics across three field treatments. (GPES, Diemont) Elliott, Cassandra (Whipps) Gavard, Emily (Whipps and Ryan) Huffman, Kelly (Whipps and J. Farrell) Rafaldi, Jane. Co-occurring invasives and landowner awareness of invasive giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) (Fierke) Saville, Jessica. (Leopold and Newman) Wiley, Jr. John. The US fish and wildlife service: The New York field office and SUNY-ESF (Beier and McGee) 135
Appendix P. Faculty and Student Awards
FACULTY – DEPARTMENT, COLLEGE, AND SUNY RECOGNITION John M. Farrell SUNY ESF Exemplary Research Award Neil H. Ringler Commendation from SUNY by Alex Cartwright, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor, and Grace Wang, Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development
FACULTY – REGIONAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION Martin Dovciak Included on the List of Researchers of Flora of Velka Fatra, western Carpathians Robin W. Kimmerer American Indian Science and Engineering Society, Ely S. Parker award (highest AISES award for lifetime achievement) Robin W. Kimmerer Feinstone Environmental Award, SUNY ESF Robin W. Kimmerer Americans Who Tell The Truth, portrait and inclusion in AWTTT gallery Karin E. Limburg Visiting Professor, Department of Aquatic Resources, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU); 5/2015 – 4/2020 (extended 2 years). Karin E. Limburg Lise Meitner Visiting Professor, Division of Nuclear Physics, Dept. of Physics, Lund University; 11/2015 – 10/2018 Rebecca J. Rundell Research Associate, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, PA Rebecca J. Rundell Research Associate, Paleontological Research Institution, Ithaca, NY Stephen A. Teale Adjunct Faculty, Department of Forest Protection, Nanjing Forestry University
GRADUATE STUDENTS – DEPARTMENT AND COLLEGE RECOGNITION Erik H. Carlson Josiah L. Lowe-Hugh E. Wilcox Graduate Scholarship Carolyn Chang ESF Spotlight on Research, 1st place, graduate poster competition Carolyn Chang ESF Alumni Association Memorial Scholarship Award Carolyn Chang, Graduate Student Travel Grant, SUNY-ESF Xue Dong ESF Alumni Association Memorial Scholarship Award Tomasz Falkowski Bristol-Myers Squibb Sustainability Fellow Alejandro Mieles Garcia Gerald Lanier Memorial Kristen R. Haynes Edwin H. Ketchledge Scholarship Kristen M. Haynes Dr. Samuel Grober ’38 Graduate Fellowship Aimee T. Hudon Robert A. Zabel Endowed Scholarship Deborah Hummel ESF Spotlight on Research, 2nd place, graduate poster competition Wendy M. Leuenberger Gerald Lanier Memorial Joanna Isadora Lumbsden-Pinto ESF Tropical Social Forestry Scholarship Rea J. Manderino Leroy C. Stegeman Endowment in Invertebrate Ecology Dakota F. Matthews Robert A. Zabel Endowed Scholarship Erica S. McPhail John and Etta Simeone Scholarship Samantha Mello ESF Alumni Association Memorial Scholarship Award Amanda L. Pachomski Betty Moore Chamberlaine Memorial Award Lisanne S. Petracca Wilford Dence Scholarship Michael J. Serviss Josiah L. Lowe-Hugh E. Wilcox Graduate Scholarship Elizabethe Stieber ESF Spotlight on Research, 3rd place, graduate poster competition Justine E. Weber Maurice and Annette Alexander Wetlands Research Award
GRADUATE STUDENTS – REGIONAL AND NATIONAL RECOGNITION Mariano Arias Edna Bailey Sussman Foundation Fellowship Erika Augustyn Best Student Presentation award at NY AFS annual meeting Carolyn Chang Best Student Presentation award, AFS Fish Health Section annual meeting 136
Carolyn Chang Best Student Poster award, AFS Fish Health Section annual meeting Carolyn Chang AFS Snieszko Student Travel Award Maureen Durkin Edna Bailey Sussman Foundation Fellowship Tomek Falkowski Garden Club of American Fellowship in Ecological Restoration Megan Gallagher Edna Bailey Sussman Foundation Fellowship + Special Merit award Laura Hansen NSF award (EAPSI program) for travel to China Aimee Hudon Edna Bailey Sussman Foundation Fellowship Chellby Kilheffer Virginia Sea Grant/NOAA Mid-Atlantic Coastal Storms Grad. Research Fell. Alison Kocek CNY Wildfowlers Roy Glahn Scholarship Toby Liss Phipps Conservatory Botany in Action Fellowship and Paula Sculley Scholar Colin Mettey Edna Bailey Sussman Foundation Fellowship Colin Mettey ESF Alumni Association Memorial Scholarship James Molloy Edna Bailey Sussman Foundation Fellowship Christopher Nack Virginia Sea Grant/NOAA Mid-Atlantic Coastal Storms Grad. Research Fell. Leah Nagel Garden Club of America Fellowship in Ecological Restoration Teresa Rose Osborne ESF Alumni Association Memorial Scholarship Teresa Rose Osborne Best Speed Talk at AMNH Student Conference in Conservation Science Teresa Rose Osborne APS Lewis and Clark Grant for Exploration and Field Research Michelle Peach Cooper Ornithological Society Board of Directors Student Paper Award Carianne Pershyn Klumb-Spindler travel award for talk at NY AFS annual meeting Melvin Samson Best Student Poster in Water Quality Section of AFS national meeting Sam Peterson American Wildlife Conservation Foundation research grant Alex Petzke Edna Bailey Sussman Foundation Fellowship Paul Picciano Elon Howard Eaton Award Brian Radcliffe Edna Bailey Sussman Foundation Fellowship Giuseppe Tumminello Second Place, oral presentation at Pollinators on Willows session of ICE Yang Yang Edna Bailey Sussman Foundation Fellowship
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS – DEPARTMENT, COLLEGE, AND SUNY RECOGNITION Terrance Caviness SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence Daniel N. DeGroff Distinguished Biology Scholar Award – Wildlife Science Molly Devlin Fink Career Fellowship Alyssa Dugan ESF Alumni Scholarship Award Kyle S. Feldman Distinguished Biology Scholar Award – Biotechnology Samantha J. Hollister Phyllis Roskin Memorial Award Samantha J. Hollister Distinguished Biology Scholar Award – Conservation Biology Aaliyah M. Jason Patricia ’78 and Jeff ’77 Morrell Scholarship Lindsay J. Jerome Patricia ’78 and Jeff ’77 Morrell Scholarship Anish Kirtane Fink Career Fellowship Robert Pedian Fink Career Fellowship Richard P. Rich Joseph & Ruth Hasenstab Memorial Scholarship Tyler Rose Distinguished Biology Scholar Award – Environmental Biology Sarah Elizabeth Tyo Distinguished Biology Scholar Award – Forest Health Joseph Wagner Rosen Undergraduate Fellowship Brittany Ann Washburn Chun-Juan K. Wang Honor Award Brittany Ann Washburn Distinguished Biology Scholar Award – Aquatic & Fisheries Science Brittany Ann Washburn Distinguished Biology Scholar Award – All Majors Bridget Patricia Whyte Distinguished Biology Scholar Award – Environmental Education and Interpretation Alexandra Yattaw Guy Baldassarre Memorial Scholarship
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS – REGIONAL & NATIONAL RECOGNITION Alyssa Lau Undergraduate Diversity at Evolution grant (SSE and NSF supported) 137
Appendix Q. New York Natural Heritage program Summary, Publications, Presentations, and Service (no report this year) 138
Appendix R. Annual Report for the Roosevelt Wild Life Station (no report this year)
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Appendix S. Annual Report for the Thousand Islands Biological Station (submitted by John M. Farrell, Director)
SUNY ESF Thousand Islands Biological Station
Annual Report 2016-17
The TIBS mission is to conserve aquatic resources using ecosystem-based science and monitoring to inform decision makers and society while providing exceptional educational experiences for students and the community
The SUNY-ESF Thousand Islands Biological Station (TIBS), located on Governor’s Island, hosts a research program focusing on the aquatic ecology of the St. Lawrence River with an emphasis on fisheries, wetlands, limnology, invasive species, and ecological perturbations. The TIBS research program continues to advance scientific inquiry to guide management activities and understand impacts affecting the ecosystem. Many faculty, staff and students from a variety of institutions are attracted to the unique nature of this immense river that is the natural outlet to the Laurentian Great Lakes. Graduate and undergraduate student projects, with the support of a variety of faculty, provide a diverse research portfolio with many related studies supported by extramural grants. Many local outreach activities maintain a strong ESF connection to the St. Lawrence River community and provide students and staff opportunities for information exchange. We are excited about our progress and achievements and look forward a sustained commitment to aquatic research and conservation in the face of significant and evolving environmental challenges.
Highlights for 2016-2017 include significant research accomplishments including a completion of a Doctoral student, Alison Halpern (Co-MP, D. J. Leopold and J. Farrell). Alison began her research many years ago on the topic of ecology and management of invasive European Frogbit 140
that was introduced by accident to the St. Lawrence River and has spread throughout most wetland complexes.
Research support continues at TIBS with a five-year continuation of our long-term contract with the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, we also were awarded a 3-year contract with the US Fish and Wildlife Service Fish Enhancement Mitigation and Research Fund to station director, Dr. John Farrell. A new collaboration is also beginning with Dr. Brian Leydet Assistant Professor in Environmental and Forest Biology with funding from the Great Lakes Research Consortium examining the gut microbiome of northern pike. Dr. Steven Cooke of Carleton University also received funding to continue research on the movements and habitat use of muskellunge. We are completing a project with Dr. Chris Whipps (Associate Professor, ESF) and Dr. Ben Koops and Eric Rondeau (University of Victoria) on sex determination in pike. Other highlights include participation by TIBS students and staff at several conferences including NY American Fisheries Society where graduate student Ericka Augustyn was awarded the Best Student Paper award for her work on larval fish ecology.
Facilities continue to improve and we have moved out of our Research Annex space at the Creamery and into a newly constructed mainland research and storage building provided by a long-term lease (to the Research Foundation) with the Thousand Island Land Trust. The TIBS facility is again teeming with students and research activity and the facility is nearly filled to capacity. We look forward to a strong 2017 field season with new staff, students, and volunteers!
Administration
Dr. John M. Farrell, Director, TIBS Dr. Donald J. Leopold, Chair, Department of Environmental and Forest Biology Dr. Valerie Luzadis, Interim Provost, SUNY ESF Dr. Quentin Wheeler, President, SUNY ESF
Professional Staff (all supported on extramural funding)
2016-2017 Nathan Satre, Senior Research Support Specialist and Laboratory Manager Dr. John Paul Leblanc, Post-doctoral Associate Dr. Charlotte Narr, Field Technician
Graduate students
Ceili Bachman (MS – Advisors, M. Mitchell & M. Schulz) Alex Looi (MS – Advisor, K. Schulz) 141
Ericka Augustyn (MS – Advisor, J. Farrell) Jessica Goretzke (MS – Advisor, J. Farrell) Sarah Walton (MS – Advisors, S. Cooke and J. Farrell) Stacy Furgal (MS – advisor J. Farrell and G. Paterson)
Starting in August 2017: Benjamin Gallo (MS – Advisor J. Farrell) Kate Abbott (PhD – Advisor J. Farrell) Alex Kua (MS – Advisor J. Stella and J. Farrell)
Staff and undergraduate students
2016 Julie Beck, Field Technician Austin Demarest – Lab Technician Katelyn Barhite–Lab Technician Jay Palumbo – Field and Lab Technician Siddarth Motwani–Field and Lab Technician Mikayla Warren –Federal Work-Study Student (funded through EFB) Deyanira Rose-Lousie Gaston- Federal Work-Study Student (funded through EFB) Ally Jones- Field Technician (SUNY Geneseo) Carrie Nyce-Volunteer Field Technician (Rider University) Jay Palumbo, Field Technician Jacob Ball, Field Technician Nicole Madden, Field Technician
2017 Julie Beck, Field Technician Juliana Ofalt, Field Technician Abby Webster, Federal Work Study Assistant Caleb Konrad, Field Technician Ally Jones, Field Technician Mia Cippulo, Federal Work Study Assistant Siddarth Motwani, Field Technician Carrie Nyce, Field Technician
Faculty involvement
Dr. Phillipe Brodeur, Dr. Steven Cooke, Carleton University– Juvenile esocid movements study Dr. Ben Koops, (with PhD student Eric Rondeau), University of Victoria-northern pike sex ratio study Dr. Derek Crane, Coastal Carolina University– fisheries studies 142
Dr. Emily Cromwell, Cornell University Veterinary College – NY SeaGrant VHSV study Dr. Austin Gallagher, Carleton University – Juvenile esocid movements study Dr. Rodman Getchell, Cornell University Veterinary College – NY SeaGrant VHSV study Dr. Marc Mingelbier, INRS Quebec – larval fish ecology project Dr. Kimberly Schulz, NOAA wetlands restoration project – lower trophic levels and nutrients Dr. Chris Whipps, ESF, FA project Northern Pike sex ratio study Dr. Matt Windle, St. Lawrence River Institute of Environmental Sciences – Project Baseline
Research (active grants listed )
Farrell, J. M. 8/1/12-9/30/15 (extended to 9/30/16). The St. Lawrence River Fish Habitat Conservation Strategy: Evaluation of Habitat Enhancements and Development of Novel Restoration Approaches. National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, $610,073.
Farrell, J. M. and S. J. Cooke. 10/1/2015-9/30/2017. The St. Lawrence River Fish Habitat Conservation Strategy: Evaluation of Habitat Enhancements and Development of Novel Restoration Approaches. US Fish and Wildlife Service, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Special Project. J. M. Farrell and S. Cooke (Carleton University). $583,967 ($299,407 to ESF).
Publications (2016-17 published or in press)
Gunderson, M. D., K. L. Kapuscinski, D. P. Crane, and J. M. Farrell. 2016. Rapid colonization of the Niagara River by non-native flowering rush Butomus umbellatus (Linnaeus, 1753). Aquatic Invasions Volume 11, Issue 4: 369–380.
Crane, D. P., and J. M. Farrell. 2017. Trends in body condition of smallmouth bass and northern pike (1982-2013) following multiple ecological perturbations in the St. Lawrence River. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 10.1139/cjfas-2016-0160.
Farrell, J. M., R. G. Getchell, K. L. Kapuscinski, and S. R. LaPan. In press. Long-term Trends of St. Lawrence River Muskellunge: Effects of Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia and Round Goby Proliferation Creates Uncertainty for Population Sustainability. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 85.
Casselman, J. M., T. Lusk, J. M. Farrell, and C. Lake. In press. Die-Off of Muskellunge in the Upper St. Lawrence River Caused by Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia, 2005–2008. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 85 (Extended abstract).
Gallagher, A., P. Szekeres. S. Cooke, and J. M. Farrell, In press. Tracking Young-of-Year Northern Pike and Muskellunge: Monitoring Behavior and Habitat Use During Fall Outmigration from Nursery Sites. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 85(Extended abstract).
Hanchin , P., B. L. Sloss and K. Turnquist, K.L. Kapuscinski J.M. Farrell and L.. Miller. In press. Brood Source Identification and the Effects of Supplementation on Muskellunge in the Great Lakes. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 85. (Extended abstract). 143
Leblanc, J. P., B. L. Brown, J. M. Farrell. In press. Increased Walleye Sander vitreus Egg-to-Larvae survival following spawning habitat enhancement in a tributary of Eastern Lake Ontario. North American Journal of Fisheries Management.
Lewis, C., J. M. Farrell, K. l. Sams, E. R. Cornwell, R. G. Getchell. In press. A Comparison of Virulence of Four Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia Virus IVb Strains in Muskellunge. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 85.
Miller, L. M., J. M. Farrell , K. L. Kapuscinski, K. Scribner, B. L. Sloss, K. Turnquist, C. C. Wilson. In press. A Review of Muskellunge Population Genetics: Implications for Management and Future Research Needs. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 85.
Turnquist, K. N., W. A. Larson, J. M. Farrell, P. A. Hanchin, K. L. Kapuscinski, L. M. Miller, K. T. Scribner. In press Spatial Genetic Structure of Muskellunge in the Great Lakes Region and the Effects of Supplementation on Genetic Integrity of Remnant Stocks. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 85 (Extended abstract).
Turnquist; K. N., Wesley L., J. M Farrell, P. A. Hanchin, K. L.Kapuscinski; L. M. Miller; K.T Scribner; C. C. Wilson, and B. L. Sloss. In press. Genetic structure of muskellunge in the Great Lakes region and the effects of supplementation on genetic integrity of wild populations. Journal of Great Lakes Research.
Published reports
Farrell, J. M., and N. Satre. 2017. Muskellunge research, monitoring, and management in the Thousand Islands section of the St. Lawrence River. NYS Department of Environmental Conservation 2016 Great Lakes Fishery Commission Lake Ontario Committee Annual Report.
Farrell, J. M., and E. Augustyn. 2017. Northern pike research, monitoring, and management in the Thousand Islands Section of the St. Lawrence River. NYS Department of Environmental Conservation 2016 Great Lakes Fishery Commission Lake Ontario Committee Annual Report.
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Muskies Magazine Featured and Article on the TIBS Muskellunge Research Program and the St. Lawrence River Fishery by Peter Levick and Kevin Richards. Muskies Inc. is a non-profit conservation and advocacy organization with over 10,000 members nationally. Muskies Inc. (including Chapter 69 Rochester) and Muskies Canada (Gananoque and others) members visited TIBS for a tour and discussion as part of an International Fishing Day.
Presentations (scientific)
Farrell, J. M. 2016. St. Lawrence River Fisheries Long-Term Research in a Changing Environment. Great Lakes Fishery Commission Lake Ontario Unit Meeting (Invited). Watertown, NY.
Farrell , J. M., J. P. Leblanc, N. Satre, A. J. Miano , R. G. Getchell , P. R.Bowser, and E. R. Cornwell. 2017. Round Goby dynamics in the upper St. Lawrence River: Population trends and complex effects on native fishes. (Invited) New York Chapter of the American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting. Buffalo, NY.
Motwani, S., Augustyn, E. A., and J. M. Farrell, 2017. A look at piscivorous insect distribution in a partially restored drowned river mouth. Spotlight on Student Research & Outreach Symposium. 145
State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Syracuse, New York.
Augustyn, E. A. and J. M. Farrell. 2017. Restored connectivity in Typha dominated wetlands: Effects on early life stages of northern pike. Oral presentation at: New York Chapter of the American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting. Buffalo, NY. February 1-3, 2017. Best Student Paper Award Recipient.
Augustyn, E. A. and J. M. Farrell. 2016. Restored connectivity in Typha dominated wetlands: Effects on early life stages of northern pike. Poster presented at: SUNY ESF Board of Trustees Conference. Clayton, NY.
Augustyn, E. A. 2016. Restored connectivity in Typha dominated wetlands: Effects on early life stages of northern pike. Oral presentation at: 2016 Esocid Working Group Conference. Clayton, NY.
Augustyn, E. A. and J. M. Farrell. 2016. Restored connectivity in Typha dominated wetlands: Effects on early life stages of northern pike. Poster presented at Great Lakes Coastal Managers Meeting. Clayton, NY.
Getchell, R G., E. R. Cornwell, J. M. Farrell , S. Bogdanowicz , J. Andrés, J. G. Choi, J. Kramer, A.Schulman and P. R. Bowser Following two invaders: The infection dynamics of VHSV and Round Goby in the Upper St. Lawrence River. New York Chapter of the American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting. Buffalo, NY. (Poster presentation).
Walton, S.E, J.M. Farrell and S.J. Cooke. Spatial ecology of YOY esocids in nursery embayments in the St. Lawrence River. Oral presentation at: SMARTER (Stream Monitoring and Research Team - Eastern Region) Meeting. Ottawa, ON. October 27, 2016.
Walton, S.E, J.M. Farrell and S.J. Cooke. 2016. Spatial ecology of YOY esocids in nursery embayments in the St. Lawrence River. Oral presentation at: International Esocid Working Group Meeting. Clayton, NY. November 3, 2016.
Walton, S.E, J.M. Farrell and S.J. Cooke. 2017. Seasonal spatial ecology of age-0 Esocids in nursery embayments of the St. Lawrence River. Poster presented at: CCFFR (Canadian Conference For Fisheries Research). Montreal, QC. January 6, 2017.
Walton, S, J.M. Farrell and S.J. Cooke. Seasonal spatial ecology of age-0 Esocids in nursery embayments of the St. Lawrence River. Poster presented at: GLATOS (Great Lakes Acoustic Telemetry Observation System) Conference. Ann Arbor, MI. February 28, 2017. 146
Walton, S.E, J.M. Farrell and S.J. Cooke. Seasonal spatial ecology of age-0 Esocids in nursery embayments of the St. Lawrence River. Poster presented at: AFS-OC (American Fisheries Society-Ontario Chapter) Conference. Orillia, ON. March 3, 2017.
Walton, S.E, J.M. Farrell and S.J. Cooke. Spatial and behavioural ecology of juvenile esocid fish: Muskellunge and Northern Pike. Poster presentation at: OCIB (Ottawa-Carleton Institute of Biology) Symposium. Ottawa, ON. April 28, 2017.
Walton, S.E, J.M. Farrell and S.J. Cooke. Seasonal spatial ecology of age-0 Esocids in nursery embayments of the St. Lawrence River. Oral presentation and poster presented at: Cape Vincent Dive Club Meeting. Cape Vincent, NY. May 29, 2017. \
TIBS Research Highlights (examples)
LONG-TERM MONITORING: Abundance of spawning adult and young-of-the-year northern pike in the Thousand Islands region of the St. Lawrence River continues to be suppressed likely due to habitat degradation resulting from long-term management of Lake Ontario/St. Lawrence River water levels. Overall, natural reproduction of pike at natural and managed spawning marshes remains poor, due to low abundance of spawning adults and sex ratio dominance of females. Habitat restoration efforts including enhanced connectivity with an aquatic excavator and creation of spawning pools have shown success for natural reproduction of young-of-year (YOY) at many sites. Monitoring of outmigration of young at enhancement sites further indicates a strong linkage of abundance to spring water levels.
PIKE SEX RATIO STUDY: A histological approach to determine gender in young-of-the-year northern pike was evaluated using stained preparations of preserved gonad tissues raised in culture and collected in local bays. This procedure is being used to determine gender in juveniles to the evaluate sex ratio and make comparisons to the adult population that is female- dominated. A diagnostic tool for gender determination will be important for research on factors influencing sex ratios in nature.
MUSKELLUNGE MONITORING: Muskellunge population indices in the Thousand Islands region of the St. Lawrence River continue to show signs of stress. Spring trapnet and summer seining surveys, and an angler diary index, all indicate reduced adult and young-of-the-year abundance. Adult muskellunge mortality due to outbreaks of the invasive Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia virus (VHSV) are contributing to lower adult muskellunge numbers and low levels of natural reproduction. The St. Lawrence River spawning adult muskellunge trapnetting index (for the post-VHSV era (2006-2015; 1.9 adults handled/100 net-nights) is less than a third of pre-VHSV index (6.3 adults/100 net-nights). Both YOY seining indices and angler catch rates show a similar pattern in time trends. Intensive research and management efforts are focused on reversing these alarming trends.
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MUSKELLUNGE VHSV STUDY: Sampling VHSV levels from fishes in proximity with spawning adult muskellunge was completed to test for presence of virus in 2015. Positive samples with qRT-PCR were detected for rock bass, yellow perch, and round goby at multiple sites. Muskellunge from the DEC Chautauqua Lake Hatchery were used in a separate study to examine the effects of new variants of VHSV on their survival. All variants tested caused 100% mortality. Additional work is being done to better understand the viral genome and the molecular changes it is going through in nature and its potential implications to fisheries.
MUSKELLUNGE SURVIVAL STUDY: Nearly 50,000 muskellunge fry were cultured at TIBS in spring 2017. We plan to release them as summer fingerlings in nursery sites where populations have declined significantly since recent dieoffs in the mid 2000s related to invasive species and VHSV. Each fish will have a passive-integrated transponder with a unique code to identify patterns of fish distribution over time. Ultimately it is hoped to restore the spawning populations at specific locales.
INVASIVE ROUND GOBY EGG PREDATION STUDY: An experiment was conducted on round goby egg predation representing broadcast spawning species (pike and muskellunge) and indicated higher egg predation rates on habitats with lower complexity (e.g. sand, silt). Higher complexity habitat including SAV, gravel, rubble, filamentous algae, also experienced significant losses (43- 60%). Round goby have the potential to exhibit significant egg predation effects for broadcast spawning species such as muskellunge and northern pike. We are in the process of published this completed research.
INVASIVE GOBY DIET STUDY: A round goby diet analysis compared two size classes, including large individuals (up to 250 mm) sampled from the St. Lawrence River during the spring index trapnetting . An abundance of large round goby (130-250 mm) has developed in the catch since 2012. Minnow traps were used to capture smaller goby (<130 mm). Diet analyses revealed a shift from a generalist diet (chironomids, gastropods, and including eggs) for small individuals to a more specialized dreissenid-based (invasive zebra and quagga mussel) diet for large round goby. Stable isotope analysis of goby muscle tissue supported findings from diet analysis. Nitrogen isotopes showed lower trophic position for large round goby and carbon isotopes indicated their diet source is derived primarily from dreissenids. Smaller gobies consumed a greater variety of prey including fish eggs and likely have a greater influence on native food webs. We are in the process of publishing this completed research.
HABITAT RESTORATION STUDY: A walleye spawning habitat substrate addition project was completed at Kent’s Creek near Cape Vincent, NY by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in February 2015. The spawning bed was evaluated for walleye egg abundance and outmigration of fry during spring 2015 and was compared to a nearby upstream natural spawning area. Walleye spawned at both the created and natural site at a similar high rate and egg viability. Similarly, outmigration of newly hatched fry was successful at both natural and created locations. This research was accepted for publication in May 2017. 148
AQUATIC HABITAT ENHANCEMENT: Several research and management projects are underway to evaluate methods to improve fish spawning and nursery habitat. A project is evaluating the ability to transplant propagules of beneficial plants such as water celery (Vallisneria americana) into newly enhanced sites that lack specific components of their seed banks. We are also evaluating community response at this and other restoration and enhancement sites in cooperation with DEC and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Larval northern pike (upper left showing yolk-sac embryos and enlarged inset) and their dependency on coastal wetlands is a focus of TIBS research. Fine-mesh emigration traps are used to capture fishes and invertebrates (top right) and are emptied daily (bottom left) and data are collected to better understand wetland habitat function. Restored wetlands are producing significant numbers of juvenile young pike (bottom right) and serving as critical habitat for reproduction.
Teaching
The Limnology Class instructed by Dr. Kimberly Schulz participated in the annual fall field trip to TIBS to learn about the aquatic ecosystems and fishes of the St. Lawrence River. Students interacted with TIBS staff and researchers including field exercises with fish sampling and limnologic monitoring activities. 149
Limnology students work with TIBS staff to experience the long-term near shore fish monitoring protocol. Trapnets were set and emptied to capture a sample of the St. Lawrence River fish community. An unexpected catch was a 51’’muskellunge (in the tank below). Biological data was collected on this fish and all others captured and it was implanted with a passive integrated transponder tag. The TIBS muskellunge tagging program has led to critical knowledge regarding movements and spawning site fidelity.
Outreach
Numerous outreach activities occurred during this reporting period that engaged groups of a variety of ages and demographics. Graduate students and staff integrate their daily work into informal and formal outreach to the community and beyond. TIBS activities of information dissemination about the aquatic system and active research programs are an important part of our mission (examples below).
Lecture presentations at Depauville Library, Wellesley Island Nature Center and the Chippewa Bay Community Center Thousand Islands Land Trust, Zenda Farm Picnic – Provided display of fish and other aquatic life and information regarding TIBS programs as a TILT Conservation Partner for major community event (~250 participants) Thousand Islands Land Trust, Kids Trek “Ichthyologist for a Day” – led children ages 5-12 and adults through a series of modules on fish and river ecology (25 participants) http://www.tilandtrust.org/Treks-Events/FullCalendarofTreksEvents.aspx Poster Session and Keynote Presentation for ESF College Foundation Board of Trustees Meeting, Clayton NY
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Visiting class from the Save The River’s In The Schools Program in the TIBS Main Lodge
Facility upgrades
TIBS has a new storage and mainland research facility in Clayton NY at the Zenda Farm Complex of the Thousand Islands Land Trust (TILT). ESF and TILT entered into a long-term lease and the project was financed with grant funds and ESF. The facility provides a research point-of-access for TIBS mainland work including wetland restoration assessment and monitoring.
The Farm Road facility is a short walk from the Clayton Yacht Club where TIBS has its docking and access to Governors Island. Water, electric and sewer are to be added in 2017.
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Appendix T. Annual Report for the Cranberry Lake Biological Station (no report this year)