Department of Environmental and Forest Biology SUNY-ESF Annual Report 2014-2015 Front Cover: Images for collage by EFB faculty, staff, and students Department of Environmental and Forest Biology Annual Report Summer 2014 Academic Year 2014 – 2015 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 July 15, 2015 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction . .4 Overview to Annual Report . 4 Building(s) . 6 Teaching . 7 Summary of main courses taught by faculty members . .7 Course teaching load summary by faculty members . 11 Undergraduate student advising loads . 12 Curriculum changes . 13 Undergraduate students enrolled in each EFB major . 13 Listing of awards and recognition . 13 Research/Scholarship . .13 Summary of publications/presentations . .13 Science Citation Indices . 14 Summary of grant activity . 16 Patents and Patent Applications . .18 Listing of awards and recognition . 18 Outreach and Service . 18 Enumeration of outreach activities . 19 Summary of grant panel service . 19 Summary of journal editorial board service. 19 Number of journal manuscripts reviewed by faculty. 20 Listing of awards and recognition . 20 Service Learning . 20 Graduate Students. 22 Number of students by degree objectives . 23 Graduate student national fellowships/awards . 23 Graduate recruitment efforts . 23 Graduate student advising . 24 Courses having TA support and enrollment in each . 25 2 Governance and Administrative Structure . .. 26 Components. 26 Supporting offices, committees, directors, and coordinators . 27 Budget . 29 State budget allocations . 29 Funds Generated by Summer Courses and Grad Tuition Incentive Program . 30 SUNY Research Foundation research incentives funds . 30 Development funds . 31 Student Learning Outcomes Assessment . 32 Objectives 2014-2015 . 35 Objectives, status, and relations to strategic plan . 35 Objectives 2015-2016 . 37 Objectives and relations to strategic plan . 37 Undergraduate Recruitment Efforts . 37 Longer Term Visioning and Planning . 38 Appendix A. EFB Faculty: Rank, Education, and Interests . 40 Appendix B. Summary of Individual Faculty’s Most Significant Accomplishments . 43 Appendix C. Faculty Publications (published or in press) . 73 Appendix D. Papers Submitted, In Review, Pending Decision . 79 Appendix E. Papers/Posters Presented at Science Meetings . 83 Appendix F. Faculty Grants . .94 Appendix G. Service to Department, College, and University . 104 Appendix H. Unfunded Service to Governmental Agencies, Public Interest Groups, etc. 113 Appendix I. Unfunded Service to Professional Societies and Organizations . 120 Appendix J. Funded Service to Governmental Agencies, Public Interest Groups, etc. 122 3 Appendix K. Presentations to the Public. 124 Appendix L. Miscellaneous Publications and Outreach Activities and Materials. 130 Appendix M. Foreign Travel. 131 Appendix N. Theses and Dissertations completed . 133 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 2012-13 Publications, Presentations and Service . .138 Appendix R. Annual Report for the Thousand Islands Biological Station . 146 Appendix S. Annual Report for the Cranberry Lake Biological Station . 154 4 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 can be included in this brief summary. Appendix A lists EFB faculty during the 2014-2015 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. During this past academic year Dr. Myron Mitchell retired in September and Dr. Bill Shields retired in January. Dr. Shields will continue to direct the ESF Honors Program. Sadie Ryan left for a faculty position in the Department of Geography & Emerging Pathogens Institute at the University of Florida. In October, Dr. Hyatt Green began his employment at ESF as EFB’s new environmental microbiologist. Hyatt’s research interests include molecular microbial ecology, co-evolution of microbes with their animal hosts, microbial source tracking and water quality, and microbial biogeography. Dr. Martin Dovciak was promoted to Associate Professor and awarded continuing appointment (“tenure”). Dr. John Farrell was promoted to Professor. John Castello and Steve Teale published three papers (with John’s former Ph.D. student, Jon Cale) on beech bark disease and forest health issues, and taught their People, Plagues and Pests course to over 100 students for the 10th year. Jonathan Cohen offered his most polished version yet of Wildlife Habitats and Populations and received a round of applause by the students on the last day of class! Stew Diemont offered Systems Ecology for his first time, and took 11 ESF students to Chiapas, Mexico for the 10-day field component of Restoring Ecosystems: Principles and Practice. John Farrell authored or co-authored 11 journal publications and completed guest editorial work with publication of a special issue in the Journal of Great Lakes Research. Shannon Farrell taught Wildlife Ecology and Management for the first time and ornithology for the second time, both courses being very well-received. Danny Fernando served for the 8th year as Director of EFB’s graduate programs and in the spring, organized a meeting on the first attempt to establish a new population of the federally-listed American hart’s-tongue fern. Beth Folta co-taught (with Diane Kuehn, FNRM) a new course, Nature Tourism and Ecotourism in Panama, working with the Azuero Earth Project (AEP). Jacqui Frair offered a wildlife field techniques course during Maymester and as Associate Director of the Roosevelt Wild Life Station led the Station’s first ever strategic planning effort. Roosevelt Wild Life Station Director James Gibbs, working with Giorgos Mountrakis (ERE), received nearly $800,000 for their proposal to examine the management of social-ecological grazing systems in the Altai Mountain transboundary zone. Hyatt Green developed and offered a graduate level, introductory R course, based on the strong interest level among graduate students in this topic. Among Robin Kimmerer’s many accomplishments and highlights of this past year, her invitation to speak to the General Assembly of the United Nations in April has to be near or at the top. Don Leopold received his 30 year pin in March; the last ten as chair has made it seem like at least 40! 5 During her sabbatical leave, Karin Limburg travelled to Stockholm University and Lund University in Sweden; Reykjavik, Iceland; Quebec City; Mallorca, Spain; and Bordeaux, France, for numerous activities and tasks. Mark Lomolino took a sabbatical leave during the fall semester. Greg McGee, continuing in his role as EFB’s Curriculum Director, took the lead on preparing the department’s Middle States Accreditation Undergraduate Program Assessment Report, which included an analysis of the department’s seven majors. This work will help the department focus on how best to modify our majors so they are most effective in meeting their learning objectives. Stacy McNulty revamped Winter Mammalian Ecology toward a more equitable distribution of small, meso and large species and restored a field lab in the High Peaks region. Lee Newman received the President’s ESF Public/Community Service Award in March for her work at the VA, with Clear Paths, and other service contributions in the CNY community. Gordon Paterson continues to develop courses in toxicology and environmental risk assessment, and co-taught the Tropical Ecology course this spring with Don Stewart. Bill Powell gave over 30 interviews and made nearly 30 presentations on his American.