Department of Environmental and Forest Biology Annual Report Summer 2015 Academic Year 2015 – 2016 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, 2016 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction . .4 Overview to Annual Report . 4 Building(s) . 7 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 . 17 Patents and Patent Applications . .19 Listing of awards and recognition . 19 Outreach and Service . 19 Enumeration of outreach activities . 19 Summary of grant panel service . 20 Summary of journal editorial board service. 20 Number of journal manuscripts reviewed by faculty. 21 Listing of awards and recognition . 21 Service Learning . 21 Graduate Students. 23 Number of students by degree objectives . 23 Graduate student national fellowships/awards . 24 Graduate recruitment efforts . 24 Graduate student advising . 25 Courses having TA support and enrollment in each . 26 Graduate Program Accomplishments – Miscellaneous. 27 2 Governance and Administrative Structure . .. 27 Components. 27 Supporting offices, committees, directors, and coordinators . 28 Budget . 30 State budget allocations . 30 Funds Generated by Summer Courses and Grad Tuition Incentive Program . 31 SUNY Research Foundation research incentives funds . 31 Development funds . 32 Student Learning Outcomes Assessment . 33 Objectives 2015-2016 . 34 Objectives, status, and relations to strategic plan . 34 Objectives 2016-2017 . 35 Objectives and relations to strategic plan . 35 Undergraduate Recruitment Efforts . 36 Longer Term Visioning and Planning . 37 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) . 71 Appendix D. Papers Submitted, In Review, Pending Decision . 78 Appendix E. Papers/Posters Presented at Science Meetings . 81 Appendix F. Faculty Grants . .90 Appendix G. Service to Department, College, and University . 102 Appendix H. Unfunded Service to Governmental Agencies, Public Interest Groups, etc. 110 Appendix I. Unfunded Service to Professional Societies and Organizations . 115 Appendix J. Funded Service to Governmental Agencies, Public Interest Groups, etc. 117 3 Appendix K. Presentations to the Public. 119 Appendix L. Miscellaneous Publications and Outreach Activities and Materials. 125 Appendix M. Foreign Travel. 127 Appendix N. Theses and Dissertations completed . 129 Appendix O. List of MPS students who completed degree requirements . 130 Appendix P. Summary of Faculty and Student Awards . 131 Appendix Q. New York Natural Heritage Program 2015-16 Publications, Presentations and Service . 133 Appendix R. Annual Report for the Roosevelt Wild Life Station . 138 Appendix S. Annual Report for the Thousand Islands Biological Station . .145 Appendix T. Annual Report for Cranberry Lake Biological Station . 157 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. We have hired Dr. Brian Leydet to support the growing Environmental Health undergraduate major at ESF, including teaching Epidemiology beginning this fall semester. His research examines the ecology of Lyme disease, including the role of ticks. Brian has a Ph.D. in Veterinary Medical Sciences from Louisiana State University, M.P.H. from the University of North Florida, and B.S. in Community Health from Old Dominion University. John Castello continues to teach Forest and Shade Tree Pathology and the senior synthesis in Forest Health; co-teach (with S. Teale) Peoples, Plagues, and Pests, and Forest Health, and serve as coordinator of the Forest Health major. Jonathan Cohen has been very busy on the research front, now advising or co-advising five Ph.D. students and three M.S. students and managing $2.6 million in grants and is co-PI on another $2.9 million. Stew Diemont received the ESF College Foundation Award for Exceptional Achievement in Teaching and was promoted to Associate Professor and awarded Continuing Appointment (effective September 1, 2016). Martin Dovciak was invited to speak to the Mountain Research Initiative (MRI), a group of researchers working in mountain regions across the U.S. and globally, held in conjunction with the American Geosciences Union Fall Meeting in San Francisco to present his research on “Monitoring Changing Forests in Mountain Regions”. John Farrell secured a new five-year contract with the NYS-DEC for $1.4 million for research on novel population of and habitat restoration initiatives to support St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes fisheries, and was an author on the cover issue for Fisheries magazine in a feature article on muskellunge ecology and management. Shannon Farrell has a number of funded research projects on the ecology and conservation of bats, and is developing a pilot project to study the ecology and population dynamics of American robins, as well as their prospective role as a reservoir for Lyme disease and potential agent of geographic dispersal of both Lyme disease and infected ticks. Danny Fernando served as EFB’s Graduate Program Director for his 9th year, gave two invited research presentations (a NSRC webinar and talk at Cornell), and was awarded the 2016 Jewett Prize from the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University for his work on the hardy kiwi. Melissa Fierke taught over 300 students in General Biology last fall, was instrumental in co-developing and releasing EFB’s first ever Graduate Handbook, and has received additional funding to build her research program on the emerald ash borer. Beth Folta taught four interpretive courses and co-taught one additional courses that focused on interpretation and ecotourism, and was part of two faculty teams that were awarded grants, i.e., an EPA Environmental Education grant focused on stewardship education using the Haudenosaunee’s Thanksgiving Address as a lens to look at 5 the natural world and The National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant to design a new graduate program at ESF that will focus on integrating indigenous and scientific knowledge. Jacqui Frair was honored with a research collaboration award (Wings Across the Americas) from the USFS for her part in a large collaborative project assessing potential resistance to white-nose syndrome in bats in the central US, and worked with the College Foundation and Camp Fire Club of America to secure $685,000 towards a $1 million endowment for a new wildlife faculty line to the department. James Gibbs’ publication in PLoS describing a new species of giant tortoise and a field expedition in November to harvest hybrid tortoises of purportedly extinct species from Volcan Wolf garnered significant media attention. Among other highlights, James received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award.