Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources

and

Ecology and Evolution Graduate Program Newsletter

 

March 2007

 

 

Previous newsletters may be found at:

http://www-rci.rutgers.edu/~deenr/news.html

 

 

In Memoriam:

Ted Stiles passed away in his sleep on the morning of March 6th after a 15 month long battle with cancer. We know that all of you will join us in remembering Ted’s many contributions as a teacher, scholar, conservationist, and colleague over the past 30+ years.

 

A celebration of Ted’s life will be held at the Stony Brook –Millstone Watershed Association on Saturday, March 24th from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. 

 

Presentations: 

Jason Grabosky gave the following presentations: 

  • March 12:  Making use of the Best Management Practices document for ANSI A300 (part 1) - 2001 Pruning at The Society of Tree Care Experts dinner meeting. 
  • March 19:  Middlesex County Urban Forestry 2007 spring symposium:
    1. New Tree Stock Evaluation Methods
    2. Tree Pruning Methods for Survival and Vigor
    3. Tree Pruning Methods: field workshop 
  • Wednesday March 21, 2007  Rutgers Hort Farm I  "Dealing with soil compaction":  Water Management and Drainage:  Office of Continuing and Professional Education Landscape Management Series 
  • March 22:  Garden State Tree Conference:  Urban Forestry Program update

 

David Moskowitz  a Ph.D. student in the Mike May lab, gave the following talks: 

  • Institute for Continuing Legal Education at the National Law Center " The New NJDEP Floodplain Rules - Environmental Constraints"
  • Rutgers University Environmental Law and Regulatory Update - Threatened and Endangered Species
  • Cranford Garden Club - Butterflies of New Jersey

  

Joe Paulin, a Ph.D. candidate, advisor David Ehrenfeld,  gave a presentation entitled “Talking with your community about wildlife management,” at the North Jersey Commercial Vegetable Growers Association Meeting.


Patricia Ramey, a Ph.D. candidate in Fred Grassle’s lab, attended the Northeast Biological Graduate Student Conference held at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada Feb 23-25.. Tricia presented her research entitled “Flumes and marine benthos: a single approach to tackle an array of research questions.”  This work was in collaboration with Dr. Pedro Quijon from the University of Prince Edward Island.

 

Publications:

Kirsten Schwarz, a Ph.D. candidate in the Steward T.A. Pickett lab, reports the following publication coauthored with alumna Mary Cadenasso (Ph.D. 1998) now at UC Davis and their advisor Steward T.A. Pickett:

Cadenasso, M.L., S.T.A. Pickett, and K. Schwarz.  2007.  Spatial heterogeneity in urban ecosystems: reconceptualizing land cover and a framework for classification.  Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.  5(2): 80-87.

 

Teresa Johnson, a Ph.D. candidate in Bonnie McCay’s lab, has published the following:

Teresa R. Johnson and Wim L.T. van Densen. 2007. Benefits and organization of cooperative research for fisheries management. ICES Journal of Marine Science 64:

(in press).

 

Matthew Kimball, a Ph.D. candidate in the Ken Able lab, reports the following publication:

Kimball ME, Able KW .  Nekton utilization of intertidal salt marsh creeks:  Tidal influences in natural Spartina, invasive Phragmites, and marshes treated for Phragmites removal.  Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology   (in press).

 

Cassey, P., J.L. Lockwood, T.M. Blackburn, and J.D. Olden.  Spatial scale and evolutionary history determine the degree of taxonomic homogenization across island bird assemblages.  Diversity and Distributions  (in press).

 

David Moskowitz, a Ph.D. student in the Mike May lab, wrote an article that was published in the New Jersey New York Trail Walker: “Spring Peeper, The Tiny Frog with the Big Voice”, which can be found in the online version at http://www.nynjtc.org/trailwalker/2007/ma07.pdf

 

Dana Price, a Ph.D. candidate in the Mike May lab, has the following publication:

Price, D.L. Phylogenetic Analysis of the Dung Beetle Genus Phanaeus (Coleoptera:

Scarabaeidae) Based on Morphological Data. Insect Systematics and Evolution. (in press.)

 

 

 

 

Faculty Achievements and Activities:

Roger Locandro, Emeritus Professor, gave the Keynote Address at New Jersey Forestry Association Annual Meeting Saturday, March 3, 2007. The address was titled: "Sustainable Forests - Suburban Shade Trees to Tropical Rain Forests.”

 

Julie Lockwood was outside reviewer for Martin Taylor's Master of Science thesis, Faculty of Natural Resource and Agricultural Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa.

 

Julie Lockwood was interviewed for a High Country News Feature Article "Wish You Weren't Here" on the invasion of quagga mussels in Lake Mead, Arizona.

 

Julie Lockwood received as grant from the Critical Ecosystems Science Initiative, National Park Service for Recovering small Cape Sable seaside sparrow subpopulations: the breeding and dispersal of sparrows in the eastern Everglades,  - $152,000.

 

Advisory Panels:     

Julie Lockwood served on the National Science Foundation review panel for Dissertation Improvement Grants in Ecology.

 

Student Awards, Achievements, and Activities:

 

2006 JBS Haldane Prize

 

Jennifer Adams Krumins, Ph.D. candidate in Peter Morin’s lab, has been selected to receive the JBS Haldane Prize for 2006 for her paper published in the journal Functional Ecology. In addition to the Ł250 prize money the award includes a year’s membership to the British Ecological Society and a year’s subscription to Functional Ecology. The Haldane Prize recognizes the best paper published by a young author in Functional Ecology:

 

“Indirect effects of food web diversity and productivity on bacterial community function and composition .” J. A. Krumins, Z. T. Long, C. F. Steiner, P. J. Morin Volume 20, Issue 3: 514-521

 

Congratulations Jennifer!

 

NOAA  NERR Graduate Research Fellowship

 

Inga LaPuma, a Ph.D. candidate in Rick Lathrop’s lab,  has received a NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) Graduate Research Fellowship. Inga will receive 3 years of funding at $20,000 per year. Her proposal was titled “Assessment of landuse and disturbance scenarios in the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve watersheds using spatial modeling.”

Congratulations Inga!

 

Inga LaPuma also received a $500.00 student travel grant from NASA-MSU to go to the Landscape Ecology conference in April.

 

David Moskowitz, a Ph.D. student in the Mike May lab, traveled to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute on Barro Colorado Island in Panama to radio-track orchid bees!

 

Joe Paulin, a Ph.D. candidate, advisor David Ehrenfeld, was invited to become a member of the NJDEP Commissioner’s Non-lethal Bear Control Subcommittee. Joe has also been working with the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife on black bear den research.

Linda Rohleder, a Ph.D. candidate in Joan Ehrenfeld’s lab, was awarded a $350 scholarship from the Citizens United to Protect the Maurice River and its Tributaries, to attend the 2007 Special Pinelands Plants course offered by the Pinelands Preservation Alliance.

 

Tom Virzi, a Ph.D. candidate in Julie Lockwood’s lab, received a third year of support from the

Joe Paulin, a Ph.D. candidate, advisor David Ehrenfeld, was invited to become a member of the NJDEP Commissioner’s Non-lethal Bear Subcommittee. Joe has also been working with the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife on black bear den research.

Linda Rohleder, a Ph.D. candidate in Joan Ehrenfeld’s lab,   was awarded a $350 scholarship from the Citizens United to Protect the Maurice River and its Tributaries to attend the 2007 Special Pinelands Plants course offered by the Pinelands Preservation Alliance.

 

Tom Virzi, a Ph.D. candidate in Julie Lockwood’s lab, received a third year of support from US Fish and Wildlife Service for a field tech to work at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge collecting reproductive data for his oystercatcher project. The funding pays their salary ($2,880) and includes housing.

 

Quals and Prelims:

 

Congratulations to Brooke Maslo, advisor Steven Handel, on the successful completion of her Qualifying Exam on March 1, 2007.

 

Congratulations to

·        John Balletto, advisor Ken Able, on the successful defense of his Preliminary Proposal on February 23, 2007

·        Matthew Kimball, advisor Ken Able, on the successful defense of his Preliminary Proposal on March 8,  2007.

 

Alumni:

Myla Aronson, Ph.D. 2007, advisor Steven Handel, reports the following publication:

Aronson, M.F.J, S.N. Handel, and S.E. Clemants.  2007.  Fruit type, life form, and origin determine the success of woody plant invaders in an urban landscape.  Biological Invasions  (in press).

 

Robert Hamilton, Ph.D. 2006, advisor Joan Ehrenfeld, was nominated for the 2006 Distinguished Teaching Award at Kent State – Stark Campus.

 

Items of Interest:

BOTANICAL ART OF THE PINELANDS

6-23 April, 2007. Featuring drawings by Albert List and Robin Jess, photos by Rosalie Sherman,
scientific collections, and living plants.

Chang Science Library, Foran Hall,
59 Dudley Road, Cook Campus,
Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901

 

Opening reception: Friday April 6, 2007, 6 PM

Exhibit hours: M-F 8:30AM - 9 PM
Sat 12-6 PM. Sun 12-11 PM. Silent auction.

Organizers: Chrysler Herbarium and Rutgers Libraries
Curators: Donna Gustafson & Lena Struwe
Sponsors:
Flora of New Jersey Project,
New Jersey Conservation Foundation,
New Jersey Environmental Digital Library,
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection,
The Pinelands Commission,
Pinelands Preservation Alliance,
Rutgers University (Floriculture Greenhouse)
The Pinelands Research Station,
Dept. of Plant Biology and Pathology,
Dept. of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources

Website: herbarium.rutgers.edu/pinelands/