Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources

Faculty and Student Professional Update

September 2004

Presentations:

Tavis Anderson* and Michael Sukhdeo presented a paper titled “Ecology of West Nile virus: a habitat-based approach to quantifying risk and transmission.” at The American Society of Parasitologists. Philadelphia, PA in August 2004.
Greg Dahle, a graduate student in Dr. Jason Grabosky’s lab, will be presenting a paper on Sept 16th at the 8th International Environmental Concerns in Rights-Of-Way Management Symposium. The paper is titled “Implications of Branch Strength Loss in Silver Maple Trees Converted from Round-Over to V-Trims During Electrical Line Clearance Operations.” The paper will be published in the symposium’s proceedings.

David Ehrenfeld presented an invited talk at the Symposium on Biotechnology and Biodiversity: Understanding the Potential Conservation Risks and Benefits of Genetic Engineering, at the annual meeting of The Society for Conservation Biology, in New York, July 2004.
David Ehrenfeld gave a welcoming address at the Beijing International Symposium on Biological Invasions, Beijing, China, and June 2004.
Jennifer Adams Krumins,** C.F. Steiner, Zachary T. Long,*** Peter J. Morin presented a poster titled “Linking Ecosystem Biodiversity and Bacterial Decomposition.” at the 10^th International Symposium for Microbial Ecology, Cancun, Mexico, August 2004.
Jennifer Adams Krumins and Lin Jiang presented a poster titled “The effects of keystone predation and productivity in a model system.” at the Ecological Society of America annual meeting, Portland OR, August 2004.
Alexnader Hernandez**** and Michael Sukhdeo presented a paper titled “Parasite alteration of biomass and ecosystem function of hosts.” The American Society of Parasitologists. Philadelphia, PA in August 2004.
Daniel Hernandez, a PhD candidate in Dr. David Drake’s lab, presented a poster entitled "Foraging Dynamics of Migratory Waders Relative To Prey Density." at the Society for Conservation Biology Annual Meeting in New York City this August.
Stacey Lettini***** and Michael Sukhdeo presented a paper titled “Repeated Dessiccation Survival by Infective Stages of Gastrointestinal Nematodes.” at the 79th meeting of The American Society of Parasitologists. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. July 2004.
Julie Lockwood presented “Biotic homogenization and the breakdown of biogeographic barriers.” Invited Symposium Participant, Symposium title: Insights from Exotic Species. Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, August, Portland, Oregon.

Julie Lockwood presented “Smoke on the water: the interplay of hydrology and fire and its effect on Everglades biodiversity,” National Science Foundation Long-term Ecological Research Coordinating Committee Workshop, August 2004. Fairbanks, Alaska.
Kristi MacDonald, a PhD candidate in Dr. David Ehrenfeld’s lab, presented a poster titled “The role of forest proximity and land use in maintaining richness and abundance of songbirds in an urban watershed.” 18th Annual Meeting Society for Conservation Biology, July 30-August 2, 2004, New York, NY. 2004.
Emilie Stander, a PhD candidate in Joan Ehrenfeld’s lab, gave an oral presentation at the Society of Wetland Scientists July meeting in Seattle entitled "Do Urban Wetlands Leak Nitrogen? Assessing the Utility of the HGM Functional Assessment Model in the Urban Setting."
Lena Struwe K. Lepis, M. F. Calió, W. Peters, M. Kinkade, A. M. Pohlit, & J. Pirani.presented a paper titled “Exploring evolutionary patterns in Brazilian plant biodiversity using GIS and molecular systematics.” At the North-South Americas Molecular Biology Conference. 8-10 Sep 2004, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.

*Tavis Anderson is a graduate student in Michael Sukhdeo’s lab.

** Jennifer Adams Krumins is a graduate student in Peter Morin’s lab.

*** Zachary Long is a PhD candidate in Peter Morin’s lab.

****Alexander Hernandez is a PhD candidate in Michael Sukhdeo’s lab.

*****Stacey Lettini is a graduate student in Michael Sukhdeo’s lab.

Papers Published:

Gilman E F and J. Grabosky. 2004. "Mulch and planting depth affect live oak

(Quercus virginiana Mill.) establishment." Journal of Arboriculture 30(5):311-317.

Jordan, R.C., K.A. Kellogg, F. Juanes, D.V. Howe, E.R. Loew, J.R. Stauffer, Jr.,

and G. Losey. 2004. “Ultraviolet reflectivity in three species of Lake Malawi rock-dwelling cichlids.” Journal of Fish Biology 65: 876-882.

Kimball ME, * Miller JM, Whitfield PE, Hare J.A. “Thermal tolerance and potential distribution of the invasive lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles complex) on the east coast of the United States.” Marine Ecology Progress Series (In Press).
Pejchar, L, K. Holl and J. Lockwood. “Home range size varies with habitat type in a Hawaiian Honeycreeper: implications for native Acacia koa forestry.” Ecological Applications. (In Press)
Cassey, P., T.M. Blackburn, R.P. Duncan, and J.L. Lockwood. “Lessons from the establishment of exotic species: a meta-analytical case study using birds.” Journal of Animal Ecology. (In Press).
MacDonald, K.,** and T. K. Rudel, “Sprawl and forest cover: what is the relationship?” Applied Geography. (In Press.)
Struwe, L. & V. A. Albert. 2004. “Monograph of neotropical Potalia

(Gentianaceae: Potalieae).” Systematic Botany 29(3): 670-701.

Mansion, G. & L. Struwe. 2004. “Generic delimitation and phylogenetic

relationships within the subtribe Chironiinae (Chironieae: Gentianaceae)

with special reference to Centaurium: evidence from nrDNA and cpDNA

sequences.” Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 32: 951-977.

Tedrow, J.C.F.***, 2004, Soil research in Arctic Alaska, Greenland and Antarctica. in Cryosols, Permafrost-Affected Soils. J.M. Kimble, ed. pp5-16, Springer-Verlag. Berlin.
Tedrow, J.C.F.***, 2004, Polar desert soils in perspective. Eurasian Soil Science (Pochvovednie) 37:443-450 (in English).

*Matthew Kimball is a graduate student in Kenneth Able’s lab.

**Kristi MacDonald is a PhD candidate in David Ehrenfeld’s lab.

*** Emeritus

Faculty Achievements and Activities:

Joan Ehrenfeld led a trip to Cheesequake State Park titled "Conservation in Suburban/Urban Environments" for the Society for Conservation Biology at their annual meeting held in New York in July.
Jason Grabosky and The Rutgers Urban Forestry Program is hosting a summit for the USDA Urban Community Forestry Focus funding project creating the Northern: Trees Southern Tree Selection web product. Jason Grabosky is the PI on the multi- institutional, 21 state NE region collaborative agreement.
Rick Lathrop was invited to participate in a workshop on Coastal Landscape

Indicators held by the Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the

Environment in Washington D.C. on Sept 2 & 3, 2004.

The broadcast of "The Highlands Rediscovered," a new documentary produced by NJN Television, airs on NJN on Monday, October 11 at 9PM. The documentary features interviews with Department of Ecology, Evolution & Natural Resources professors Rick Lathrop and Ted Stiles, as well as RU-Newark Geology professor Alec Gates. The documentary also shows present RU E&E grad student Eric Stiles, and Natural Resource Management students Carl Figuerido and Mike Mills doing field work. for more info: http://njn.net/television/highlights/04october/highlandsrediscovered/.
Julie Lockwood organized and was Co-Chair with Michael McKinney of a symposium titled “ Slowing Homogenization: Conserving Native Species in an Age of Urban Sprawl,” Society for Conservation Biology Annual Meeting, August. New York, NY.

Student Grants and Fellowships:

· Jennifer Adams Krumins, a graduate student in Dr. Peter Morin’s lab, was awarded one of the eight Governor’s Executive Fellowships from the Eagleton Institute of Politics. Governor’s Fellows enroll in the Eagleton Seminar in American Politics in the fall and are placed as an intern a state executive department or agency in Trenton for the spring semester.

· Jennifer Adams Krumins has had her NASA GSRP Fellowship renewed for the coming year.

· Emilie Stander, a Ph.D. candidate in Dr. Joan Ehrenfeld’s lab, was awarded an EPA STAR (Science to Achieve Results) Fellowship for the coming year.

Student Awards, Achievements, and Activities:

David LaPuma, a graduate student Dr. Julie Lockwood’s lab, has set up the Fall 2004 Radar Migration Website at a new url: ww.woodcreeper.com. He has begun the fall nocturnal migration update using NEXRAD Doppler Radar. Local birders use this as a means to predict the location of concentrations of large numbers of birds.
Amy Long, a graduate student in Dr. Steven Handel’s lab, was interviewed by the Associated Press regarding deer and pest damage to native tree species at Hutchinson Memorial Forest. These interviews appeared in the New York Times on Sunday, Sept. 5 and the Home News Tribune on Monday Sept. 6^th.

Transitions:

Polly Hicks (advisor Jean Marie Hartman) defended her Masters thesis on July 28, titled “Seed dispersal dynamics and vegetation community development in a restored brackish marsh: implications for restoration and management.” Polly is currently an Oak Ridge Institute of Science and Education Fellow with NOAA’s Restoration Center in Silver Springs, Maryland. She will be doing restoration research and working on community-based restoration projects.
Kristin Mylecraine (advisor Peter Smouse) defended her dissertation titled “Geographic variation in Atlantic white-cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides): Implications for management, restoration and biogeography” on July 16. Kristin currently is a post-doctoral fellow in the lab of Lisle Gibbs at Ohio State University in Columbus and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. She will be working on the genetics of Canada Geese.
Zachary Long (advisor Peter Morin) will be moving to a postdoctoral position at the University of North Carolina where he will be working on a project on marine biodiversity directed by John Bruno and Emmet Duffy (VIMS). Zac will defend his dissertation on Sept. 20.