Expertise

I coordinate the Applied Forest & Fire Ecology Lab (AFFEL) at SUNY ESF which seeks to address threats to forest resources by: 1) understanding the effects of disturbance on forest structure, composition, distribution, & function, 2) integrating this knowledge into the design of modern forest management strategies, tactics, & tools, & 3) testing efficacy through application. In general, work in the AFFEL explores the hypothesis that disturbance is the key to forest resilience in the face of modern stressors. More specific interests within this broad theme include:

  • Mechanistic understanding of the forest mesophication process
  • Restoring disturbance-dependent components of forest biodiversity
  • Effects of disturbance on the adaptive capacity of forests
  • Fire and fuel ecology and management in the Eastern USA
  • Microbial plant-soil(-fire) feedbacks & forest regeneration
  • Oak (Quercus spp.) and pine (Pinus spp.) ecology and silviculture
  • Mechanical, chemical, and fire control of American beech competition
  • Ticks, tick-borne disease, and prescribed fire management
  • Relationships between pyrodiversity and biodiversity
  • Traditional ecological knowledge of forest disturbance


Organizational Affiliations

Assistant Professor, Department of Sustainable Resources Management, Academic Departments and Divisions, College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Assistant Professor, Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, Research Centers and Programs, College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Assistant Professor, Climate and Applied Forest Research Institute, Research Centers and Programs, College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Assistant Professor, Restoration Science Center, Research Centers and Programs, College of Environmental Science and Forestry