Former Graduate Students
Dr. Michelle Elise Spicer
PHD 2019Dissertation title: Discovering the forest among the trees: Testing community assembly theory in the forgotten layers of temperate and tropical ecosystems
Dr. Spicer is currently an Assistant Professor in the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA.
Email: michelle.spicer@yale.edu
Dr. Eric Griffin
PHD 2016Dissertation title: The greater unseen: On the identities, distributions, and impacts of foliar bacteria on tropical arboreal species.
Dr. Griffin is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Studies at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, SC.
Email: egriffin@warren-wilson.edu
Shaniqua Gladney
HMBP Post-Baccalaureate Student 2016Shaniqua Gladney recently completed her Masters of Science in Marine Science as a Sloan Foundation Fellow with Kendra Daly at the University of South Florida.
Email: sgladney@mail.usf.edu
Jake Slyder
Graduate Student 2013-2015Jake Slyder is a Geospatial Imaging Specialist at the Bureau of Land Management in Colorado Springs, CO.
Email: jakeslyder@gmail.com
Dr. Thomas Pendergast
PHD 2013Dissertation title: Explaining patterns of dominance in old-field communities - Trade-offs, feedbacks, mutualisms and enemies
Dr. Pendergast is a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Plant Biology at the University of Georgia in Athens, GA.
Email: thpiv@uga.edu
Dr. Steve Hovick
PHD 2009 (co-advised with Chris Peterson at UGA)Dissertation title: New approaches for understanding plant invasions - From invasiveness traits to context-dependent biocontrol success
Dr. Hovick is an Associate Professor in the Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology at The Ohio State University in Columbus, OH.
Email: hovick.2@osu.edu
Henry Schumacher
MS 2008Thesis title: Patterns of shifting tree species composition and diversity loss in 19 old-growth forest stands in Pennsylvania
Henry Schumacher is a Lead Wetland Scientist at SWCA Environmental Consultants in Bridgeville, PA.
Email: hschumacher78@gmail.com
Dr. James Cronin
PHD 2006Dissertation title: Explaining variation in herbivore control over plant communities
Dr. Cronin is an Research Ecologist for the US Geological Survey at the Wetlands and Aquatic Research Center in Lafayette, Louisiana.
Email: jcronin@usgs.gov
Dr. Alejandro Royo
PHD 2005Dissertation title: Mammal-plant dynamics in forests - Interactions and implications for understory plant diversity
Dr. Royo is a Research Ecologist for the USDA Forest Service, Forestry Sciences Laboratory in Irvine, Pennsylvania.
Email: aroyo@fs.fed.us
Dr. Daniel Bunker
PHD 2004Dissertation title: The application of competition theory to invaders and biological control - A test case with purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), broad-leaved cattail (Typha latifolia), and a leaf-feeding beetle (Galerucella calmariensis)
Dr. Bunker is an Associate Professor with joint appointments in the Federated Department of Biology and the Department of Mathematical Sciences at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, NJ.
Email: dbunker@njit.edu
Dr. Rachel Collins
PHD 2003Dissertation title: The Effects of prescribed fire, canopy gaps and deer herbivory on tree species composition - Implications of succession theory
Dr. Collins is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at Roanoke College.
Email: rcollins@roanoke.edu
Dr. Stefan Schnitzer
PHD 2000Dissertation title: Treefall gaps and the maintenance of species diversity - Redefining and expanding the gap hypothesis
Dr. Schnitzer is a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Marquette University and a Research Associate at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.
Email: s1@mu.edu
Dr. Zachary Long
MS 1999Thesis title: The effect of herbivory on metrics of shade tolerance of understory trees in an old-growth beech-maple forest
Dr. Long completed his Ph.D. in 2004 with Peter Morin at Rutgers University and is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington.
Email: longz@uncw.edu
Dr. M. Henry H. Stevens
PHD 1999Dissertation title: Understanding why plant diversity declines with increasing soil resource availability increases - tests of the important hypotheses
Dr. Stevens is an Associate Professor in the Department of Botany at Miami University.
Email: hstevens@muohio.edu
Former Post-Docs and Visitors
Dr. Zhiliang Yuan
Visiting Scholar 2019Dr. Yuan is a researcher from the Henan Agricultural University in Zhengzhou, Henan Provence, China.
Email: zhiliangyuan@pitt.edu
Dr. Andrei Ptitsyn
Visiting Fulbright Scholar 2016-2017Dr. Ptitsyn is an Assistant Professor at Moscow State University, Russia.
Email: andrei.ptitsyn@gmail.com
Dr. Radim Hédl
Visiting Scholar 2016Dr. Hédl is researcher from the Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Brno, Czech Republic.
Email: radim.hedl@ibot.cas.cz
Dr. Zhiwei Zhong
Visiting PHD Student 2015Dr. Zhong is a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Northeast Normal University in Changchun, Jilin Province, China.
Email: zhongzw822@nenu.edu.cn
Dr. Alejandra Domic
Post-Doctoral Researcher 2012-2013Dr. Domic is a Research Associate at the Herbario Nacional de Bolivia, in La Paz and an Assistant Research Professor of Anthropology at Penn State University in University Park, PA.
Email: alejandradomic@gmail.com
Dr. Timothy Nuttle
Post-Doctoral Researcher 2004-2007Dr. Nuttle is the principle and founder of Oikos Ecology in Pittsburgh, PA.
Email: nuttle.tim@gmail.com
Website
Former Undergraduate Students
Dr. Josh Banta
Undergraduate Researcher 2004-2008Dr. Banta went on to complete his Ph.D. with Massimo Pigliucci at Stony Brook University in 2008 and is currently a Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Texas, Tyler.
Email: jbanta@uttyler.edu
Dr. Scott Stark
Undergraduate Researcher 2002-2003Dr. Stark completed his Ph.D. in 2012 with Brian Enquist and Scott Saleska at the University of Arizona and is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Forestry at Michigan State University.
Email: scstark@msu.edu
Dr. Chandra Goetsch
Undergraduate ResearcherDr. Goetsch completed her Ph.D. in 2019 with Daniel Costa at the University of California, Santa Cruz and is currently a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Biodiversity Research Institute in Portland, ME.
Dr. Morgan Kain
Undergraduate ResearcherDr. Kain completed his M.S. in 2015 at East Carolina University with Michael McCoy and his Ph.D. in 2019 at McMaster University with Ben Bolker and is currently a Research Scientist at EcoHealth Alliance in New York, NY.
Email: morganpkain@gmail.com
Dr. Evan Gora
Undergraduate ResearcherDr. Gora completed his Ph.D. in 2018 at the University of Louisville with Steve Yanoviak and is currently a Forest Ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY.
Email: gorae@caryinstitute.org
Mike Magliocca
Undergraduate ResearcherMike is an actor and fight choreographer based in New York City and received his MFA at Brooklyn College in 2020.
Email: mike.magliocca@gmail.com