Kim Steiner Ph.D.

Academic Interests:

Silviculture and ecology of mixed-oak forests; tree growth and form; forest genetics.

Affiliated Programs:

Graduate faculty, Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Ecology .

Courses Taught:

Dendrology

Professional Affiliation:

Chair, Penn State University Faculty Senate (2004-2005)

Vice-President and Chair of the Science Cabinet, The American Chestnut Foundation

Chair, Allegheny Society of American Foresters

General Chair, Society of American Foresters 2006 National Convention

Member, Committee on Accreditation, Society of American Foresters

Member, Advisory Committee, Purdue University Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center

Member, Steering Committee, Pennsylvania Biological Survey

Member, Ecosystem Management Advisory Committee, PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

Member, Board of Directors, Pennsylvania Council of Professional Foresters.

Recent Research/Educational Projects:

Regeneration of Mixed-Oak Forests in the Central Appalachians For reasons that are not entirely clear, it is sometimes difficult for foresters in this region to achieve good regeneration of forest trees following harvest. In this long-term project funded by the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry, we are following the regeneration process in over 50 mixed-oak forest stands. Results to date include a classification of stands by understory vegetation conditions, identification of discrete pathways of stand development based upon initial conditions, development of the characteristic size-density relationship for early stand growth, and development of oak regeneration guidelines applicable to this region.

The Arboretum at Penn State The arboretum will be an interdisciplinary teaching and research facility located on 395 acres of land bordering the university's main campus at University Park. Dr. Steiner's role as Director includes working with an administrative committee of college deans and an advisory committee of faculty and staff to move the plan forward through additional planning phases, funding, and ultimately construction. Current plans call for $40 million in development (to come primarily from private donations) in the Landscape and Botanic Gardens portion of the Arboretum located in the "Mitchell Tract" that is adjacent to Park Avenue. Design and construction has already begun on a $530,000 project (funded by the Pennsylvania DCNR and PennDOT) to convert a 1.3-mile portion of the former Bellefonte Central Railroad into a bicycle/pedestrian path that will be a key part of the Arboretum's circulation system.

Selected Publications

Gould, P. J., K. C. Steiner, M. E. McDill, and J. C. Finley. In Press. Modeling seed-origin oak regeneration in the central Appalachians. Can. J. For. Res.

Steiner, K. C. 2006. Regional adaptation in American chestnut. In Proc. of the Conf. on Restoration of American Chestnut to Forest Lands, U.S. Dept. Interior Nat. Res. Rep. NPS/NCR/CUE/NRR 2006/001, pp. 123-128.

Diskin, M. and K. C. Steiner. 2006. Rate of recovery of the American chestnut phenotype through backcross breeding of hybrid trees. In Proc. of the Conf. on Restoration of American Chestnut to Forest Lands, U.S. Dept. Interior Nat. Res. Rep. NPS/NCR/CUE/NRR 2006/001, pp. 129-131.

Phelps, T. R., K. C. Steiner, C. C. Chen, and J. J. Zaczek. 2006. Planting trials of American chestnut in central Appalachian mountains. In Proc. of the Conf. on Restoration of American Chestnut to Forest Lands, U.S. Dept. Interior Nat. Res. Rep. NPS/NCR/CUE/NRR 2006/001, pp. 161-166.

Finley, J. C. and K. C. Steiner. 2006. Summary of facilitated workshop on restoration of chestnut to National Park System lands. In Proc. of the Conf. on Restoration of American Chestnut to Forest Lands, U.S. Dept. Interior Nat. Res. Rep. NPS/NCR/CUE/NRR 2006/001, pp. 227-230.

Steiner, K. C. and J. E. Carlson, editors. 2006. Restoration of American chestnut to forest lands. Proceedings of a Conference and Workshop, May 4-6, 2004, Asheville, North Carolina. U.S. Dept. Interior Nat. Res. Rep. NPS/NCR/CUE/NRR 2006/001, 230 pp.

Fei, S., P. J. Gould, K. C. Steiner, and J. C. Finley. 2006. Aggregate height -- a composite measure of stand density for tree seedling populations. For. Ecol. Manage. 223: 336-341.

Diskin, M., K. C. Steiner, and F. V. Hebard. 2006. Recovery of American chestnut characteristics following hybridization and backcross breeding to restore blight-ravaged Castanea dentata. For. Ecol. Manage. 223: 439-447.

Zaczek, J. J., K. C. Steiner, C. W. Heuser, Jr., and W. M. Tzilkowski. 2006. Effects of serial grafting, ontogeny, and genotype on rooting Quercus rubra cuttings. Can. J. For. Res. 36: 123-131.

Schaub, M., J. M. Skelly, K. C. Steiner, D. D. Davis, S. P. Pennypacker, J. Zhang, J. A. Ferdinand, J. E. Savage, and R. E. Stevenson. 2003. Physiological and foliar responses of Prunus serotina , Fraxinus americana , and Acer rubrum seedlings to varying soil moisture and ozone. Environmental Pollution 124: 307-320.

Manno, E. A., K. C. Steiner, and R. A. Day. 2002. Ralph E. Brock and the State Forest Academy at Mont Alto, Pennsylvania. Forest History Today, Fall 2002, pp. 12-19.

Dickie, I. A., R. T. Koide, and K. C. Steiner. 2002. Influences of established trees on mycorrhizas, nutrition, and growth of Quercus rubra seedlings. Ecological Monographs 72:505-521.

Lee, J. C., K. C. Steiner, J. W. Zhang, and J. M. Skelly. 2002. Heritability of ozone sensitivity in open-pollinated families of black cherry ( Prunus serotina Ehrh.). Forest Science 48: 111-117.

Steiner, K. C., E. C. Jensen, T. L. Sharik, L. Samuelson, J. R. Seiler, J. Shane, and J. J. Zaczek. 2000. Profiles of dendrology instruction at several U. S. universities. In, M. R. Ryan and W. B. Kurtz (eds.), Proceedings of the Third Biennial Conference on University Education in Natural Resources (pp. 87-94), March 25-28, 2000. University of Missouri, Columbia.

Kouterick, K. B., J. M. Skelly, T. S. Fredericksen, K. C. Steiner, T. E. Kolb, and J. A. Ferdinand. 2000. Foliar injury, leaf gas exchange and biomass responses of black cherry ( Prunus serotina Ehrh.) half-sibling families to ozone exposure. Environmental Pollution 107: 117-126.