Many of our faculty maintain websites highlighting their research programs and facilities. Our laboratories—whether in house or out in the environment—support a broad range of study.
Work conducted by staff and students in the Boyer Lab aims to provide a scientific basis for design and implementation of land management programs and policies to mitigate the effects of pollution, and to protect, conserve, and restore surface waters.
Our research group investigates soil- and plant-associated microbial communities, especially populations involved in nutrient cycling and biogeochemical transformations of redox-active elements like N, Fe, and Mn.
Pennsylvania forests face many challenges - invasive plants, insect outbreaks, soil acidity, tree diseases, and even deer. This study is being conducted to better understand the role of deer in the context of all these challenges and to help Pennsylvania’s forest and wildlife managers better manage deer and the forest.
The Eissenstat lab works in all aspects of plant ecology with a particular emphasis on the ecology of plant roots.
We work on transdisciplinary science and policy engagement in watersheds, climate-smart forestry, natural resource conservation, water-energy-food nexus, energy transitions, and climate adaptation and resilience. The EPGC Group has ongoing projects in the Appalachians, Alleghenies, Andes, and Himalayas.
Advance understanding of the social and economic value of conserved ecosystems
Our research focuses on changing biogeochemical cycles in terrestrial ecosystems. Biogeochemical cycles control the storage and movement of energy and nutrients. We are particularly interested in the nitrogen cycle.
Our research focuses in forest ecology through a range of research approaches that include dendrochronology, vegetation sampling, ecophysiology, and ecosystem science.
The Land Analysis Lab (LAL) specializes in the use of GIS and related advanced geospatial / information system technologies for environmental assessment, agriculture, land management and planning.
Our research focuses on understanding forest ecosystems by quantifying and modeling ecosystem attributes and processes at diverse spatial and temporal scales using varied data sources. We are especially interested in modeling forests responses to changes in climate.
Our research focuses on understanding how habitat change, climate, and other stressors impact animal populations and predicting the effectiveness of management to mitigate these factors. Our approaches emphasize strong quantitative methods for data analysis, management and integration of large data sets, incorporation of ecological process, and formal decision analysis.
We have a long history of studying how soil affects the lives of the state’s citizens and how people have, and are today, changing the state’s soils. While the lab’s research focuses largely on Pennsylvania soil issues, we have conducted work regionally, nationally, and internationally.
Ecological Interactions Among Schistosomes, Snail Host, Humans and Fish Predators.
Our research focuses on conducting wildlife research, both basic and applied, on large ecological datasets that provide an unique opportunity to explicitly incorporate sources of spatial and temporal variability into understanding motivations for an organism’s movements, resource selection, subpopulation structuring, or presence in a landscape.
Our laboratory works across multiple applications of our science. The core theme of our work is soil and water quality. Water quality is tied to much of what occurs in our soils, since water travels through the soil as it moves from the soil surface to ground water and surface water. Our work seeks to understand the processes and mechanisms of transport of chemicals transported by water moving through soil.
The Silviculture and Applied Forest Ecology Lab is the center for innovative, collaborative research on applied forest ecology and management. The Lab uses both theoretical and applied field research and outreach to address the operational implementation of our knowledge of forestry to meet societal objectives.
