Specialization Students and Alumni
Catch up with our alumni »
 |
David Bidwell Department: Sociology E-mail: bidwell2@msu.edu |
Dissertation Topic: Social Psychology and Deliberative Decision Making
Research and Teaching Interests: My research interests revolve around environmental decision-making, with a particular interest in processes that involve "non-experts." Other research interests include the goals of public participation practitioners, climate change adaptation and public opinion, social and political roots of environmental conflict, and upstream engagement in science. I hold a MS in Natural Resource Policy from the University of Michigan and have worked as a professional facilitator and public participation consultant.
 |
Victoria Campbell-Arvai Department: CARRS (Community, Agriculture, Recreation, and Resource Studies) E-mail: campb575@msu.edu |
Tentative Dissertation Title: TBA
Research and Teaching Interests: I am generally interested in how modern industrial agriculture has all but severed our connections to the food we eat, eliminating the imperative to consider, and take responsibility for, the broader environmental and ethical implications of these practices. More specifically, recent reports from the FAO and IPCC have drawn our attention to the negative environmental impacts of modern large-scale livestock production practices, particularly with respect to contributions to climate change, deforestation, and the degradation of water quality. As industrial animal agriculture attempts to address these environmental and ethical challenges, I am interested in how these efforts are being represented to the public as well as how they are contributing to the continued hegemony of this form of agriculture. However, with alternatives to intensive animal agriculture and the meat-centered diet growing in acceptance and availability, how might we begin to redefine our relationship -as individuals and as a society- with the food that we eat?
 |
John Clements Department: Sociology E-mail: clemen69@msu.edu |
Tentative Dissertation Title: TBA
Research and Teaching Interests: I am a 1st year PhD student in the Sociology Department. During my previous studies I have focused on biology and water resources management, as well as public administration focusing on nonprofit management. I worked as environmenal consultant for seven years, and for the last 10 years have been active in medical education and health related research. My research interests lie in the intersections of health, the environment and science, but I am also interested in understanding how religion can impact all of these areas. I have had the opportunity to experience health care systems in Central America and the Caribbean and am also interested in the social aspects of public health in these areas. Finally, I am interested in determining how group affiliations or religious belief systems impact involvement in social movements which are not traditionally associated with a person's group membership (ie - traditional republicans being involved in environmental movements). In my spare time (HaHaHa) you can find me with my wife and two kids.
 |
Micaleila Dell Desotelle Department: Zoology E-mail: desotell@msu.edu |
Dissertation Topic or Title: The effects of impoundments of river food webs
Research and Teaching Interests: I am studying the effects of impoundments on the Kalamazoo River. Small impoundments are common on medium sized US rivers, and they are important because they slow the river current so that phytoplankton have time to grow and reproduce. Stream filter-feeding insects and mussels frequently increase in abundance below reservoirs and are likely to be consuming the phytoplankton produced by the reservoirs. The phytoplankton may be providing additional energy for the food web as it is transferred to higher trophic levels. I wish to understand how reservoirs impact energy flow in river food webs downstream of the dams.
|
Jessica Fry Department: Criminal Justice E-mail: fryjess1@msu.edu |
Dissertation Topic or Title: Manure processing techniques geared towards producing a high-grade nutrient solution to be marketed as an artificial fertilizer replacement in Europe
Research and Teaching Interests: My research interests lie in the areas of conservation criminology and environmental crime. I am specifically interested in the application of forensic techniques in conservation and environmental law enforcement, and how the availability and level of advancement of these techniques affect the judicial process in these areas.
For my Master's thesis, I studied manure processing techniques geared towards producing a high-grade nutrient solution to be marketed as an artificial fertilizer replacement in Europe. The aim of the study was to define possible forensic methods by which the artificial fertilizer replacement product could be distinguished from other forms of (processed) manure. This study has raised my interest in the environmental effects of modern agricultural practices, which is a research area I would also like to continue pursuing in the future.
 |
Matt Grisko Department: Philosophy E-mail: griskoma@msu.edu |
Dissertation Topic: TBA
Research and Teaching Interests: My research interest is in environmental philosophy, particularly the intersection between environmental science, policy, and ethics. More specifically I am interested in the question of how we should live with the non-human world; what our relationship with nature should be and how we can best bring about that relationship. As part of addressing this overarching question, I am examining the conceptual and normative aspects of various practices and ideas important to environmental conservation and restoration and the relationship between science and advocacy, particularly as regards the 'conservation' sciences like conservation genetics and conservation biology.
 |
Richard Grogan Department: Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies E-mail: groganri@msu.edu |
Dissertation Topic: TBA
Research and Teaching Interests: I am a third-year Ph.D. student in CARRS. I’m currently helping to lead a research and planning initiative aimed at helping large institutions, like MSU, improve their performance in the area of sustainability. My interests also include individual interpretations of sustainability, and how those interpretations are manifested in strategic decisions within large organizations. Further, I’m interested in developing measures of sustainability that are applicable in these large organizational settings. I also happily serve on MSU's Committee for a Sustainable Campus, part of the Office of Campus Sustainability. I hold a Master of Public Administration from UNC Chapel-Hill.
 |
Jennifer R. Kelly Department: Sociology E-mail: kellyj24@msu.edu |
Dissertation Topic or Title: TBD
Research and Teaching Interests: Jennifer Rebecca Kelly studies environmental sociology focusing on the relationship that humans have with the living world. With an interdisciplinary background her scholarship and views on the nature society divide have embraced a holistic approach. As such, her interests have taken on an experiential dimension, that is, where nature and wildlife interface most vividly with humans. This is revealed in a broad range of areas from an individual’s encounter with the portrait of a wild animal, to exploring the role of experiential education that is centered on the student immersion into a natural environment, to the hunting of wildlife, a relationship that has been portrayed both as an act of love and kill.
 |
Nicole E. Lamp Department: Fisheries and Wildlife E-mail: lampnico@msu.edu |
Dissertation Topic or Title: Evaluating the evolution, implementation and effectiveness of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's conservation approaches.
Research and Teaching Interests: My research interests revolve around endangered species management and conservation as well as the role of science in policy-making. My field research experiences have primarily focused on threatened and endangered avian species such as the common tern and the Great Lakes piping plover. In addition to my academic pursuits, I am employed as a wildlife biologist at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (Service) East Lansing Field Office through their Student Career Experience Program. My work at the Service with endangered species recovery planning and implementation catalyzed my interest in the Endangered Species Act, the interplay of science and conservation policy, and the evolution and effectiveness of this federal agency. My research will explore how the history of the Service has affected the evolution and implementation of its conservation approaches and policies as well as compare its ecosystem approach of the 1990s to an emerging landscape-level approach to conservation. Finally, I am working with two other graduate students in my department (Rebecca Christoffel and Ali Felix) in developing a new two-week field intensive course for undergraduates in natural resource and natural science majors. The main goals of this course are to provide undergraduates with experience in using terrestrial and aquatic field techniques, introduce them to natural resource issues in Michigan, and provide opportunities to interact with natural resources professionals. Another major goal of this course is to provide graduate students with experience developing and teaching their own course (under advisement of faculty co-PIs).
 |
Abigail Lynch Department: Fisheries and Wildlife E-mail: lynchabi@msu.edu |
Dissertation Topic or Title: Fisheries and Climate Change
Research and Teaching Interests: On a broad scale, my research interests lie in fisheries conservation, applying a landscape approach to management, with consideration that humans are an integral part of any ecological system. I am conducting my dissertation research on climate change and fisheries. I am designing a decision support tool for natural resource managers to understand the implications of climate change on fisheries and implement conservation and rehabilitation projects that will be resilient to ecosystem modifications resultant from climate change. I will be using the Great Lakes Basin as my initial model system, but I hope to design a tool that will be broadly applicable, particularly for developing regions of the world which have severe funding limitations and must prioritize conservation efforts to the greatest efficiency and effect.
 |
Elizabeth Mauritz Department: Philosophy E-mail: mauritze@msu.edu |
Dissertation Title: Are There Moral Foundations to Support Claims of Moral Economy?
Research and Teaching Interests: I am exploring the way moral, social, and political norms impact our conceptions of our relationship with the environment and interactions with each other. Ecological restoration, environmental justice, and development ethics are of particular interest. I also am interested in the relationship rural and agrarian peoples throughout the world have with the land through farming and other land use practices. Recently I have been involved with workshops and teaching that deals with the ethical implications of biotechnology, especially genetically engineered crops and cloned food animals. Philosophy of science interests include notions of objectivity and subjectivity as well as the social organization of scientists in a scientific community. Moreover, I am concerned with assumptions about what values and goals scientists should have when pursuing research. Recent additions to my research include biomedical ethics and research ethics.
 |
Zarraz May-Ping Lee Department: Microbiology and Molecular Genetics E-mail: leezarra@msu.edu |
Dissertation Topic: Bacterial Growth Efficiency (BGE) of bacterial community in soil and factors that influence BGE.
Research and Teaching Interests: My research focuses on the efficiency of bacteria at converting organic carbon substrate into biomass, also known as bacterial growth efficiency (BGE). I am currently investigating the BGE of bacterial communities from soil with different land management, at the Kellogg Biological Station LTER site. I am interested in determining various factors that could change BGE, especially factors that are implied from the change of land usage from forest into conventional agriculture. Besides environmental factors, I will also be comparing the bacterial community from these soils to determine if the BGE of the community can be influenced by the structure of the bacterial community. At the same time, I am also looking at some intrinsic factors of individual bacterial species that can affect BGE, such as translational efficiency (the capability of bacteria to produce protein from a certain amount of ATP) and its ribosomal RNA encoding gene copy number.
The significance of this research is to help understand the impact of environmental conditions on the capability of bacteria to be more efficient at conserving carbon; by converting carbon substrate into biomass rather than CO2. Additionally, understanding BGE of bacterial community from soil will contribute to understanding the physiological state of the community in soil.
 |
Colleen McLean
|
Dissertation Topic: Evaluating environmental response and recovery using an integrated paleolimnological approach.
Research and Teaching Interests: My current research focuses on assessing environmental recovery in aquatic ecosystems by evaluating the rate and trajectory of physical, chemical and biological change archived in lacustrine sediment. Investigating environmental change with this multiproxy approach lends insight to the roles of both natural and anthropogenic stressors influencing dynamic ecological regimes. Moreover, untangling the complexities of various timescales and intensities requires a better understanding of the relationships among paleoecological indicators, and are aspects of ongoing research activities.
 |
Max Melstrom Department: Economics and Agricultural Economics E-mail: melstrom@msu.edu |
Dissertation Topic: TBA
Research and Teaching Interests: Max's focus is on how environmental regulations interact with economic activity and why problems occur in making the two work together. Contrary to what some believe, "what is good for the environment is also good for the economy" he says.
He is also interested in researching the level of demand for environmental preservation and recreational resources, and how we should model different forms of valuation, such as recreational value and intrinsic value. "Different approaches to modeling this demand can therefore have a significant influence on how we assess the value of natural resources," he says.
 |
Stephanie Miller Department: Zoology E-mail: mill1571@msu.edu |
Dissertation Topic: Nutrient-mediated relationships between algae and heterotrophic bacteria: implications for Mycobacterium ulcerans and other bacterial pathogens.
Research and Teaching Interests: My research addresses how anthropogenic alterations of the environment affect biotic communities and ecosystems. I am especially interested in understanding how environmental change affects the dynamics of pathogenic bacteria in aquatic environments. Much of my dissertation research focuses on Buruli ulcer, an emergent necrotic skin disease caused by the environmental pathogen Mycobacterium ulcerans. My other research interests include stream restoration,using diatoms as bioindicators, and identifying broad scale patterns in relationships between heterotrophic microbes and primary producers.
 |
Emily Norton Department: Fisheries & Wildlife E-mail: nortone1@msu.edu |
Dissertation Topic: The effects of lake shoreline development on painted turtle nest site selection and reproductive success.
Research and Teaching Interests:
First year graduate student and ESPP fellowship recipient Emily Norton is interested in how human activity affects lake ecosystems, shorelines and the wildlife that inhabit them.
Currently, Norton is working on an economics project relating lakes' water clarity (a measure of water quality) to the value of surrounding residential properties, in the Lower Peninsula. She is studying 20 counties, over 100 lakes, and over 1400 properties, and expects to conclude the project this summer. Previous studies have found water clarity and housing prices to be positively correlated. She hopes that her results will build on past studies and help inform decisions on water quality regulation in Michigan, by demonstrating the value of water clarity through housing prices.
 |
Linda Novitski Department: Zoology E-mail: lindanovitski@gmail.com |
Dissertation Topic: Microcystis in the Ohio River, analyzing population dynamics of an algal taxon with toxin-forming potential.
Research and Teaching Interests: Linda studies the specific ecological conditions that promote algal blooms along the Ohio River and some of its tributaries. Algal blooms can cause decreased oxygen levels and produce toxins, both of which can cause death in other aquatic organisms or humans who ingest the toxins. In addition, she plans to do a survey, in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency, to see how pervasive Microcystis (a type of algae) is in other Midwestern rivers. An end result of her study will be a model that can predict which ecological factors, such as high nutrients, have the biggest influence in driving algal blooms. She expects these results will have implications on human usage. For example, it would help determine if high nutrients coming from agriculture or wastewater treatment plants are a driving factor for algal blooms, or if low flow due to water retention or diversion (as there are many dams in the Ohio River) is a major influence.
 |
Perdinan Department: Geography E-mail: perdinan@msu.edu |
Research and Teaching Interests: Mr. Perdinan is a PhD student in the Department of Geography, sponsored by Fulbright. He obtained his Bachelor's Degree in Agro-meteorology from the Department of Geophysics and Meteorology, Bogor Agricultural University-Indonesia in 2002. He was awarded a BCA Scholarship from 1999 to 2002. After completing the degree, he joined the Bogor Agricultural University, as teaching staff and research assistant with a specialization in Applied Climatology. In this field, he has been involved in a number of research activities at national and international levels that focus on applying climate information associated with climate variability and climate change to enhance human adaptive capacity to climate conditions. In 2006, he was awarded an Australian Development Scholarship to study for a Master's in Natural Resources Economics at The University of Queensland-Australia, and did research on economic assessment of climate change risks. After completing the degree in 2007, he returned to Indonesia and did research on assessing the impact of climate change on water resources in Indonesia, a collaborative research project between the Indonesian and German governments; and on a synthesis study of climate change in Indonesia funded by the Asia Pacific Network. His main areas of interest are climate change, land use change (carbon) and economic risk analysis. Specifically, he is interested in climate change mitigation, climate change risks and its management options.
 |
Allison Rober Departments: Zoology; Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, & Behavior Program; Environmental Science and Policy Program E-mail: roberall@msu.edu |
Dissertation Topic or Title: The role of abiotic and biotic factors in structuring benthic algal dynamics in northern boreal wetland food-webs
Research and Teaching Interests: I am broadly interested in freshwater aquatic ecology. Currently, I am investigating in the spatial distribution of algae in high latitude wetlands, the role of abiotic (i.e. nutrients and light) and biotic (i.e. herbivory) factors in the regulation of algal primary productivity and community composition, and the role of consumer driven nutrient recycling on benthic algal productivity in boreal wetlands. High latitude regions are experiencing changes in climate that have the potential to alter the current food-web structure and function. I am investigating these parameters in a boreal marsh located within the Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest near Fairbanks, Alaska.
 |
Sara Tanis Department: Forestry E-mail: tanissar@msu.edu |
Dissertation Topic or Title: TBD
Research and Teaching Interests: In general, my research will examine host plant interactions between ash trees and the emerald ash borer (EAB), an exotic invasive beetle native to Asia. In its native habitat EAB primarily attack stressed trees and beetle population is relatively low. In North America, however, ash trees have no evolved resistance against EAB and populations have exploded across nine U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. Our goal is to better understand the resistance mechanisms of Asian ash and to use what we learn to determine what steps can be taken to increase resistance of ash trees native to North America. As it continues to spread and become an even greater threat to our forest, urban and cultural systems, there is an increased need to communicate with people in very diverse groups. Currently, several Federal and state quarantines prevent the movement of infested plant material but human assisted dispersal is still the key mode of dispersal in the U.S. I am excited to develop new communication and research skills that will enable me to communicate policy directions and needs with people in my community, and in government and academic institutions.
 |
Mamta Vardhan Department: CARRS (Community, Agriculture, Recreation, and Resource Studies) E-mail: vardhanm@msu.edu |
Dissertation Topic: TBA
Research and Teaching Interests: Mamta is a doctoral student in the department of CARRS and is studying international development, gender and environmental change. Mamta's research interests lie in exploring the gender, equity implications and institutional dynamics of community participation in natural resource management initiatives in India and Kenya.
She has worked with the World Agroforestry Center and undertook field research on the process of community involvement and gender in water management and its impact on water use and availability, in Lake Victoria watershed, in western Kenya. Before coming to graduate school, Mamta worked for seven years as a program coordinator in a grass-roots level non-profit organization in western India. She worked on issues interfacing local environment management and livelihood development of indigenous communities. Her previous academic qualifications include a Masters degree in forestry management and a Bachelors degree in Science.
 |
Wu Yang Department: Fisheries and Wildlife E-mail: yangwu@msu.edu |
Dissertation Topic or Title: TBD
Research and Teaching Interests: Wu Yang holds a bachelor's degree from ZJU's College of Life Sciences and he plans to earn his Master's and Ph.D. in fisheries and wildlife. Wu has joined Jack Liu's study of human interaction with giant pandas in Sichuan province, China. His plans to go there in May 2008 were interrupted by the massive earthquake that devastated the province, but he expects to go next summer. Wu is interested in interactions between human and natural systems, which he said have become unavoidable. He hopes to integrate ecology, socioeconomics, management and policy making in the study of those interactions.
 |
Barbara Zawedde Department: Horticulture E-mail: zawedde@msu.edu |
Dissertation Topic or Title: TBD
