Faculty

Shorna B. Allred's research program blends human factors and natural sciences to improve resource management and conservation. The goal of her research program is to develop a fundamental understanding of human behavior for the purposes of improving resource conservation and management.

Plant invasions are thought to threaten the function and integrity of ecosystems and native species across the globe. Professor Blossey's research addresses three key areas: How do plant invasions and their management affect native ecosystems; how can we achieve improvements in the success of biological weed control; and what determines the increased competitive ability of invasive plants?
Ecology and Management of Invasive Plants Program

David Bonter is an avian ecologist focused on mentoring undergraduate research, teaching field courses, and engaging the public in scientific research. He serves as the Arthur A. Allen Director of Citizen Science at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Carrie Brown-Lima, coordinator of the NY Invasive Species Research Institute, works to integrate invasive species science and management to understand and strategically mitigate the environmental, social, economic threats associated with these species.   

(Please note: Dr. Buck is not taking new graduate students.)The focus of Louise Buck’s work is the facilitation of multi-stakeholder innovation to develop systems of natural resource management that integrate ecological conservation, agricultural production and livelihood goals. Current applications are in forest farming systems of agroforestry land use in the northeastern United States and ecoagriculture systems of landscape management in Eastern Africa.

Professor Cooch is an applied evolutionary/theoretical ecologist. His goal is to use the methods and ideas from evolutionary ecology, in an applied context. His primary applied research focuses on the general question of making optimal resource management decisions under uncertainty.
Evan Cooch Website

Dr. Paul Curtis serves as Extension Wildlife Specialist in the Department of Natural Resources at Cornell University. He has coordinated the Wildlife Damage Management Program for the past 24 years, and his applied research and extension programs focus on reducing human-wildlife conflicts in agricultural and suburban landscapes.
 

Professor Decker works with scholars and practitioners to develop a vision of "next-generation wildlife management." A key feature of this pursuit is the articulation of a model of wildlife management that integrates human and biological dimensions in wildlife management and policy making.
Center for Conservation Social Sciences
 

Professor Dickinson's research spans the fields of behavioral ecology, evolutionary ecology, and molecular ecology of birds and insects. She is interested in citizen science as an ecological tool, and her work involves development of research models that blend exploratory research with citizen participation.
Dickinson Lab
​Citizen Science Program

As a forest ecologist, Professor Fahey’s general interest is in better understanding forest ecosystems, both tropical and temperate. His current research is focused on forest soil carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus dynamics, tropical montane forest ecosystems and the dynamics of forest soils invaded by exotic earthworms.

Professor Fuller is a mammalian wildlife ecologist and conducts applied research to inform conservation and management. Her primary research interests center on the effects of forest fragmentation on mammals, species-habitat relationships, animal movements, and ecological thresholds.
New York Cooperative Fish And Wildlife Research Unit
Fuller Spatial Ecology and Decision Science Lab

Professor Hare's research applies conservation genetics and evolutionary genomics to marine and estuarine biota. Much of his research utilizes genetic markers to measure processes such as selection and gene flow in natural populations to address basic and applied questions related to population management and restoration.
Hare Lab Website
Cornell Center for Comparative and Population Genomics 

James Randy Jackson studies applied fisheries ecology, including sampling, assessment and management of fish populations that support recreational fisheries. He also serves as a primary liaison between the Department of Natural Resources and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation.

Karim-Aly S. Kassam is International Professor of Environmental and Indigenous Studies. His research focuses on the connectivity of human and environmental relations, addressing indigenous ways of knowing, food sovereignty, sustainable livelihoods, and climate change.
Karim-Aly Kassam Website
 

Professor Knuth’s current research examines risk perception, communication and management focused on fisheries affected by chemical contaminants; ecosystem-based management approaches for Great Lakes and marine systems; and factors influencing human stewardship and use of natural resources, particularly fish and wildlife.


 

Professor Kraft studies ecosystem interactions that influence the management of freshwater fish populations in lakes and rivers -- with an emphasis on Adirondack ecosystems. The overall goal of his research program is to understand ecological interactions regulating the abundance of key aquatic organisms, such as sport fish, nuisance invaders and rare species.
Cliff Kraft Website

Professor Krasny is serves as director of the Civic Ecology Lab, specializing in community environmental stewardship and environmental education in urban and other settings in the United States and internationally.
Cornell University Civic Ecology Lab
 

Professor Lassoie studies the ecological and social variables underpinning the decision-making process related to conservation, natural resource and environmental management, and sustainable development. He is particularly interested in the role of local communities the management of parks, protected areas, and otherwise fragile landscapes in developing countries as well as the United States.

Bruce Lauber conducts research on the human dimensions of natural resource and environmental management, with a particular interest in collaboration and conflict resolution in management. His work focuses on a variety of levels, from community-based management to collaboration between government agencies.
Center for Conservation Social Sciences

I am an aquatic conservation ecologist. Working with a wide range of collaborators, I develop management approaches that balance human interests with protecting biodiversity. Our work is worldwide in scope, using detailed field studies at sites in New York, the Great Lakes, East Africa, Southeast Asia, and Hawaii to gain general insights and identify global patterns. Our goal is to achieve sustainable use of freshwater resources that maintains the integrity of river and lake ecosystems.

Stephen Morreale's research in conservation ecology focuses on amphibians and reptiles in terrestrial forest, freshwater, and marine ecosystems. He incorporates remote-sensing, satellite telemetry, GIS and spatial analyses with the goal of improving resource management strategies.

Professor Rodewald's research program seeks to understand the behavioral and demographic mechanisms guiding population, community, and landscape-scale responses of birds to land use change and human activity in the eastern United States and Latin America.  

Professor Rudstam's overall research goals concern food web dynamics and the interactions between fisheries management and ecosystem processes. It spans topics from submerged aquatic vegetation, hydrodynamics models, and invertebrate and zooplankton ecology to fish ecology, fish-eating birds, and anglers.
Cornell Biological Field Station
Guide to Fisheries Acoustic Analysis

 

Professor Schneider's program focuses on integrated, watershed-based, and sustainable water resource management in the face of climate change. Current areas of research include the role of roadside ditches in flooding, droughts, and downstream water quality and how restoration of organic matter in wetland and terrestrial soils can help to improve hydrologic and bio-geochemical functions.

Suresh A. Sethi joined the Department of Natural Resources in 2016. He is an Assistant Professor in fishery and aquatic sciences, and is the Assistant Unit Leader of the New York Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. Suresh is a fisheries ecologist and focuses on quantitative analyses to inform natural resource management problems.

Peter Smallidge's overall goal is to integrate extension and research in support of productive and healthy forest ecosystems in New York and the Northeast. His research and extension activities focus on forest management impacts on landscape quality, forest regeneration and its limitations imposed through high-grading, and healthy and productive sugarbushes.
 

Professor Stedman's teaching, outreach, and research focus on the interaction between social and ecological systems. He is particularly interested the challenges that rapid social and ecological changes pose for the sustainability of forested ecosystems, watersheds, and human communities.

Professor Sullivan's research objective is to understand what drives the spatial and temporal dynamics of natural populations and communities and how they respond to anthropogenic influences, by focusing on patterns that can be used to tease out and identify important factors and processes that define these systems.
Patrick Sullivan Website

Jim Tantillo has taught in the Department of Natural Resources since 2001. He teaches courses in environmental history and environmental ethics.
 

Nina Overgaard Therkildsen integrates molecular ecology and evolutionary genomics to study contemporary evolution and local adaptation in fish populations. She is keenly interested in developing ways to leverage genomic analysis for improving sustainable fisheries management.

Dr. Tidball’s research and extension work is focused on better understanding how to amplify recruitment of citizen conservationists and the development of a 21st century land ethic, elements he theorizes are critical to both community and social-ecological resilience. He is also the State Coordinator for the Cornell Cooperative Extension NY Extension Disaster Education Network, and the Cornell University campus liaison to the NY State 4H Shooting Sports Program.

Keith Tidball Website
Cornell University Civic Ecology Lab

As Director of Education at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Nancy Trautmann leads a team that aims to inspire curiosity, learning, and action related to birds and the natural world.

Great Lakes ecosystem studies.  Jim leads a Cornell/Buffalo State research team that monitors zooplankton, mysid shrimp, phytoplankton, and benthos communities in all five Great Lakes.  The foundation of this project is research cruises sponsored by the EPA’s Great Lakes National Program Office and other federal agencies.  The effect of invasive species on native fauna is a primary focus of our research.  

David Weinstein's research involves predicting future forest development in response to climate change and invasive species attacks, developing forest management options to reduce future forest vulnerability, simulating Marcellus Shale well development impacts, and coordinating citizen science observations of plant phenology.

Work with professional land managers, state and federal agencies, government officials, and concerned citizens to understand the issues and strategies for minimizing the impact of forest insect pests, and in particular non-native invasive insects.

Adam Wild is the director of Cornell Universities Uihlein Maple Research Forest located in Lake Placid, NY. At the Uihlein forest and as a part of the Cornell Maple Program Adam provides applied research and education for maple producers and the general public.

Professor Wolf teaches and conducts research on environmental governance with a specific focus on efforts to secure public goods from private landscapes. His training and approach engage sociology, economics and geography.
Sociology of Agri-food Research Interest Group

Professor Yavitt is an ecosystem ecologist. His research examines the factors that link plant diversity and soil microbial diversity in terrestrial and wetland ecosystems, including northern wetlands, local and tropical forests.