Forestry and Natural Resources Research Overview

Research in Forestry and Natural Resources is focused on discovering new knowledge that advances the science, management, and sustainable use of natural resources. Strong interdisciplinary research addresses current issues in forest, wildlife, and fisheries management, as well as the ecology of natural systems, digital tools for assessing natural resources, genetics, hardwood products innovations, and social science in natural resource decisions. Research groups focus on:

Forest Science

Advancing basic knowledge about forest ecosystems, as well as the physiology, genetics, and growth of hardwood trees, with the goal of providing healthy and sustainable forests in the Central Hardwood Region, including both in rural and urban settings.

Wildlife Science

Increasing and disseminating knowledge about key wildlife species, populations, and communities, and understanding how they relate to ecosystem structure and functioning as well as to environmental changes.

Fisheries & Aquatic Science

Developing and disseminating knowledge about aquatic animals and their habitats, including aquaculture, interactions between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, and the fates and effects of pollutants, as well as appropriate management practices for the protection and use of aquatic ecosystems.

Ecology of Natural Systems

Developing knowledge of factors influencing complex interactions in ecological systems at multiple scales of biological organization, ranging from physiological to community and eco-region units, with an emphasis on effects of human-related drivers such as climate and land-use change, as well as tactics for restoring and conserving ecological processes.

Genetics

Applying advanced molecular and analytical methods to a variety of genetic questions (e.g., genetic diversity, relatedness, heritability) in populations of important wildlife and tree species.

Digital Natural Resources

Developing integrated systems of quantitative techniques for assessing and analyzing forest and associated ecosystems. Efforts focus on advancing quantitative methods related to statistical, simulation, and analytical modeling of natural systems at varying spatial and temporal scales.

Natural Resource Social Science

Studying the social, political, and economic implications of alternative public policies with regard to the protection, management, and use of natural resources. The awareness, attitudes and behaviors of individuals and groups as these relate to natural resource management are also explored.

Hardwood Products Innovations

Assisting hardwood products industry in developing new knowledge for reducing raw material costs, improving processing technologies, and encouraging innovation in product development through science and engineering.

Research Centers and Institutes

• Center for Global Soundscapes
• Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center (HTIRC)
• Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Program (IISG)
• Institute for Digital Forestry
• Tropical Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center (TropHTIRC)

Bataille, Clement      cbataill@purdue.edu
Isotope Ecology, Biogeochemistry

Brown, Paul      pb@purdue.edu
Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences

Burt, Carolyn      cburt@purdue.edu
Wildlife Ecology

Carlton, J. Stuart      carltons@purdue.edu
Aquaculture Economics

Christie, Mark      markchristie@purdue.edu
Conservation Genetics

Collingsworth, Paris      pcolling@purdue.edu
Great Lakes Ecosystem Science

Couture, John      couture@purdue.edu
Plant and Insect Chemical Ecology

DeWoody, J. Andrew      dewoody@purdue.edu
Genetics, Wildlife Biology

Fei, Songlin      sfei@purdue.edu
Quantitative Analysis of Natural Resources

Flaherty, Elizabeth      eflaher@purdue.edu
Wildlife Ecology and Habitat Management

Furze, Morgan      mfurze@purdue.edu
Ecology

Gazo, Rado       gazo@purdue.edu
Wood Processing

Ginzel, Matthew       mginzel@purdue.edu
Forest Entomology, Chemical Ecology

Goforth, Reuben      rgoforth@purdue.edu
Aquatic Ecosystems

Gurevitch Jessica      jpgurevi@purdue.edu
Ecology and Evolution

Hardiman, Brady       hardimanb@purdue.edu
Urban Forest Ecosytems

Haviarova, Eva       ehaviar@purdue.edu
Wood Products

Höök, Tomas       thook@purdue.edu
Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences

Horton, Kyle      kghorton@purdue.edu
Aeroecology, Wildlife Ecology

Hosen, Jacob      jhosen@purdue.edu
Internet of Things and Ecological Analytics

Hoskins, Tyler      tdhoskin@purdue.edu
Wildlife and Aquatic Ecology

Hoverman, Jason      jhoverm@purdue.edu
Vertebrate Ecology, Disease Ecology

Jacobs, Douglass      djacobs@purdue.edu
Forest Regeneration and Restoration

Jenkins, Michael       jenkinma@purdue.edu
Forest Ecology

Jo, Insu      insujo@purdue.edu
Digital Forestry

Liang, Jingjing      jjliang@purdue.edu
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Processes

Ma, Zhao      zhaoma@purdue.edu
Natural Resource Social Science

Pijanowski, Bryan      bpijanow@purdue.edu
Spatial Modeling, Land-Use Change, Soundscapes

Quagrainie, Kwamena      kquagrai@purdue.edu
Aquaculture Marketing

Quesada, Henry      quesada@purdue.edu
Hardwood Products

Ruhl, Patrick      pruhl@purdue.edu
Wildlife Ecology

Saher, Rubab      rsaher@purdue.edu
Digital Forestry

Saunders, Michael     saunder@purdue.edu
Silviculture

Sepúlveda, Maria      mssepulv@purdue.edu
Ecotoxicology

Shao, Guofan       shao@purdue.edu
Forestry, Remote-Sensing, GIS

Wainwright, Dylan      dkwainwr@purdue.edu
Fisheries

Wang, Jianmin      wang5736@purdue.edu
Digital Forestry

Zhou, Mo      mozhou@purdue.edu
Optimal Decision Making in Forest Management

Zollner, Patrick      pzollner@purdue.edu
Wildlife Science