Forestry & Natural Resources Seminar Series

Meaghan Gass
Extension Educator
Michigan State University Extension and Michigan Sea Grant

Date: January 12, 2026 at 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Location: WSLR 116 

Seminar Title: Restoration With a Splash: Engaging Communities in Saginaw Bay

Abstract: Environmental restoration is more than just making improvements to natural resources. Restoration projects are most successful with community input and support. Creative outreach strategies help connect scientists and restoration efforts with community fostering public awareness, participation, and long-term support. This talk shares lessons learned and the importance of effective facilitation, communication, and community involvement. Lake Huron’s Saginaw Bay sturgeon and reef restoration efforts showcase how education and outreach can transform restoration projects into celebrations of place.

Hosted By: Stuart Carlton & Megan Gunn

Dr. Zackary Delisle
Arctic Inventory and Monitoring Network
National Park Service

Date: Friday, January 23, 2026 at 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Location: PFEN 120

Seminar Title: From White-Tailed Deer to Dall’s Sheep: Bridging Animal Behavior, Population Monitoring & Wildlife Management

Abstract: Wildlife managers are fundamentally concerned with how many animals exist and how they are distributed across the landscapes they manage. Together, these questions of “how many” and “where” define the spatial abundance of a population. At the same time, behavioral ecology provides conceptual frameworks for understanding how animals make decisions about space use, directly informing the “where” component of spatial abundance. In this seminar, I will discuss how I have applied foundational principles of animal behavior—including ideal free distribution, density-dependent habitat selection, and fission–fusion dynamics—to address complex challenges in wildlife management. These applications span conservation, mitigation of human–wildlife conflict, development of scientifically defensible harvest regulations for game species, and identification of appropriate spatial scales for management decisions.

Hosted By: Dr. Pat Zollner

Dr. Jim Moran
Associate Professor | Integrative Bio & Ecology, Evolution & Behavior
Michigan State University

Date: February 2, 2026 at 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Location: WSLR 116

Seminar Title: Stable Isotope Fingerprinting of PFAS Using Orbitrap IRMS 

Hosted By: Dr. Clement Bataille

Dr. Dylan Osterhaus
Postdoctoral Associate | Department of Forestry & Natural Resources
Purdue University

Date: February 9, 2026 at 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Location: WSLR 116

Seminar Title: Avian Migration in the Anthropocene: Anthropogenic Impacts, Methodological Approaches, and New Directions

Abstract: Migratory birds face a multitude of threats in the Anthropocene, which have led to widespread population declines. In my work, I use large-scale datasets and newly developed methods to study how migrants are impacted by human activities and identify conservation strategies to restore migrant populations. Using nocturnal flight call monitoring, I examine how migrants behave when encountering artificial light and identify strategies that can be implemented to reduce behavioral alteration. Using bird banding data, I examine a basic, but deeply important question of migration ecology; does age structure of the migrant community shift during migration? I find that age structure shifts spatiotemporally both within a single migration season, and over the last 53 years, with wideranging implications for our understanding of migration biology, ecology, behavior, and conservation. Overall, my work advances our knowledge of migration, the methods we have to study this phenomenon, and the tools that may be available to conserve and restore populations.

Hosted By: Dr. Kyle Horton

Dr. Emily Cohen
Associate Professor | Center Environmental Science
University of Maryland

Date: February 16, 2026 at 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Location: WSLR 116

Seminar Title: Communities on the Move: Co-Occurring Animal Migrations & Interspecific Interactions

Abstract: Migrations of diverse wildlife species often converge in space and time, with their journeys shaped by similar forces. Recent studies have illuminated multispecies migrations by land and sea including the simultaneous movements of numerous insects, birds, bats, fish, and marine predators. Beyond their significance as natural wonders, co-migrating species may interact ecologically, with potential effects on population and community dynamics. Despite the potential importance of interspecific interactions, bird migration research to date has generally acted under the implicit assumption that species distributions during migration represent independent patterns of migration phenology and habitat preferences. Research in my lab is testing the notion that a wider view on animal migration is needed—one that considers migrating animals as communities engaged in networks of interactions. The goal of this work is to advance an integrated understanding of animal migration, inclusive of the mechanisms through which interactions en route can affect time and energy costs that can scale-up to impact the routes, phenology, and success of migratory populations. Bringing a community ecology approach to animal migration generates new research questions and promises to improve our understanding of migration more broadly, which is of critical importance as population declines and phenological shifts may be altering historically co-migrating communities.

Hosted By: Dr. Carolyn Burt

Dr. Kevin Potter
Southern Research Station, Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center
USDA Forest Service

Date: February 23, 2026 at 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Location: WSLR 116

Seminar Title: U.S. Forests are Increasingly Invaded by Problematic Non-Native Plants: Drivers, Trends, and Invasion Debt

Abstract: Non-native invasive plants cause significant ecological impacts to forests while requiring costly management interventions. A decade of research using Nationwide Forest Inventory data from across the United States has demonstrated that the nation’s forests are highly invaded by problematic non native plants and that they are becoming increasingly invaded over time. We have shown that about 38 percent of forests in the conterminous 48 states (100 million hectares) are invaded, with invasion associated with forest fragmentation, developed and agricultural land use, and the Wildland Urban Interface. We have also found strong evidence of invasion debt, the temporal lag of invasion impacts yet to be realized. Future work will assess the invasion vulnerability of forests in the Southern Appalachians, where non-native plants are relatively uncommon, following widespread disturbance by Hurricane Helene. We also will aim to make predictions about how invaded U.S. forests may be in the future.

Hosted By: Dr. Songlin Fei & Dr. Insu Jo

Dr. Jim Hood
Associate Professor | Great Lakes Science Advisory Board
The Ohio State University

Date: March 2, 2026 at 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Location: WSLR 116

Seminar Title: Carbon Cycling and Biogeochemistry in Inland and Great Lakes Waters

Hosted By: Dr. Paris Collingsworth

Dr. Megan Jones
Assistant Professor | Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences
USGS & Oregon State University

Date: March 23, 2026 at 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Location: WSLR 116

Seminar Title: The Role of Listening in Biodiversity Conservation

Hosted By: Dr. Zhao Ma

Dr. Christy Rollinson
Senior Scientist | Center for Tree Science
The Morton Arboretum

Date: April 6, 2026 at 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Location: WSLR 116

Seminar Title: Resilient Forests of the Future: Combining Approaches and Connecting Across Scales to Guide Adaptive Decision-Making

Hosted By: Dr. Mary-Margaret Benware

Dr. Manuel Lerdau
Professor | Dept of Environmental Sciences & Biology
The University of Virginia

Date: April 13, 2026 at 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Location: WSLR 116

Seminar Title: Pollution Pathways: From Forests to Flowers

Hosted By: Dr. Jessica Gurevitch

Dr. Zach Feiner
Research Scientist | Center for Limnology
University of Wisconsin - Madison

Date: April 20, 2026 at 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Location: WSLR 116 

Seminar Title: Climate Adaptation in Midwestern Fisheries: Or, How I Learned to Love Bluegill

Abstract: Climate change is rapidly altering inland lake ecosystems, with effects ranging from altered spring phenology and increased fish kills to wholesale changes in fish communities. How humans, particularly anglers and managers, respond in adapting to these changes can have substantial effects on the future sustainability of these fisheries. This talk surveys climate impacts on Midwestern fisheries, with particular focus on how loss of winter and changing ice phenology may be eroding the sustainability of popular fisheries and how anglers may be responding to lost fishing opportunities. The Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework will then be discussed as a potential pathway to assist managers and stakeholders in making climate adaptation decisions by synthesizing stakeholder values and scientific information on potential ecological outcomes.

Hosted By: Dr. Tomas Höök

Dr. Hisham Abdelrahman
Assistant Professor | Dept. of Life Sciences
Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi

Date: April 27, 2026 at 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Location: WSLR 116

Seminar Title: The Effects of Rising Temperatures on Aquatic Health: Insights from Thermal Physiology

Hosted By: Dr. Aya Hussain

Dr. Benjamin Van Doren
Assistant Professor | Natural Resources & Env. Sciences
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Date: May 4, 2026 at 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Location: WSLR 116

Seminar Title: Bird Migration in a Changing World

Abstract: Avian migrations are spectacular natural phenomena, but human activities and our changing world pose threats to their cross-hemispheric journeys. This talk will highlight recent advances in our understanding of the impacts of a changing world on migratory birds, with a focus on climates and landscapes. Many of these advances have been made possible by modern machine learning tools that have unlocked the potential of global citizen science databases, continental radar networks, and bioacoustic monitoring tools. I will discuss how these new tools are contributing to scientific knowledge while stimulating public interest and political will to take meaningful conservation action.

Hosted By: Dr. Kyle Horton