Purdue University PURDUE AGRICULTURE
FORESTRY &
NATURAL RESOURCES
Skip Navigation LinksPurdue Agriculture > Forestry and Natural Resources > Ecology of Natural Systems

 Ecology of Natural Systems

wild plants

Develop 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 anthropogenic drivers such as climate and land-use change and tactics for restoring and conserving ecological processes.
 

Faculty Emphasis

 Physiology Population-Community Ecosystem Landscape
Physiology
Paul Brown Aquatic animal nutrition, physiology, biochemistry
Matt Ginzel Chemically mediated host location and colonization behavior of wood-boring insects
Douglass Jacobs Forest tree regeneration including nursery culture, outplanting and early stand management
Richard Meilan Plant genes affecting lignin composition, phytoremediation, heartwood and figured wood formation, root initiation, and water-use efficiency
Maria Sepúlveda Ecotoxicology, development and application of molecular biomarkers of exposure and effects to environmental contaminants in vertebrate and invertebrate animal models
Population-Community
Jeffrey Dukes Community, ecosystem, and global ecology; biodiversity and biological invasions; ecosystem impacts of global environmental change
Andrew DeWoody Population genetics, molecular ecology and evolution
John Dunning Response of wildlife populations to large-scale change, conservation biology, restoration ecology, conservation biology
Reuben Goforth Aquatic ecology, fish and insect species and communities in streams, species persistence, community ecology
Höök,Tomas Fisheries ecology focusing on recruitment processes, ecological effects of hypoxia, fish life history trait variation
Michael Jenkins Effects of invasive species on ecosystem structure and function, forest ecosystem response to disturbances
Eugene Rhodes Genetics of species reintroduction programs, conserevation genetics of animals & plants, human-wildlife interactions
Helen Rowe Restoration ecology:  Tallgrass prairie restoration “success”, ecological function of plant diversity
Michael Saunders Disturbance-based silviculture/ecological foresty, restoration ecology in forested systems
Rob Swihart Disturbance ecology, effects of habitat fragmentation, spatial modeling of populations & communities
Harmon (Mickey) Weeks Ecological energetics of avian reproduction, mineral nutritional ecology of mammalian herbivores
Rod Williams Ecology and conservation of amphibians and reptiles, education and outreach, genetics

Ecosystem

Jeffrey Dukes Community, ecosystem, and global ecology; biodiversity and biological invasions; ecosystem impacts of global environmental change

Landscape

John Dunning Response of wildlife populations to large-scale change, conservation biology, restoration ecology, conservation biology
Bryan Pijanowski Land-use modeling & spatial ecology,ecological assessment, natural resource economic impact analysis
Guofan Shao Smart applications of geospatial technology including remote sensing & geographic information systems
Rob Swihart Disturbance ecology, effects of habitat fragmentation, spatial modeling of populations & communities
Hao Zhang Methodical research on statistical data collection & modeling, spatial statistics and its applications to environmental sciences
Patrick Zollner Behavioral ecology of ecological landscapes, forest management in changing landscapes, animal movements
Undergraduate Graduate Areas of Specialization
Undergraduate students work with faculty and staff in the Office of Student Services to select courses that fulfill their interests and requirements of their major. Graduate students work with their major professor and advisory committee to develop a plan of study that is customized to their individual needs.
To the Undergraduate Page To the Graduate Student page