Recent Student Research
Biology M.S. student Sarah Polohovich, Summer 2020: Photosynthetic induction and experimental sunfleck responses of the native species Acer rubrum and Fagus grandifolia, compared to the non-native species Acer platanoides
Biology M.S. student Jason Miller, Summer 2018: The influence of edge effects on soil carbon storage and CO2efflux in temperate deciduous forest of southeastern Pennsylvania
Biology undergraduate student Sarah Polohovich, Summer 2018: A five-year reassessment of the carbon distribution in WCU’s Gordon Natural Area and its implications for climate change
Biology undergraduate student Katie Thompson, Spring 2018: δ13C variation in three ecotypes of the tussock-forming Arctic sedge Eriophorum vaginatumunder experimental warming
Biology undergraduate student Alaina Bertoline, Fall 2016: Ecological integrity of edge and interior environments at West Chester University’s Gordon Natural Area
Biology undergraduate student Natalie Naylon, Summer 2016: Seasonal differences in leaf physiology between early and late successional Liriodendron tulipifera and Quercus alba species
Biology undergraduate student Lukas Bernhardt, Summer 2015: Soil analysis of four Delaware hayfields: implications for reforestation
Biology undergraduate student Cheryl Mauch, Summer 2015: Analysis of soil pH and soil texture among four reforestation study sites and two different depths at Mount Cuba Center, Hockessin, DE
Biology M.S. student Dana Charitonchick, Summer 2014: Forest fragment viability and predicted future plant composition based on seed bank germination
Biology undergraduate student Calvin Cooper, Summer 2014: Canopy leaf physiology of trees across an urban to suburban gradient
Biology M.S. student Nicole Havrilchak, Summer 2014: The influence of light environment on the performance of Smilax rotundifolia and two dominant C4 grasses in the serpentine barrens of southeastern Pennsylvania
Biology undergraduate student Kelly Slabicki, Summer 2014: Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) growth in response to light in the Gordon Natural Area
Biology M.S. student Seth Keller, Summer 2013: Above and below ground carbon storage survey in a temperate Pennsylvania forest - WCU's Gordon Natural Area (GNA)
Biology undergraduate student Greg Barren, Summer 2012: The effects of prescribed fire and environmental variation on soil respiration in the serpentine barrens of southeast PA
Biology M.S. student Veronica Pistoia, Summer 2012: The water relations of roundleaf greenbrier (Smilax rotundifolia L.) encroaching on serpentine barren ecosystems in southeast Pennsylvania
