ANNUAL REPORT: June 1, 2008 – May 31, 2009
(i.e., Summer 2008, AY 2008-2009)
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND FOREST BIOLOGY
SUNY-ESF
NAME:
I. INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES
1. Regular Course Offerings
Credit
No.
No. of
Lab.
Course No.
Title
Hrs.
Students
Sections
SUMMER: EFB 202
Ecological Monitoring and
Biodiversity Assessment
(Genetics Component Session A)
3
69
EFB 202
Ecological Monitoring and
Biodiversity Assessment
(Genetics Component Session C)
3
68
FALL:
SPRING:
2. Non-Scheduled Course Offerings (e.g., 496, 899, 999)
EFB 498
EFB 498
EFB 498
EFB 420
EFB 420
EFB 500
EFB 899
EFB 899
EFB 899
EFB 899
EFB 899
EFB 999
Credit
Course No.
Title
Hrs.
Research Problems Environmental & Forest Bio.
1
Research Problems Environmental & Forest Bio.
1
Research Problems Environmental & Forest Bio.
1
Internship Environmental & Forest Biology
1
Internship Environmental & Forest Biology
1
Forest Biology Field Trip – Ireland
8
Masters Thesis Research
1
Masters Thesis Research
1
Masters Thesis Research
1
Masters Thesis Research
1
Masters Thesis Research
1
Doctoral Thesis Research
1
No.
Students
2
3
3
3
5
3
6
9
1
1
1
1
3. Continuing Education and Extension (short courses, workshops, etc.)
4. Guest Lecture Activities
Course No.
Title
No. of Lectures
EFB 132 Freshman Orientation Seminar
2
EFB 217 Peoples, Plagues and Pests – 110 students (1 lecture on mycotoxins)
Biology Department Seminar, Binghamton University – 30 attendees
II. STUDENT ADVISING
16
A. Number of undergraduates for whom you are the student’s official advisor _____ and
unofficial advisor __8___
B. Graduate Students: (Name, degree sought, starting date, month & year; if a degree was
completed, please give
date and full citation for the thesis or dissertation).
MAJOR PROFESSOR
Monica Hughes, PhD. Completed December 2008 Laboulbeniales of New Zealand:
Biodiversity, Systematics, and Host Utilization.
Fang Zhou, PhD. Withdrew from program January 2009.
Brienne Meyer, MS. Completed August 2009
Lauren Goldmann, MS, starting date June 2006
Jessica Gibson, MS, starting date June 2009
CO-MAJOR PROFESSOR
1. Ohnmar Myo Aung, PhD, 05/05 (co-MP with Kevin Hyde), Mushroom
Research Foundation, Chang Mai, Thailand.
MEMBER, STEERING COMMITTEE (other than those listed above)
1.
2.
Brittany Cronk MS (major professor – Robin Kimmerer)
Wendy Park, PhD (major professor – Scott Turner)
CHAIRMAN OR READER ON THESIS EXAMS, ETC.
Seogi Chris Kim PhD candidacy - chair
III. RESEARCH COMPLETED OR UNDERWAY
A. Departmental Research (unsupported, boot-legged; title - % time spent)
Curation and examination of Thaxter’s arthropod hosts – supported in kind through
Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology - $1000 per year for supplies. We
have now prepared a database of this material for distribution to other specialists.
B. 1. Grant-supported Research (source, subject, amount - total award and current year,
award period starting
and ending dates; list graduate research assistants supported by each grant)
National Science Foundation – Monographic Approaches to the Laboulbeniales, Subtribe
Stigmatomycetinae and the Genus Stigmatomyces. NSF PEET (Partnerships for Enhancing
Expertise in Taxonomy) Program.
Total Amount $750,000,
Current Year $150,000
Starting Date 1st January 2006 Ending Date 31st December 2010.
Two graduate students are currently working on this project. Lauren Goldmann (MS)
started 05/06 and continues to make progress with her work on levels of specificity in the
genus Chitonomyces. Jessica Gibson (MS) just started and Lisa Thompson (MPS)
completed requirements for the MPS in May 2008.
National Science Foundation – Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program.
Total Amount $7000
Current Year $7000
Starting May 2009 Ending 31st May 2010
This is supporting two undergraduate students, Amy Reilly and Luke Sarrantonio. Both
students will be employed for the summer of 2009 working on a project linked to the overall
aims of the PEET grant but focusing on mating behaviors in aqatic beetles. Some monies
from a previous REU were also used to support undergraduates Hana Pandori and CarolAnne Pugliese during our field expedition to Costa Rica in January 2009.
National Science Foundation – Undergraduate Mentoring in Environmental Biology
(UMEB) Program – Integrating Science and Stewardship in the Adirondacks. PIs Robin
Kimmerer and Stacy Mcnulty. My dual role will be as Mentor and Facilitator during use of
the Cranberry Lake Biological Station by students in this program.
Total Amount $600,000
2. Research Proposals pending (as in B.1., above)
National Science Foundation – Renovation and Expansion of the Lodge at the Cranberry
Lake Biological Station – submitted March 2009, $350,000.
Metropolitan Development Association – Mycofiltration trials at Skaneateles Lake –
submitted May 2009 - $75,000.
National Science Foundation – International Workshop on Arthropod-Associated Fungi,
Buenos Aires, Argentina November 2008.
Total Amount requested $20,020 - unfunded
IV. PUBLICATIONS (Full bibliographic citation, i.e., do not use "with Jones," or "Jones, et al.";
please list only
publications published, in press, or actually submitted during this reporting period --- do
not list manuscripts in preparation).
A. Refereed Publications
Weir, A. (2008). The genus Prolixandromyces in the Old World. Aliso 26:
May 2008.
Rossi, W., and A. Weir (2008). Four new species of Cucujomyces on Chilean Leiodidae. Aliso
26:
May 2008.
Rossi, W., and A. Weir (submitted). New species of Stigmatomyces from Asia. Submitted to
Mycologia
Thompson, L. and A. Weir (submitted). Laboulbeniales on Elateridae (Coleoptera); a
review. Submitted to Mycologia
Goldmann, L. and A. Weir (submitted). Two new species of Ilyomyces from New York.
Submitted to Mycologia
B. Non-refereed Publications
C. Papers Presented at Science Meetings (give title, date, occasion, and location)
D. Public Service Presentations (lectures, seminars, etc. to and for the public; give group or
occasion, date(s), and
attendance)
Naturally New York Group – lecture on Fungal Biodiversity and Field Meeting at
Clark Reservation – 9 attendees
V. PUBLIC SERVICE
A. Funded Service (include consulting activities)
1. Government Agencies (Federal, State, Local):
2. Industrial and Commercial Groups, etc.
B. Unfunded Service to Governmental Agencies, Public Interest Groups, etc.
Poison Control Center, consultation with local physicians re: identification and treatment
of mushroom poisoinings (2 cases (one fatality) Fall 08)
National Science Foundation Grant Application Reviewer (3 applications fall
2008/spring 2009
Continued Liaison with Central New York Mycological Society
Participant NSF funded Assembling the Fungal Tree of Life (AFTOL) Program
VI. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
A. Professional Honors and Awards (for teaching, research, outreach, etc.)
2008 Recipient of the William H. Weston Jr. Award for Excellence in Teaching from
the Mycological Society of America (Award received August 2008).
B. 1. Activities in Professional Organizations (offices held, service as chairman, member,
participant or
consultant)
Member, Mycological Society of America Distinctions Committee.
3. Professional Society Membership
Member, Mycological Society of America
Member, British Mycological Society
Member, International Mycological Association
Fellow, Linnean Society of London
3. Other Professional Activities
a. Editorial activity
Journal (s)
Responsibility
Other (books, symposia, etc.)
b. Reviewer
Journal(s)
Mycologia
No. of manuscripts
2
Agency
NSF
No. of proposals
3
Other
c. Participation (workshops, symposia, etc.)
Name of workshop, etc.
Date
Place
C. Further Education/Re-training Undertaken, Leaves, Workshops, etc.
During Fall 2009 I took my first sabbatical leave and spent the time between Syracuse and
Ireland. During this time I refined our DNA extraction techniques in the lab here in
Syracuse, and began two major monographic treatments of the genera Prolixandromyces
and Gloeandromyces. These genera are central to the current revisions within
Stigmatomycetinae, the subject of my current NSF PEET grant.
D. Foreign Travel (Where, When, Purpose)
Ireland October/November 2008 Sabbatical Leave
Costa Rica January/February 2009 Research associated with current NSF
PEET grant
Russia (Moscow) March 2009 Planning for 2009 exchange program
Ireland May 2009 Instruction of EFB 500
Russia (Moscow and White Sea Biological Station) June/July 2009
Instruction of EFB 500
VII. ADMINISTRATIVE AND SERVICE RESPONSIBILITIES (include committee
participation)
A. Department-level
Director, Cranberry Lake Biological Station, 08/06 –
Curator of the EFB Herbaria appointed 09/03Search Committee Member, Food Service Manager, CLBS/Wanakena
Member, Field Programs Committee EFB
Active participant in EFB majors for Forest Health, Conservation Biology and
Natural History and Interpretation.
Member, Lowe-Wilcox Award Committee
Chair, Zabel Award Committee
Chair, Morrell Award Committee
B. College-level
Director, Cranberry Lake Biological Station, 08/06Search Committee Member, International Education Coordinator
Member, ESF-wide Environmental and Natural Resources Information Systems
(ENRIS) Leadership Group.
C. University-wide, including Research Foundation
VIII. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACTIVITIES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
DURING THIS REPORTING PERIOD, ESPECIALLY THOSE MOST NOTEWORTHY
AND RELATIVE TO THE COLLEGE’S AND DEPARTMENT’S MISSION. One
paragraph on each of the following would be most helpful: this past year, what have you done for
our students, department/college, and self professionally? NOTE: The information in this section
(along with the supporting specific information elsewhere in this report) should be your strongest
case for being considered for a discretionary raise, which I’ll continue to award based on your
contributions to the department and college this reporting period.
TEACHING
Increasingly, my major focus has been in the organization and delivery of overseas
teaching assignments. This past year I have organized trips to Costa Rica, Ireland,
and Russia for our students as well as facilitating the exchange of Moscow State
University students both to Costa Rica, and the Cranberry Lake Biological Station.
These overseas opportunities, while very rewarding, take much time and effort to
organize. Because of sabbatical leave absence EFB-440 Mycology, was not taught this
past fall, but enrollments for this current fall (09) stand at 59 students, the most I
have ever had in this class. The teaching highlight for the year was the honor of
being presented with the William H. Weston Award for Excellence in Teaching from
the Mycological Society of America (August 2008).
RESEARCH
We have made great strides this past year with the molecular work on the NSF
PEET grant. During the fall, while on sabbatical leave, we further refined our DNA
extraction and amplification procedures and have had a lot of success in obtaining
new sequences for critical taxa. The most exciting breakthrough has been the work
(mainly by Lauren Goldmann) focused on the idea of “position specificity” which is
of broad appeal. Our results generated this year prove that this is a reality and will
underpin much of the taxonomic work in years to come in these fungi. Lauren
continues to add sequences this summer (along with help from 2 REU students) and
we hope to begin a major manuscript in the early fall.
SERVICE
My major contribution to EFB/ESF this past year has been my leadership role as
Director of the Cranberry Lake Biological Station. Enrollments at the Station are
still rising and we are running at almost full capacity for the summer of 2009.
Renovations to the old washroom building to produce a functional molecular genetics
research space were more or less completed last August and the research lab is fully
staffed for this coming summer with research groups from Indiana State University
and Cornell University, as well as our two Cranberry Lake Undergraduate Research
Fellowship recipients, and 4 of our UMEB researchers. In March 2009 I submitted
an NSF grant proposal for renovations and expansions to the TA Lodge at the
Station and we should hear soon whether or not this application has been successful.
This would enable us to upgrade accommodation for research teams and would go a
long way towards stimulating further research initiatives at the Station.
IX. A. FUTURE PLANS, AMBITIONS, AND POTENTIAL CONTRIBUTIONS FOR
YOUR OWN
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE ENHANCEMENT OF THE
PROGRAM IN
ENVIRONMENTAL AND FOREST BIOLOGY (brief summary)
I would like to further develop my teaching and research interests over the coming years. I
remain committed to the Cranberry Lake Biological Station program and will continue to
expand and broaden our offerings here. The recent acquisition of new equipment, and
major moves towards stimulating the further integration of research and teaching at the
Station represent exciting ventures, that I hope I can capitalize upon with potential NSF
funding this coming year.
Both the Russia and Ireland trips have been enthusiastically received by our undergraduate
students and there is obviously demand for these offerings. Based on the results from this
summers expeditions I plan on refining and re-offering these or similar courses.
At this time I am particularly excited with the current NSF PEET grant and the
opportunities it affords. Our first two collecting expeditions to Costa Rica were huge
successes and we are currently working on an additional 3 manuscripts from this grant. I
am also involved with the NSF UMEB grant at Cranberry Lake. In addition to these
research endeavors I will continue with my work on Laboulbeniales systematics, and on my
collaborative studies with entomologists from the North Carolina Department of
Agriculture.
In summary, I am very excited at the possibilities for further growth in teaching, and
scholarship and research available here at ESF. Receipt of the 2008 Weston Award for
Excellence in Teaching builds on earlier recognition from the Undergraduate Student
Association here at ESF (Distinguished Teacher Award, 2006) and attests to the quality of
my teaching. In future years I would be interested in contributing to a potential General
Education course centered around microbes and fungi and in offering some more advanced
mycology topics. The core of my research interests continue to be well-supported by NSF
and I am beginning to branch out into other potential areas that could attract funding from
different sources. I remain committed to further enhancing opportunities for research and
teaching at the Cranberry lake Biological Station.
B. PROJECTED ACTIVITIES FOR NEXT YEAR
1. Summer 2009
a. Course(s) to be offered
EFB-202 Ecological Monitoring and Biodiversity Assessment (2 sections,
146 students enrolled)
b.
b. Proposed research activity
NSF-PEET Award Research – Monograph of Stigmatomycetinae
c. University, professional society, and public service
Director, Cranberry Lake Biological Station
Curator, EFB Herbaria
2. Fall Semester 2009
a. Course(s) to be offered
EFB 440 Mycology (59 students pre-enrolled)
b. Proposed research activity
NSF-PEET Award Research – Monograph of Stigmatomycetinae
c. University, Professional society, and public service
Director, Cranberry Lake Biological Station
Curator, EFB Herbaria
3. Spring Semester 2010
a. Course(s) to be offered
Possibly an EFB-496 or 796 on Advanced Mycology - Ascomycetes
b. Proposed research activity
NSF-PEET Award Research – Monograph of Stigmatomycetinae
c. University, professional society, and public service
Director, Cranberry Lake Biological Station
Curator, EFB Herbaria