SFRES In the News -->


In the News - Current Articles and Events
updated: June 24, 2009
Moose eat plants; wolves kill moose. What difference does this classic predator-prey interaction make to biodiversity? A large and unexpected one, say wildlife biologists from Michigan Technological University. Joseph Bump, Rolf Peterson and John Vucetich report in the November 2009 issue of the journal Ecology that the carcasses of moose killed by wolves at Isle Royale National Park enrich the soil in “hot spots” of forest fertility around the kills, causing rapid microbial and fungal growth that provide increased nutrients for plants in the area. < read more >
An article, titled In Search of Wildlife-Friendly Biofuels describing the work of David Flaspohler and Joseph Fargione and colleagues appeared in U.S. News and World Report's online Science publication. To read the article, click here.

David Flaspohler and Chris Webster's  research into the impacts of corn enthanol production on prairie wildlife was the lead story under "Latest News" on Science360, a National Science Foundation news website. To read the story, click here .

Assistant Professor John Vucetich made Maura Judkis's blog "Fresh Greens," in US News & World Report Online, for his essay "Hope May be Harmful to the Environment." Read more here .

LiveScience.com featured a profile of Assistant Professor John Vucetich, along with a question-and-answer session, in its ScienceLives series, which "puts scientists under the microscope to find out what makes them tick." To find out what Vucetich's best piece of advice is as a scientist and the answers to many more intriguing questions, click here.

Assistant Professor John Vucetich made Maura Judkis's June 15 blog "Fresh Greens," in US News & World Report Online, for his essay "Hope May be Harmful to the Environment." Read more here.
EcoTone, the blog of the Ecological Society of America, featured a report on an essay urging environmental scientists to act as advocates for environmental policy, coauthored by Michigan Tech wildlife ecologist John Vucetich. To check it out, click here.
RenewableEnergyWorld.com ran a full article on research led by Assistant Professor Robert Froese, "Michigan Utility and MTU Join Forces To Study Biomass-Powered Electricity," along with a gallery of photos. To check it out, click here.
Grad student Chris Miller and Assistant Professor Robert Froese are featured in this Daily Mining Gazette story by Layla Aslani, "Exploring Bioenergy Crop Potential."  <read it here>
Remarkably, after 20 years keeping 69 fungus cultures in a lab refrigerator in the School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, most are still alive, so Research Scientist II Dana L. Richter published a paper, "Revival of Saprotrophic and Mycorrhizal Basidiomycete Cultures after 20 years in Cold Storage in Sterile Water," in The Canadian Journal of Microbiology 54 (8): 595-599.
Articles on bone deformities among Isle Royale's wolves have been published widely since John Flesher's AP story on Rolf Peterson and John Vucetich's research was distributed nationally. Wolf-Moose Research Science 360 News, published by the National Science Foundation, featured the wolf-moose research in a breaking news story, "Wolves Suffer Bone Deformities from Too Much Inbreeding," available here. The wolf-moose research was also the topic of a Scientific American story, "Gene Pool Jeopardy: Can Isle Royale's Wolves Be Saved?" available here.
Associate Professor Andrew Burton's work on the nitrogen cycle and its potential effect on climate is featured in this Scientific American article, "Can Nitrogen Be Used to Combat Climate Change?" Read it here
The Kansas City infoZine ran an article about Assistant Professor John Vucetich's essay on hope, coauthored by Michael Nelson (Michigan State), which was published in the March issue of the journal The Ecologist. Click here to view the story.
An article titled "Woody biomass touted as key segment of energy solution" appeared in the Marquetter Mining Journal, Maria Janowiak, outreach scientist is quoted in the article <click here>
Assistant Professor Robert Froese is featured in this story in the (Marquette) Mining Journal, "Expert: U.P. Prime Area for Biomass Production."
Michigan Tech made the Washington Post with a story about how global warming is affecting the wolves and moose of Isle Royale. A link to the story can be found by clicking < here >
Research Professor Rolf Peterson was quoted in the journal Nature's blog, The Great Beyond, for the news brief "Moose Can't Handle the Heat." To read what Peterson had to say about Minnesota's declining moose population < click here>
In Command - (exerted from an article by Tim Harms at indycar.com) When Gail (Hoult) Truess was studying forestry at Michigan Tech, she never dreamed she'd someday be racing cars or spending 17 years driving pace cars. Now, Truess is the full-time driver of the Honda Pilot Command One safety vehicle at all IndyCar Series road and street course races."When I was up there (at school), the oldest, roughest, toughest rally in the country was up there - the Press On Regardless," Truess recalls. "One thing led to another from watching the races, to getting to know some teams, to going for a ride in a rally car. I get goosebumps just telling this story. I always do. Sideways down a road three miles on a test stage, and I was addicted. It was life-changing." To read Tim Harm's entire article at indycar.com <click here>

ME Undergrad's Rare Puffball Discovery Leads to Botany Journal Publication
Brad Morse, a third-year mechanical engineering student, collected a large puffball near his home in Hancock and brought it in to his work-study supervisor, Research Engineer/Scientist II Dana Richter. Morse had noticed the mushroom was unusual because its surface was lumpy rather than smooth like other giant puffballs he had seen.

Richter investigated, and the specimen turned out to be the western giant puffball, usually found in sagebrush areas of the western US. The species had never before been documented in Houghton County and was identified only once before in eastern North America.

More specimens were collected in the yard in Hancock and compared microscopically and culturally to the common eastern giant puffball. Together, Richter and Morse describe their discovery in "The Western Giant Puffball (Calvatia booniana) in Northern Michigan," published in the current issue of The Michigan Botanist, Vol. 47, No. 2.

Assistant Professor Robert Froese was interviewed by WUGN-10 on biomass harvesting workshops held near Munising. Froese sits on the steering committee of the BURN-UP project, www.upwoodybiomass.org, which organized the workshops. The TV news clip is available < here >
Rolf Peterson and John Vucetich's wolf-moose research on Isle Royale is featured in a slideshow on the Scientific American website. <click here to see the slideshow>
Wetland Scientist students were featured in an article by the Daily Mining Gazette detailing their work to clean-up Huron Creek in Houghton. < read more >
A New York Times reporter sought out Professor Rolf Peterson as an expert commentator for a story on Great Lakes wolves. The NYT story was picked up by United Press International and is appearing in a number of other outlets, including the science news site physorg.com. < Read the New York Times story>
The Long View, an article about Isle Royale National Park and the predator-prey study is featured at audubonmagazine.com. The read the article <click here>
Michigan Tech Near Tops In Poplars <read the article> which appeared in Great Lakes IT Report - the daily tech news source for Michigan and beyond .
Research Professor Rolf Peterson spoke about the wolves and moose of Isle Royale with Charity Nebbe of Michigan Public Radio <more>
A Prehistoric Forest Rises From a Farmer's Pond read the Michigan Tech news story < click here> Read about it also in Science Daily - your source for the latest research news and Terra Daily - news about planet Earth.
A Michigan Tech press release on Professor David Karnosky's work linking CO2, the fall color change, and faster-growing forests was picked up by a number of outlets, including NASA's Earth Observatory news site: < click here>
Public Relations Director Jennifer Donovan's (Marketing and Communications) story "Wood-to-Wheels: Fuel from the Forest," which originally appeared in the Michigan Tech Magazine, was reprinted by "Technology Century" in its Dec. 2007-Jan. 2008 edition. Faculty members David Shonnard (Chemical Engineering), Chung-Jui Tsai (SFRES), Ann Maclean (SFRES), John Sutherland, Jeff Naber (MEEM), Kathy Halvorsen (SFRES) and Barry Solomon (Social Sciences) are cited in the article, along with SFRES Dean Peg Gale and several graduate and undergraduate students.
Wildlife Watch posted a feature, Fifty Years of the Predator and the Prey, on the wolves and moose of Isle Royale, citing research undertaken by SFRES faculty John Vucetich and Rolf Peterson. <read the article>
Forestry PhD student Bed Wodika is featured in an article titled, Will gas give way to grass? in the Janesville, Wisconsin Gazette. He is collecting prairie grasses to study as a possible raw material for ethanol. <read the article>
Professor David Karnosky discusses the finer points of the fall color change in this Detroit Free Press article by Marty Hair, which was published Saturday, Sept. 8, 2007. <read the article>
PhD student Amber Roth is featured in this story on the University of Wisconsin—Madison news site Information relating to Michigan Tech's MUSES program, which uses the station to study the development of cellulosic ethanol is included.
Assistant Professor John Vucetich was featured in Detroit Free Press on the effects of global warming on the wolves and moose of Isle Royale <read the article>
Forest Science PhD candidate Joseph Bump is quoted in a FOXNews.com article, Wolf Bones Beat Tree Rings as Climate Records, by Andrea Thompson. In a study Bump and his colleagues conducted, wolf bones provided a clearer record of environmental change than either bones taken from moose and bison or from plants. <read the article>
Associate Professor Andrew Storer tells a young audience about the havoc wreaked by nightcrawlers and their ilk in this Detroit Free Press article, The Dirt on Worms.
Professor David Karnosky is cited in this LA Times article on a recent Nature paper on the effect of ozone on the uptake of carbon dioxide. The article, Ozone hampering plants' absorption of carbon dioxide - Pollution seems to limit the ability of flora to offset greenhouse gases, was picked up by a number of major dailies. Read more.
Corporate Timberland Ownership Change in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. As part of an externally-funded project Assistant Professor Robert Froese is working on, he is participating in community forums to be held late in June in Houghton, Marquette and Newberry. Read more about the project at http://forestlands.mtu.edu
“Green menace; Invasive plant species can damage local ecosystems,” and article on invasive species currently In the Copper Country, appeared in the Daily Mining Gazette on Saturday, April 7, 2007. The article features Linda Nagel, assistant professor of Silviculture. Click here to read a copy of the article.
Andrew Storer, associate professor, and Erik Lilleskov, a research ecologist at the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station in Houghton, have received a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study the effect of red wriggler earthworms on ecosystem function, forest health and biodiversity in northern hardwood and hemlock forests. Click here to read the Tech Today article.
Work by Assistant Professor John Vucetich plays heavily in this thoughtful opinion piece on the elk of Yellowstone. Click here to read the article.
An article on work by Professors Peter Laks and Patricia Heiden (Chemistry), "A Safe Way of Treating Wood," appeared in the March 23 edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education. Subscribers can click here to view the article. Nonsubscribers can view the content of the article by clicking here
Wolves, Moose Struggle on Isle Royale. A plague of ticks, stifling hot summers and relentless pressure from wolves have driven the moose population on Isle Royale National Park to its lowest ebb in at least 50 years. Click here to read the entire Tech Today story.
School Looses three special friends. Former professor and Honor Academy member Charles "Chuck" Hein passed away on January 17, 2007. Click here to view more information. On March 5, 2007 John "Jack" Hornick, Honor Academy member and the School's 2000 Outstanding Alumnus, passed away. Click here to view more information. Professor Emeriti and Honor Academy member James " Jim" Meeter, Sr. passed away on March 6, 2007. Click here to view more information.

Michigan Tech Forestry PhD Program Ranked Fourth in the U.S. Tech's forestry doctoral program is among the top 10 in the nation, according to figures released Monday, Jan. 8, by Academic Analytics. The School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science ranked fourth in the U.S. based on scholarly productivity, a measure of research activity. Academic Analytics developed the rankings by analyzing 2005 data on faculty publications, which it compiles in its Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index. "We're very pleased with the results of the Academic Analytics study," said David Reed, provost and vice president of research. "However, I'm not completely surprised. The forestry faculty are exceptionally productive, and they deserve this recognition."

Unlike other ranking organizations, such as U.S News & World Report, which rely heavily on a graduate programs' reputation, the Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index is based solely on measurable criteria.

"We have worked very hard to create an intense and exciting scholarly atmosphere that significantly influences all our educational programs," said Margaret Gale, dean of the School. "But most of all, we have a very creative group of faculty, staff and student scholars, and we are extremely proud that their scholarly efforts are being recognized nationally."

Click here to read the Tech Today Article. Click here for more information on the Academic Analytics Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index.

This article on the rhizotron at the USDA Forest Service Forestry Science Lab, located on MacInnes Drive, appears in the December 2006 edition of The Scientist. Written by Ivan Oransky, it features Professor Kurt Pregitzer and USDA Forest Service ecologist Alex Friend, who oversees the rhizotron. Click here for the story, "A Ground-Breaking Lab." There's also a slideshow featuring such subterranean wonders as a slug with eggs and a rapidly decomposing mole.
Associate Professor Andrew Storer was featured this fall in a Toledo Blade article, "Foresters Learn Beetle Basics." Storer was teaching forest professionals how to identify telltale signs of the emerald ash borer. To read the story click here.
The Genome of Black Cottonwood
Great job and collaborative effort! Congratulations to Assistant Professor Victor Busov, Associate Professor Shekhar Joshi, and Professor Chung-Jui Tsai on their recent article in Science entitled "The Genome of Black Cottonwood, Populus trichocarpa (Torr. & Gray)". To read a summary of the article, click here. To read the Tech Today article, click here.
Genome Research Could Lead to Better Biofuel
Wood from a common tree may one day play a major role in filling American gas tanks, according to scientists whose research on the fast-growing poplar tree is featured on the cover of the Sept. 15, 2006 edition of the journal Science. The article, coauthored in part by three faculty members in the School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, highlights the analysis of the first complete DNA sequence of a tree, the black cottonwood or Populus trichocarpa. It lays groundwork for the potential development of trees that could serve as the ideal "feedstock" for a new generation of biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol. The research is the result of a four-year effort, led by the U.S. Department of Energy's Joint Genome Institute and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, uniting the efforts of 34 institutions from around the world, including Michigan Tech. The lead author is ORNL and DOE JGI researcher Gerald A. Tuskan. Click here to read more.
Professor Rolf Peterson was quoted in a recent AP article on the dangers of wolves becoming desensitized to the presence of humans in the Isle Royale National Park. Peterson warns that although wolf attacks are rare, they may escalate as natural prey populations decline and wolves begin to recognize humans as a viable food source. Click here to read the full article.
Professor David Karnosky  is cited in an August, 2006 article in the Wall Street Journal. In Steven Mollman's travel story "Falling Leaves," he lists some of the best places in the world to view fall colors. The article is available online to those with a subscription to the Wall Street Journal. Click here.
The work of Research Assistant Professor John Vucetich was featured in USA Today. Dan Vergano's article "What's Killing the Elk in Yellowstone?" includes Vucetich's analysis, which points the finger primarily at hunting and drought as the elk herd's primary enemies. Read all about it. Click here
Alumnus Helps with Katrina Efforts. Building inspectors in the flood-ravaged city have been using ice picks and hammers to see if the wood in the city's approximately 120,000 wooden homes is rotten. But more effective, modern tools are available, they learned in a two-hour Web seminar. The seminar was the brainchild of Bob Ross (BS FWF 1978) of the USDA Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, and Brian Brashaw, a fellow research engineer from the University of Minnesota Duluth Natural Resources Research Institute. Click here to read the Wisconsin State Journal article.
Research Assistant Professor John Vucetich was mentioned in the Jackson Hole News & Guide January 18,2006 in the article "Study: Wolves Not Factor in Decline of Elk." The article discusses his mathematical model, which has been used to track the elk population in relation to the wolves. Click here to read the story.
DOE Names Michigan Tech Regional Center for Climate Change Research
Michigan Tech has been chosen by the U.S. Department of Energy to help spearhead a multi-million-dollar, national research program on global climate change and its effects on ecosystems and the atmosphere. Read the MTU Media Relations story.
Time to Learn to Live with the Emerald Ash Borer
In the battle with the exotic, invasive emerald ash borer, now is the time to shift the goal from eradication to living with the beetle. Andrew Storer, an associate professor of forest resources and environmental science, has been tracking the spread of emerald ash borers, which were detected for the first time in the Upper Peninsula earlier this month. Read the MTU Tech Today story.
Green Invaders Gain a Root-Hold on Mackinac Island
Mackinac Island could be on the verge of being overrun by an exotic European import. No, Ferraris aren't allowed on the car-free resort island. The culprit is the Norway maple, says a Michigan Technological University scientist. And the island's famous horses may have played a crucial role in planting the encroaching seeds. Read the MTU Media Relations story.
Don't Blame the Big Bad Wolf
In the 10 years since gray wolves were introduced to Yellowstone National Park, elk numbers have dropped by over 40 percent. But don't be too quick to blame the big, bad wolf, cautions a Michigan Tech scientist. Years of drought and pressure from the elk's primary predator, the human hunter, appear to have had a far greater impact on the region's elk population. Read the MTU Media Relations story.
Ground Broken for Underground Research Tunnel
Groundbreaking was held Tuesday, June 14, on a new facility that will allow researchers to study the dark and dirty world beneath our feet. Read the MTU Media Relations story.
Window on the Future – ASPEN Face Site Receives $5 Million
The US Department of Energy has renewed its support for the world’s largest, open-air climate change research facility. Professor Dave Karnosky is the lead researcher at the facility, which is operated by the US Forest Service near Rhinelander, Wisconsin. Aspen FACE allows scientists to study the impact of carbon dioxide and ground-level ozone on forest ecosystems. Click here for entire story.
Hard Times for the Moose of Isle Royale
It's been another tough year for the moose of Isle Royale National Park, the home of a 7-year study of predators and their prey. As they battled summer heat, thick snowcover and a ferocious infestation of ticks, the number of moose on the Lake Superior island has dwindled from 1,100 in the winter of 2002-03 to 740 last year to the current 540. Read the MTU Media Relations story.
Food Fight Or Fiesta?
New research on the wolves of Isle Royale may shed light on a mystery that has long puzzled biologists: Why do some predators band together to hunt? In his observations of wolves and ravens, John Vucetich, research assistant professor of wildlife ecology, may have found the answer: Predators that hunt in groups lose far less meat to scavengers. Read more at: Science News Online or Science Direct or MTU Media Relations
New York Times Science Times article on Rolf Peterson's work
Professor Rolf Peterson and his long-term study of wolves and moose on Isle Royale are mentioned in the New York Times Science Times section story "Following the Wolves, Number by Number," written by Claudia Dreifus. Click here to read the article.
"Modelling Forest Systems" new book edited by Dave Reed
CABI Publishing has just released a new book, "Modelling Forest Systems" edited by A. Amaro of the Instituto Superior de Gestao, Lisbon, Portugal and VP for Research, Dave Reed of the School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science at Michigan Tech. The book features select refereed papers developed from presentations at an International Union of Forest Research Organization meeting that was held in Lisbon in 2002. The topics covered include: forest reality and modelling strategies; mathematical approaches and reasoning; estimation processes models; validation and decision under uncertainty and model archives and metadata. Click here to read more about the book.
Jim Spindler formed a new company, Spindler Enterprises, Inc. and purchased the BioPro line of liquid fertilizers, soil amendments and bio-stimulants. This includes a pond bacteria product called Aqua-T, which works to improve water quality in irrigation, recreational and fish ponds and lakes. The BioPro line, is for golf courses, athletic fields and other quality turf areas. Jim lives in Lakeland, Florida. Click here to visit Spindler Enterprises
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