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John C. Stella, Ph.D.
Professor Department of Sustainable Resources Management SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry One Forestry Drive, Syracuse, NY 13210 Email: [email protected] Phone: 315-470-4902 Curriculum Vitae: stella_cv.pdf Department Homepage ORCiD | Google Scholar Note to graduate student applicants: I am not currently recruiting new graduate students for Spring/Fall 2025. |
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Mike Mahoney
B.S., 2018, Forest Ecosystem Science; Ph.D., 2024, Environmental Science Mike Mahoney completed his honors thesis in the Stella Lab on a project that analyzed the role beavers play as ecosystem engineers within forest ecosystems of the Northeast, both from an ecological and a natural resources management perspective. His thesis focused on the impacts beavers have on forest structure and composition throughout public lands within the Adirondacks; his honors thesis research was published in Forest Ecology and Management. Mike recently completed his Ph.D. in the lab group of Dr. Colin Beier at SUNY ESF Mike's Curriculum Vitae and LinkedIn profile |
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Margaret ("Maisie") Baronian
B.S., 2017, Environmental Science - Watershed Science; Mathematics minor For Maisie's senior capstone project, she used data from automated stream gauges along Meadowbrook Creek, an urban stream in Syracuse, to analyze how precipitation events seasonally impact instream conductivity, a proxy for road salt, which is widely applied in the region as a de-icer in winter. |
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Will Fernandez
B.S., 2017, Environmental Science - Watershed Science Will Fernandez completed a senior capstone project with Masters student Rachel Zevin on a beaver impact study in riparian areas at the Huntington Wildlife Forest in the Adirondacks |
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Giselle Schreiber
B.S., 2017, Environmental Science - Watershed Science; Marine Science minor Giselle was raised in Miami, Florida and has experience working with fresh and marine fish and invertebrates. For her senior capstone project analyzed the influence of several abiotic factors (temperature, precipitation, sediment depth, etc.) on the growth rate of Populus fremontii (Fremont cottonwood), a keystone riparian tree species in the Sacramento River Valley of California. |
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Andrea Irons
M.S., 2016, Environmental Science (Water and Wetland Resource Studies) Andrea studied riparian forest dynamics along California's Sacramento River. She analyzed the relationship between flow regimes and tree recruitment and succession, particularly focusing on the Fremont cottonwoods native to the area. Utilizing GIS, hundreds of tree cores, and sediment data, she assessed how the riparian forest has changed in relation to management of the Sacramento River over time. |
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Li Kui
Ph.D., 2015, Environmental Science (Water and Wetland Resource Studies) Dr. Kui is currently a Project Scientist at the Marine Science Institute, UC Santa Barbara. For her PhD research, she studied the reciprocal influences between river disturbance regimes (flooding and sediment transport) and riparian tree populations. Her research is a part of a three-university cooperative project funded by NSF: Quantifying feedbacks between fluvial morphodynamics and pioneer riparian vegetation in sand-bed rivers. Her work integrates full scale flume studies at the Outdoor Stream Lab at the University of Minnesota (St. Anthony Falls Laboratory), field studies on the Bill Williams River in Arizona, and geospatial analysis of vegetation and geomorphic change over time. |
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Carissa Alza
M.S., 2014, Environmental Forest Biology (Conservation Biology); (co-major professor, Stacy McNulty) Carissa is currently a GIS Analyst/Conservation Easement Technician at Natural Lands. Her research examined how avian species richness, composition, and guild diversity vary between beaver-impacted and non-impacted riparian zones within the central Adirondack Mountains. She also assessed how avian community structure changes as beaver ponds undergo successional changes, as well as vegetative structure and habitat variables to make links between beaver impacts and witnessed avian usage. |
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Stefan Karkuff
M.S., 2014, Environmental Forest Biology (Conservation Biology); (co-major professor, Kim Schulz) Stefan is am currently a habitat biologist at Pheasants Forever in Central Pennsylvania. His research focused on the nutrient benefits of allochthonous leaf litter in Northeastern US vernal pool ecosystems. His goal was to quantify the nutritional value of various leaf species using physical, chemical, and biological indicators. These unique microecosystems are typically found in heavily shaded forests, and therefore lack the primary production benefits of most larger wetlands. Thus, this project contributes significantly to our understanding of the controlling influence of stand composition and structure on forest wetlands. The results of Stefan's research have direct relevance to agencies engaged in vernal pool creation and wetland mitigation. |
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Tyler Hall
M.P. S., 2013, Natural Resources Management Tyler studied the climate-growth relationships of eastern redcedar and its close relative, common juniper. The species grow together where redcedar approaches its northern range limit and common juniper approaches its southern range limit. Tyler also studied influences of physical river processes on the population structure of Fremont cottonwood, a dominant riparian tree along the Sacramento River, California as well as dendroecology and stable isotope indicators of riparian tree health in semi-arid ecosystems. |
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Elizabeth Harper, Ph.D.
Post-doctoral Research Fellow, 2008-2010 Elizabeth is an Associate Professor of Environmental Science at New England College. In the Stella lab, she developed patch-based population models for Fremont cottonwood stands on the Sacramento River in California's Central Valley. The models will be used to predict the effects of climate change and changes in flow regime on the riparian ecosystem. Previous Degrees: Middlebury College, Vermont, B.A. in Biology; University of Missouri - Columbia, Ph.D. in Biological Sciences |
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Sara Scanga, Ph.D.
Post-doctoral Research Fellow, 2009-2010 Sara is a Professor and Department Chair in Biology at Utica College. Sara is broadly interested in plant and wetland ecology. Her dissertation research (Dr. Don Leopold, major professor, SUNY-ESF) concerned the population ecology and conservation of the rare wetland plant Trollius laxus, which grows in fens in the northeastern US. In the Stella Lab, she examined riparian tree seedling establishment patterns along aridland rivers. Previous Degrees: Drew University, Madison, NJ, B.A. in Biology; SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Ph.D. in Ecology |
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Alex Fremier, Ph.D.
Post-doctoral Research Fellow, 2008 Alex is an Associate Professor at Washington State University His research interests include: Riparian Ecology and River Restoration; Landscape Ecology of Large Rivers; Semi Arid River Systems; Watershed Scale Dynamics of Large Woody Debris; Modeling of Landscape Genetics; Geographic Information Systems; EcoAgriculture. Previous Degrees: University of California, Davis, Ph.D. in Ecology; M.A.in Geography; Principia College, Elsah, IL, B.S. in Environmental Science & Mathematics |
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Laura Schifman
M.S., 2010 Laura completed her doctoral degree at the University of Rhode Island and is currently an Environmental Analyst/Stormwater Coordinator for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. Her research at ESF used stable isotopes to study the ecophysiological functioning of willows used in biomass crops and phytoremediation. Previous Degree: Union College, B.S. in Biology M.S. Thesis Title: Water stress response and plant survival in four shrub willow varieties across three sites with varying soil substrates in Central New York. |
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Anna Harrison
M.S., 2011 Anna received her Ph.D. at the University of Michigan in 2018, was a research scientist with the Central Michigan University Institute for Great Lakes Research, and has returned to ESF as Manager of Restoration Programs for the new interdisciplinary Restoration Science Center. Her research at ESF analyzed the impacts of beaver foraging on forest structure and composition, as well as relationships between beaver occupancy and landscape features such as topography, the quantity and quality of woody plant forage, and the energetic costs of maintaining dams. Previous Degree: University of Michigan, B.S. in Biology M.S. Thesis Title: Landscape influences on site occupancy by beaver and resultant foraging impacts on forest compositon and structure (Adirondack Mountains, NY, USA) |
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Kacie Gehl
M.S., 2010 Kacie is a community watershed and environmental educator at Cornell Cooperative Extension in Syracuse, NY. She studied the biogeochemistry and nutrient stoichiometry of the Onondaga Creek watershed in Syracuse, NY. The goal of her research was to understand the most relevant perspective for evaluating stream physio-chemical gradients in a catchment with diverse land uses (forest, agriculture, urban) and cumulative impacts to water quality. Previous Degree: State University of New York, Binghamton, B.S. in Biology M.S. Thesis Title: Multi-scale analysis of synoptic streamwater chemistry and seasonal nutrient limitation in a mixed-use catchment (Onondaga Creek, NY) |
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Cheryl Bondi
Ph.D., 2015 Cheryl is a currently a Wetland Mitigation Program Specialist at the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. Her research focused on the role of calcium in northern hardwood forest floor ecology. Previous Degrees: Salem State College, Massachusetts, B.S. in Biology; Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA, M.A. in Biology Dissertation Title: Eastern red-backed salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) and forest floor food webs in relation to soil and foliar nutrient availability in northern hardwood forests |
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