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  • Karst Ecohydrology
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Former Lab Personnel

Logan Maxwell, M.S. 2021

Logan's thesis was about ecological restoration of shrub communities (Artemisia tridentata var. wyomingensis (Wyoming sagebrush) and Coleogyne ramosissima (blackbrush)) on abandoned oil and gas pads on the Colorado Plateau. She investigated the physiological status of recruits on long-abandoned mines and conducted revegetation experiments with seends and transplants to quantify the costs and benefits of alternate restoration methods.

Sierra DaSilva, M.S. 2020

Sierra's thesis was entitled: "Allelopathy in the invasive warm-season grass Bothriochloa ischaemum: Investigation of its mechanism and effects on competitor species of the Edwards Plateau". She is currently preparing a manuscript for publication. Meanwhile, you can look up her thesis in the collection of the TSU library. Her thesis was published in Plant and Soil, which you can download here.

Yali Ding, Visiting Scholar, 2017

Ding visited us while she was completing her Ph.D. at the Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese National Academy of Sciences. She is an expert in the water relations of trees in the South China Karst, and we have collaborated with her on developing a new technique for integrating seasonal groundwater use using stable isotopes in water. Ding worked on a collaborative paper with us, now published in the Journal of Hydrology, which you can download here.

Sarah Eisenmenger, M.S. 2018

Sarah's thesis was "The effect of staggered planting times on competitive interactions and yield of a bean-corn intercrop". Her research showed that yield proportions in intercopping systems can be fine tuned by staggering the planting times for component crops. Specifically, earlier planting will have the result of increasing yield, at the cost of later-planted crop components. Her thesis is available in the collection of the TSU library.

Nathan Custer, M.S. 2017

Nate's thesis was on the topic of "Climate x ecotype interactions for three shrub species of the Mojave Desert: Which traits predict fitness variation across climate zones?" Nate's work is published in the Journal of Ecology, which you can download here.

Beth Crouchet, M.S. 2016

Beth's thesis was entitled "Covariates of tree mortality associated with the 2011 Texas Drought". Her thesis was published in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, which you can download here.

Yun-Pong Nie, Assistant Professor, Visiting Scholar (2015)

Nie is a full time researcher in the Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His research centers on the ecohydrology of soil-limited karst ecosystems, including characteristics of water storage in karst, the water use and adaptive strategies of native plant species, as well as their responses to climate change. To reveal the underlying mechanisms, he draws on tools from the fields of soil science, hydrology, ecophysiology, ecology, and stable isotope biogeochemistry. His research team conducts field research in karst regions of Subtropical China. He can be contacted by email at nyp@isa.ac.cn

Li Rong, Professor, Visiting Scholar (2014)

Rong is a professor at Guizhou Normal University in the city of Guiyang, China. She is interested in examining the water relations of karst plants using stable isotope techniques.

Scott Havill, M.S. 2012

Scott's thesis revolved around the idea of using fire for the control of invasive grasses, particularly, KR bluestem. His thesis was published in the Journal of Vegetation Science, which you can download here

Lisa Jones, M.S. 2012

Lisa's thesis research was on blackbrush restoration. Her work is published in Restoration Ecology and you can download it here.

Heather Meckel

Heather's thesis research focussed on the way in which the invasive species Johnsongrass competes with native species during seedling establishment. This was published in PLOS ONE, downloadable here.

Kelly Kukowski (nee Goodsheller), M.S. 2010

Kelly did her thesis on the water use of Edwards Plateau trees during drought. She published one paper in Oecologia, which you can download here and was co-author on another collaborative paper that you can download here.

Heather Dammeyer, M.S. 2010

Heather examined how clearcutting juniper trees affects the water availability of trees that are left behind. She published on this work in Hydrological Processes, which you can download here and was co-author on a collaborative paper that you can download here.

Erin Ruckman (nee Rowley), M.S. 2009

Erin examined the effects of controlled burns on the cover of KR bluestem in Texas prairies and heat effects on seed viability. She published ine paper in Ecological Rstoration, which you can download here and another paper in Restoration Ecology, which you can download here.