The Eastern United States has experienced a remarkable history of disturbance and recovery over the past two centuries. Before European settlement, forests occupied most of the land area. From the mid-19th to early 20th century , harvesting for timber and to clear agricultural land reduced forest cover by more than 90% in many places. Throughout most of the rest of the 20th century, forest cover subsequently increased following the abandonment of marginal agricultural fields and active New Deal reforestation efforts.

Name: Dr. Gabriella Wolff
Lab: Riffell Lab

Title: Neuromodulation and Differential Learning Across Mosquito Species

Dr. Jennifer Ruesink
Response and effect traits in a phenotypically-variable marine foundation species

Dr. Emily Carrington
Losing their lifeline? Mussel attachment in dynamic coastal environments

More than 60% of earth’s terrestrial surface is managed by humans as agriculture, pasture, or urbanized areas, and land conversion continues to be the primary driver of global biodiversity loss. Despite this, little is known about the impacts of land management on multi-species interactions, gene flow, and ecosystem function. The Jha Lab investigates ecological and evolutionary processes from genes to landscapes, to quantify global change impacts on plant-animal interactions, movement ecology, and the provisioning of ecosystem services.