Robert F. Smith Ecological Research Lab
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News about the Smith Ecology lab

2 new papers published in aquatic entomology and stream restoration

11/12/2019

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m excited to say that I co-authored 2 pretty cool papers recently that are now both in early view stage. One study shows that stream insects, and specifically certain taxa of stoneflies, prefer to emerge from streams using emergent wood over emergent rocks or other submerged substrates (https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvz106). The other study examined the response of stream insects to a novel restoration on Big Spring Run (Lancaster County: ), which found that the restoration had no effect on the stream insect community, but more interestingly (in our opinion) the approach we used that analyzed several subsets of the data and multiple assessment approaches created a holistic narrative about project outcomes that was more compelling than a simple statistics-based approach (https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.3556). What was really exciting is that both of these manuscripts were undergraduate student research projects. The emergence study led by Kristin Cheney who as an undergraduate at UMass when I was a postdoc. Several undergraduates at Millersville University including co-authors Emily Neideigh and Alex Rittle did the heavy lifting during the field and lab stages of the work. Let me know if you need a reprint of these (or any) of my manuscripts.
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Welcome postdoctoral scholar, Leslie Rieck to my lab and the cwi

9/24/2019

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As a result of funding provided by the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, my colleagues and I in the CWI were able to hire Leslie Rieck to work at a postdoctoral scholar in the Biology Department at Lycoming College. A recent graduate of the The Ohio State University, Leslie will be a key component of the College-Community Stormwater Project through student mentoring, research, and teaching. Leslie's graduate work examined "potential linkages between urban-induced hydrogeomorphic modification and: (1) fish assemblage compositional changes over time (3-5 years); (2) fish assemblage trophic dynamics; (3) aquatic-to-terrestrial nutritional subsidies to a common riparian consumer (spiders of the family Tetragnathidae); and (4) downstream drift of larval macroinvertebrates in the water column." I am extremely lucky to be able to collaborate with and learn from Leslie, and I'm excited for what the next few years will hold. Welcome Leslie! 

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A little insight into what my Clean water institute colleagues and I and Lycoming Students do for environmental education using streams

7/6/2019

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This video, produced by the PPL Corporation, was done to highlight the PPL Corp's generous support of environmental education performed by the CWI. Professor Emeritus, Mel Zimmerman of the CWI was the PI on the grant that allowed the purchase equipment to expand our ability to perform environmental education activities at the Waterdale Lodge. Environmental education at the Waterdale Lodge is a collaborative initiative between the CWI (and Lycoming College) and the Williamsport Municipal Water Authority. While I was not around when this initiative began, I am excited to support and help expand this ongoing collaboration that benefits school-age children in the area. The main goal is to develop stewardship and an appreciation for maintaining clean water for drinking, recreation, and biodiversity.
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Research student Ruric Bowman: first to sfs in salt lake and then off to an NSF REU at Old Dominion University

6/3/2019

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Ruric Bowman presented his research at the annual meeting of the Society for Freshwater Science in Salt Lake City. He was able to attend after being awarded a $500 travel grant to attend the meeting from SFS in addition to support by the Provost's office at Lycoming College. He was back for 3 days and then was off to participate in an NSF Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) program in the Department of Ocean, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences at Old Dominion University. The REU program is focused on climate change and sea level rise in a coastal metropolitan environment. He'll be missed this summer, but this experience will serve him best in his quest to attend graduate school studying marine ecosystems.
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Congratulations to Brittany Lenze on graduating from Lycoming college and attending graduate school

6/2/2019

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Lab researcher Brittany Lenze graduated from Lycoming College this year. Brittany studied the effects of soil warming on Canada thistle and won the Biology Department service award for her work at a tutor, teaching assistant, and lab assistant in addition to just plain being an awesome student in the Department. She'll be working on a Master of Professional studies degree in Controlled Environmental Agriculture in the School of Integrative Plant Science (Horticulture Section) at Cornell University this Fall. Good luck Brittany!

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CWI receives a grant to develop COLLEGE-COMMUNITY STORMWATER PARTNERSHIP

2/9/2019

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My colleagues and I with the Lycoming College’s Clean Water Institute (CWI) were awarded a $258,000 grant from The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations to develop a college-community stormwater partnership model for small urbanized watersheds. The grant will further the capacity of the CWI to support urban stormwater management initiatives by community partners, expand the College’s environmental science curriculum, and provide new research and training opportunities to prepare students for a high-demand area in natural resource management. Further details can be found in Lycoming's official press release: HERE.

We are hiring a postdoc to help implement the teaching and research components of this grant. We are looking for a
 Ph.D. with expertise in fluvial geomorphology, urban hydrology, stormwater management, or green infrastructure, but candidates with expertise in other areas related to urban stream ecology are encouraged to apply. Details of the position and instructions for how to apply can be found HERE. Please email me if you have any questions about the postdoc position.
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The great thistle harvest of 2018

11/4/2018

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The field work for Brittany Lenze's research project on the effects of soil warming on the growth of Canada Thistle came to an end a little over 2 weeks ago when we harvested the plants that originally started out as rhizomes last June. This is the second phase of her research that included a greenhouse experiment last year. The preliminary results are, thus far, quite interesting. In addition to finding a potentially novel herbivore on this invasive plant species, we were able to demonstrate 1) that any system with pots above the ground won't mimic the amplitude of soil temperature variations seen in the surrounding soil and 2) that the the plastic sheeting (not temperature) resulted in increased plant biomass. We also found an interesting result (pictured to the right) where the roots of this species spread prolifically down through the pots, into the surrounding soil, and sprouted under the plastic. I am not an expert on this species, but our experience collecting rhizomes and the literature we reviewed suggested that root growth would be more modest. Great stuff!
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Congrats to my students who presented at the 2018 SUSQUEHANNA RIVER SYMPOSIUM

11/4/2018

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Brittany Lenze (Class of 2019, top) and Ruric Bowman (Class of 2020, bottom) presented their research on the effects of climate change on invasive plants and evolution of dispersal traits in stream insects at the 2018 Susquehanna River Symposium. While nobody brought home any awards, I was super proud of them both for putting together posters demonstrating their hypothesis driven, well thought-out research. I'm especially proud of Brittany whose Canada Thistle plots were harvested just a few days prior to the meeting. Learn more about the meeting HERE.
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piloting a white-tailed deer survey program to support student research

10/9/2018

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While I'm an entomologist at heart, I'm trained as an ecologist. Working at a small, primarily undergraduate institution, I find opportunities to work with great students who may not share my love of arthropods. For example, I'm piloting a long-term deer survey program as a means to support student interest in wildlife biology. Learn more about it on my Research page.
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Reducing Barriers to Teaching with R in Undergraduate Biology, a QUBES faculty Mentoring Network

8/26/2018

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I will be incorporating instruction on the R statistical program in my Fall 2018 Ecology course thanks to an opportunity to participate in the QUBES (Quantitative Undergraduate Biology Education and Synthesis) Faculty Mentoring Network for 'Reducing Barriers to Teaching with R in Undergraduate Biology'. The ability to use the R statistical program is increasingly a requirement for undergraduate internships and employment in addition to being useful for undergraduate and graduate research. I'm excited to introduce this program to my students and hope to expand instruction on R at Lycoming College in the future.
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    ​Here you'll find the latest news for the RFSmith ecology lab. Please contact me with any comments, questions, suggestions, or other thoughts about the activities of my lab.
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