Skip to content

Appalachian Laboratory graduate students participate in recent National Park Service project

During the fall semester, graduate students in Dr. Katia Engelhardt's MEES 608W: Classic Readings in Ecology course completed research on published scientific studies conducted in national parks. The students presented their findings, which will be used in National Park Service publications and websites, at a recent symposium.

Through a Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (opens in a new tab) (CESU) project funded by the National Park Service (opens in a new tab) (NPS), students and faculty at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) recently collaborated with NPS staff to research and write original articles about national park sites that have played important roles in the history of various scientific disciplines. The articles will provide the first content for a new “History of Science” public website on nps.gov.

Nine graduate students, led by UMCES-AL faculty member Katia Engelhardt, completed their research during the fall semester, while enrolled in MEES 608W: Classic Readings in Ecology. Students from the University of Maryland-College Park, University of Maryland-Baltimore County, and University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science-Appalachian Laboratory participated project.  Their findings were recently presented at an end-of-semester Graduate Student Symposium. 

UMCES-AL student presentations can be viewed by clicking the following links:

drive.google.com/file/d/1YsBP9Uq9tZyUu9GQq3qhvnG1YOp952Xs/view?usp=sharing

Photo of Juliet Nagel
Juliet Nagel

Juliet Nagel, a Ph.D. student in the Marine Estuarine and Environmental Science program, gave a presentation titledLessons from warblers in Acadia National Park: coexistence, niches, and hypothesis-driven ecology. (opens in a new tab)

Nagel gave a summary of the work of Robert MacArthur, who studied population ecology of warblers.

drive.google.com/file/d/1T4_ewDXlVl0ihUcG8K2cwcpJF4-KACP5/view?usp=sharing

Photo of Annie Carew
Annie Carew

Annie Carew, a masters student in the Marine Estuarine and Environmental Science program, gave a summary of R.H. Whittaker’s work.

Her presentation is titled “Forest Dimensions and Production of the Great Smoky Mountains.” (opens in a new tab)

drive.google.com/file/d/12gTgYtC9LYMWrlinyoWeYu2lquXgo2-J/view?usp=sharing

Photo of Jake Hagedorn
Jake Hagedorn

Jake Hagedorn focused on Rocky Mountain National Park with his presentation titled, “Ecosystem Responses to Nitrogen Deposition in the Colorado Front Range.” (opens in a new tab)

He gave a summary of Jill Baron’s work of the same title.

To learn more about the project and to view student presentations, visit the Chesapeake Watershed CESU website