Ryan W. McEwan, PhD
In the McEwan lab we are dedicated to the study of forests. We are generally fascinated by trees! Those great, grey, grove, giants, who stand sentinel over the campus, over the neighborhoods, over our homes. Who breath oxygen into the air, pull toxins from the water, and turn carbon pollution into wood through a hidden alchemy that we have only begun to understand. Whose evolutionary memory stretches back into the primordial fogs of time, before there were human beings with our flitting and narrow consciousnesses…back into the deep beginnings. The patient ones, who watch for the sun with billions of cellular eyes and feel the Earth with invisible filaments that form webs of communication that intermingle fungi, bacteria, and each other, into what even the soberest, lab coated, humans, call a “Community.”
For the past 30 years or so, I have spent as much time as I could trying to understand forests. In my lab we have made a lot of discoveries, but forests are so complex and mysterious, we will never understand them completely. What we can do is aspire to learn more and to use science to shine a searchlight into their mystery. Along the way we can also make a positive difference. In my lab we have focused increasingly on practical actions and ecological restoration. You can check out our publications page to learn more about what we have be up to:
If you are a student and are looking to become a sort of forest apprentice – I am happy to mentor! I have worked with > 100 students over the years, many of whom have been inspired by the pursuit of discovery, and translated that into impactful careers.
If you have questions please take a spin around the website. Also, please feel free to reach out to me:
Department of Biology
The University of Dayton
300 College Park, Dayton, OH 45469-2320
Email: ryan.mcewan@udayton.edu
