Principal Investigator
Ryan W. McEwan, PhD
Professor
Environmental Biology Program Coordinator
Department of Biology
The University of Dayton
300 College Park, Dayton, OH 45469-2320
Office phone: 1.937.229.2558
Email: ryan.mcewan@udayton.edu
Graduate Students
Michaela Woods (BS, MS), PhD Student
Michaela Woods completed her BS in Biological Sciences at Wright State University in 2016 and her MS in Biological Sciences (December 2018) also at Wright State University. During her MS Michaela focused on soil ecology in relationship to Amur honeysuckle invasion in Dr. Megan Rua’s lab. As a PhD student in the McEwan Lab Michaela is aiming to investigate the interconnections between soil biology, plant invasion and ecological restoration in Midwestern Forests. She is particularly interested in collaboration with the Five Rivers Metroparks which manages 16,000+ acres of natural areas in the Dayton Area.
Michaela’s Publications: LINK
Meg Maloney (BS), MS Student
Meg was an undergraduate project leader and honors student in the lab who graduated with her BS in Environmental Biology and then headed to California to spend a year living in the redwoods and working as a naturalist educator (LINK). She rejoined the lab to work on a MS project focused on ecological restoration and habitat management in relationship to the invasion biology of Callery Pear. Her time at UD is 50% funded by the Hanley Sustainability Institute and she will also be working on a regional #resilience plan.
Undergraduate Project Leaders
Abby Hay
Abby is an Undergraduate Project Leader in the lab who is an Honors Student. Her Thesis research has to do with comparing the vegetative phenology of Callery pear (Pyrus alleryana) with co-occuring native trees. Abby is also the Environmental Biology Program Intern. She is winner of the 2020 Keck Environmental Biology Fellowship!.
Katie Hickle
Katie is an Undergraduate Project Leader in the lab who is working with the Five Rivers Metroparks and is interested in forest ecology. She is engaged in a on project that assesses the efficacy of reforestation as part of ecological restoration in Sugar Creek Metropark.
Woods, M.J., M. Cobb, K. Hickle and R.W. McEwan. 2019. Assessing the efficacy of seedling planting as a forest restoration technique in temperate hardwood forests impacted by invasive species. Forests 10: 699. Open Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/f10080699.
