Landscape ecology of aquatic ecosystems, influence of land use patterns on surfacewater chemistry, human disruption of flood regimes, spatial modeling, ecological economics
 

Protecting Water by Conserving Land:
the Importance of Spatial Arrangement in Influencing Ecosystem Processes
postdoctoral research at NCEAS to develop theory of the abundance and arrangement of land (e.g., agriculture vs. wetlands) in influencing runoff to aquatic systems

Aquatic-terrestrial Biogeochemistry
NCEAS Working Group led by Nancy Grimm

Wisconsin River Floodplain Project
with Monica G. Turner and Emily Stanley at the University of Wisconsin - Madison

California Legacy Project
 

Past Projects

Learning Landscape Ecology: A Practical Guide to Concepts and Techniques
a book for 'hands-on' teaching of landscape ecology published by Springer-Verlag (now in its 2nd printing)

Integrative Graduate Education Research Traineeship (IGERT)
a program for the integration of social and natural sciences, geared at
understanding freshwater ecosystems
 

Ph.D. 2001, Zoology, University of Wisconsin, Department of Zoology

Dissertation Title: Human-altered disturbance regimes: effects of flood control along the Wisconsin River. 
Advisor: Monica G. Turner

M.S.  1996, Zoology, University of Wisconsin Department of Zoology

Thesis Title: Dissolved organic carbon as an indicator of the scale of watershed influence on north temperate lakes and rivers. 
Advisor: Monica G. Turner

B.S.  1992,  Forest Resources & Conservation, University of Florida, Honors Program
        Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
        Major: Wildlife Ecology               Minor: Zoology
 

McClain, M.E., E.W. Boyer, C.L. Dent, S.E. Gergel, N.B. Grimm, P.M. Groffman, S.C. Hart, J.W. Harvey, C.A. Johnston, E. Mayorga, W.H. McDowell, G. Pinay. In Press. Biogeochemical hot spots and hot moments at the interface of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Ecosystems. In Press.

Gergel, S.E. 2002. Cumulative impact of levees and dams on the duration of temporary floodplain ponds: a terrain model approach for assessing multiple disturbances at broad scales. Ecological Applications 12(6):1740-1754.

Gergel, S.E., M.D. Dixon and M.G. Turner. 2002. Effects of altered disturbance regimes: levees, floods and floodplain vegetation on the Wisconsin River. Ecological Applications 12(6):1755-1770.

Gergel, S.E., M.G. Turner, J.R. Miller, E.H. Stanley, and J.M. Melack. 2002. Landscape indicators of human impacts to riverine systems. Aquatic Sciences 64:118-128.

Gergel, S.E. and M.G. Turner, editors. 2001. Learning Landscape Ecology: A Practical Guide to Concepts and Techniques. Springer-Verlag, New York. 316 pp.
 

and associated chapters:

Gergel, S.E. and T. Reed-Andersen. Chapter 18: Modeling ecosystem processes.

Gergel, S.E., M.G. Turner and D.J. Mladenoff. Chapter 2: Collecting spatial data at broad scales. 

Greenberg, J.G., S.E. Gergel, and M.G. Turner. Chapter 8: Understanding landscape metrics II: effects of changes in scale. 

Turner, M.G., D.B. Tinker and S.E. Gergel. Chapter 11: Landscape disturbance: location, pattern and dynamics.

Harris, L.D., T.S. Hoctor and S.E. Gergel. 1996. Landscape processes and their significance to biodiversity conservation. In O.E. Rhodes, R.K. Chesser, and M.H. Smith, editors. Population Dynamics in Ecological Space and Time. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Submitted

Gergel, S.E., E.M. Bennett, B.K. Greenfield, C.A. Overdevest, B. Stumborg and S. King. A test of the Environmental Kuznets Curve using long-term watershed inputs. Submitted to Ecological Applications.

Grimm, N.B., S.E. Gergel, W.H. McDowell, E.W. Boyer, C.L. Dent, P.M. Groffman, S. Hart, J. Harvey, C.A. Johnston, E. Mayorga, M.E. McClain, and G. Pinay. Merging aquatic and terrestrial perspectives of nutrient biogeochemistry. Submitted to Oecologia.

Turner, M.G., S.E. Gergel, M.D. Dixon, and J.R. Miller. Distribution and abundance of trees in floodplain forests of the Wisconsin River: effects of physiography, land cover and flooding. Submitted to Ecological Applications.
 

Postdoctoral Associate, National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, University of California - Santa Barbara. September 2000 - present.

Proposal Title: Protecting water by conserving land: the importance of spatial arrangement in influencing ecosystem processes.

Description: Plan curricula, instruct, and grade ‘Concepts and Techniques in Landscape Ecology,’ a graduate-level laboratory course.

Description: Design and conduct M.S. research in aquatic and terrestrial interactions.

Description: Lead two discussion and two laboratory sections of ‘Introductory Biology.’

GIS Technician, Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida. March - May 1994.

Description: use ARC/INFO GIS to locate and map riverine snail habitat.

Description: Construct GRASS GIS for conservation in agricultural landscape, aid Earthwatch mist-netting expedition.

Description: Create ARC/INFO GIS to evaluate landscape connectivity between prospective Grizzly Bear reintroduction sites fragmented by roads, assist captive bear transport.

Description: review articles for proposed book in reserve design for Professor Larry Harris, examine effects of forest edge predators on forest interior birds.

Description: Research implications of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act for oil development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Description: write and administer exams for several hundred students, lead and grade three ‘Wildlife Issues’ discussion sections.

member of the Foreign Scholar Travel Award Committee, International Association for Landscape Ecology - U.S. Chapter (US-IALE)

former Student Representative, International Association for Landscape Ecology - U.S. Chapter (US-IALE).

US EPA Grant, ‘Ecological indicators for large river-floodplain landscapes,’ Monica Turner and Emily Stanley, Principal Investigators. Continuing collaboration that has included participation in proposal writing and training of vegetation field crew.

NSF Integrated Graduate Education and Research Traineeship Program for Social and Aquatic Sciences. University of Wisconsin - Madison. 1998 - 2000.

US EPA STAR Graduate Fellowship ($102,000), 1998 - 2000.

NSF Graduate Research Traineeship for Integration in Limnology ($35,210), 1995 -1997. Included exchange program with the Center for Streamside Studies at University of Washington - Seattle.