Mike Jenkins: Professor
As an ecologist, I seek to understand how forests are changing and what factors are driving that change. In particular, I study the effects of disturbance and how disturbance regimes have changed due to human influence. Invasive species are also a major focus of my research program. I am interested in how they establish in forests, the effects they have on native species, and how they interact with and influence disturbance regimes. With regard to disturbance, I have focused on fire, forest management, herbivory by white-tailed deer, and the gap dynamics of old-growth forests. My work with invasive species has included non-native plants, as well insects and disease which often act as a disturbance when they attack overstory tree species.
I have been on the faculty at Purdue for 18 years. For me, joining the faculty was coming home, I finished my PhD at Purdue in 1998. Prior to returning, I spent 10 years working for the National Park Service as an ecologist in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Smokies are my favorite place on earth, and I continue to do research there whenever possible.
Summer Rathfon: MS student
Through her research, Summer is seeking to understand the conservation status of relict eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) populations in Indiana forests. Her study examines the recruitment history, genetic variability, and potential threats to the survival of isolated populations scattered throughout Indiana.
Previously, she studied at Southern Virginia University where she obtained her B.A. in biology. She also worked for the USDA Forest Service as a forestry technician in silviculture on the Nez-Perce Clearwater National Forest where she gained a greater appreciation for proper forest management practices and their lasting effects on forest ecosystems. She is co-advised by Drs. Keith Woeste and Mike Jenkins.
Tori Hongo: MS student
Tori is working with the National Park Service on a long-term study of spruce-fir forests in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Her research will evaluate changes in vegetation structure and composition as these forests continue to recover from widespread Fraser fir mortality caused by balsam woolly adelgid. She has worked in the Smokies the past two years monitoring forests, wetlands, and rare plants.
Tori received her B.S. in Biology from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee where she grew up. Her primary undergraduate research was an intersection of community ecology, microbiology, and herpetology as she studied the biodiversity of salamander microbiomes. Conducting research as an undergrad in addition to her positive experiences working as an ecology and environmental science lab assistant and studying abroad in Costa Rican rainforests led her to pursue forestry field work and research back home in Tennessee.
Thad Swart: MS student
Thad is researching the long-term effects of an invasive forest pest (emerald ash borer) in Indiana forests. He is looking at the gap dynamics of dead ash (Fraxinus) trees in relict forests and using long term datasets to determine how forests responded to the sudden extirpation of an entire genus. His study sites include several Indiana state parks and the Davis-Purdue Research Forest.
Previously, Thad has worked for the National Park Service at Yosemite National Park, Indiana Dunes National Park, and Isle Royale National Park as a forester and botanist. He has studied forestry and professional writing at Michigan State University. Thad is co-advised by Drs. Mike Jenkins and Mike Saunders.
Former students and post-docs
Anna Blackford: MS
Thesis title: Assessing a federal cost-share program for invasive species management and biodiversity restoration in northern Indiana forests. Anna graduated in 2025 and is currently an Ecologist II with RSI, a contractor to Department of Energy.
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Aubrey Franks: MS
Thesis title: Regional distribution of woody invasives and the response of plant communities to invasive control through government cost share programs. Aubrey graduated in 2024 and is currently a Restoration Project Manager with The Great Basin Institute.
Gabby Krochmal: MS
Thesis title: Native Woody diversity, composition and tree growth responses to invasive plant treatment in non-industrial private forests. Gabby graduated in 2024 and is currently an Environmental Research Technician with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.
Cameron Dow: MS
Thesis title: An assessment of recent chestnut oak mortality across the eastern United States with an emphasis on Indiana. Cameron graduated in 2023 and is currently a PhD student at West Virginia University.
Sarah Rademacher: MS
Thesis title: Understory response to shelterwood and burn treatments in a dry Quercus forest in Indiana. Sarah graduated in 2022 and is currently the Natural Resources Team Lead at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum of the University of Minnesota.
Richard (RD) Sample: PhD
Dissertation title: The Influence of local and landscape characteristics on deer browsing, and subsequently the composition and structure of forest understories, in Indiana. RD graduated in 2022. He is currently an Ecologist with the USDA Forest Service.
Benjamin Rivera: MS
Thesis title: The Establishment, control, and post-control response of Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii). Ben graduated in 2021 and was co-advised by Dr. Richard Meilan. He is currently a PhD student at the University of California-Davis.
Jameson Pierce: MS
Thesis title: Interactive effects of landscape context, non-native plants, and deer abundance on forest plant communities in central Indiana. Jameson graduated in 2020 and is currently a Forester (Silviculture) with the Croatan National Forest in North Carolina.
Meghan Mulroy: MS
Thesis title: Forest ecosystem response to hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae) in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Meghan graduated in 2018 and is currently an Area Forester with the Virginia Department of Forestry.
Graham Frank: MS
Thesis title: Above- and belowground community responses to control techniques for the invasive shrub Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii [Rupr.] Herder) in mixed-hardwood forests of Indiana. Graham graduated in 2017 and is currently a PhD student at Oregon State University.
Kalli Dunn: MS
Thesis title: Dispersal and establishment of Pyrus calleryana in a central hardwood forest. Kalli graduated in 2017 and was co-advised by Dr. Michael Saunders. She is currently the Assistant Property Manager at the Glendale Fish and Wildlife Area with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
Bryan Murray: Post-doc
Bryan studied functional diversity changes across multiple taxa in response to forest management. He was a post-doc from 2013-16 and is now an Assistant Professor of Forest Ecology and GIS at Oklahoma State University.
Robert Quackenbush: MS
Thesis title: An assessment of the competitive ability of oak species in the Central Hardwood Region using both pre-harvest treatment data and stem analysis techniques. Rob graduated in 2016 and is currently a County Forester with the Arkansas Forestry Commission.
Charlotte Owings: MS
Thesis title: Vegetation and underplanting response to Amur honeysuckle invasion and deer herbivory in mixed hardwood forests. Charlotte graduated in 2015 and was co-advised by Dr. Douglass Jacobs. She is currently the Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment Coordinator with the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources at Purdue University.
Patrick Duffy: MS
Thesis title: Vegetation and soil characteristics of pine plantations and naturally regenerated hardwood forests. Patrick graduated in 2014 and is currently the General Manager of Natural Community Services, LLC.
Christy Lowney: MS
Thesis title: Two decades of change in the structure and composition of old-growth forests in the Central Hardwood Region, USA. Christy graduated in 2013 and is currently a Research Specialist with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum.
Robert Morrissey: PhD
Dissertation title: Long-term disturbance histories of managed and natural mixed-hardwood forests of central Indiana. Rob graduated in 2013 and was co-advised by Dr. Michael Saunders. He is currently an independent researcher and editor with Branch Scientific Editing.
Joshua Shields: PhD
Dissertation title: Effects of Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii [rupr.] herder) invasion and removal on native vegetation and white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) in mixed-hardwood forests of Indiana. Josh graduated in 2013 and is currently Outreach and Extension Forester with the Manistee Conservation District, MI.
J. Travis Swain: MS
Thesis title: Stand development and the competitive ability of oak (Quercus spp.) following silvicultural clearcutting on the Hoosier National Forest. Travis graduated in 2013 and is currently the Silviculturist for the Hoosier National Forest in Indiana.
Lindsay Keitzer: MS
Thesis title: Evaluating the recovery of vegetation communities in Indiana state parks after more than a decade of deer population reduction. Lindsay graduated in 2011 and is currently a Grants and Contracts Administrator at East Tennessee State University.
Amanda Penn: MS
Thesis title: Population dynamics and conservation genetics of butternut in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Amanda graduated in 2011 and was co-advised by Dr. Keith Woeste. She is currently a Research Technologist and Lab Manager with the Department of Biology at Pennsylvania State University.