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NEWS ABOUT STUDENTS

• V. Malissa Mengel Selected as 2005 Outstanding Senior
• Amanda Subjin Receives 2005 Rapp Prize for Academic Excellence
• Laurie Goodrich Receives 2005 Latham Award
• Students Build Wooden Boat
• Students Travel to Freiburg, Germany
• 2005 Keystone Project
• Watershed Activity Day
• Spring 2005 Commencement

V. Malissa Mengel Selected as 2005 Outstanding Senior

V. Malissa Mengel was recognized as the School of Forest Resources Outstanding Senior 2005 at a School picnic on April 21. A committee of School of Forest Resources faculty and Xi Sigma Pi members selects the recipient of the Outstanding Senior Award each spring from nominations submitted by faculty, staff, and students. Nominees must be seniors expected to graduate in May, August, or December. Xi Sigma Pi is the School’s honor society—a chapter of a national honor society of natural resources disciplines.

Mengel completed her baccalaureate degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Science, Fisheries Option, in May 2005. In June she began a graduate degree program at Tennessee Technological University studying freshwater mussels.

Research was a significant part of Mengel’s experience as an undergraduate. She was a volunteer research technician in 2001 with the Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Penn State, and then employed as a research technician in the unit from 2002 until graduation. Her responsibilities spanned several research projects and included aquatic macroinvertebrate collection, redd surveys, fish and crayfish collection, radiotelemetry, habitat measurements, and data entry, analysis, and interpretation. She coauthored a poster presented at the 61st Annual Northeast Fish and Wildlife Conference in Virginia Beach in April 2005, and coauthored several reports prepared by unit personnel.

“Melissa’s talent, hard work, attention to detail, and dedication, made her an extremely valuable employee,” confirms Ph.D. candidate David Lieb, who supervised much of Mengel’s work with the unit.

Mengel was also a volunteer researcher on a project assessing turtle populations in Wekiwa Springs State Park in Florida. She became involved in the work, which takes place during spring break, as part of a course offered at another Penn State campus. One year the course was canceled (the instructor had left Penn State) and Mengel took it upon herself to coordinate with several students who had taken the class in previous years. In large part due to Mengel’s leadership, the park’s annual turtle survey was completed.

In addition to her academic coursework and research responsibilities, Mengel was active in extracurricular activities and held leadership positions. She was a member of the Penn State Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society; she served as secretary for one year and then vice president for two years. She was a member of the Penn State Chapter Sigma Alpha, a professional agricultural sorority; she was active on the fundraising and scholarship committees, and then served as president during her senior year. She is a member of Xi Sigma Pi and the American Fisheries Society.

Mengel has been active in environmental education and is certified in Project Wild, Project Aquatic Wild, and Project Reptiles and Amphibians. She has volunteered at Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center and 4-H Wildlife Field Day.

Amanda Subjin Receives 2005 Rapp Prize for Academic Excellence

Forest Science major Amanda Subjin, of Dingmans Ferry, Pennsylvania, is the recipient of the Orpha Kelly Rapp and Jesse Rossiter Rapp ’15 Prize for Academic Excellence in the amount of $3,000. This award is made each spring to the senior in the School of Forest Resources with the highest grade point average. Elizabeth Rapp Tukey endowed the award in memory of her father Jesse Rossiter Rapp (Class of 1915) and mother Orpha Kelly Rapp.

Subjin came to Penn State in fall 2003 from Keystone College where she completed an associate’s degree in Forestry Resource Management in summer 2003. Prior to graduating from Keystone College, she took time off to complete a yearlong urban forestry internship (May 2002 to June 2003) at Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia. Her work there included producing three professional reports for the USDA Forest Service and authoring and presenting “The Importance of Urban Forestry in Northeast Pennsylvania” to staff and members of the Arboretum at the conclusion of the grant work. While an intern, she completed a few courses at both Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania. Her initial college experience was at Bloomsburg University, which she attended prior to Keystone College.

Subjin settled in quickly at Penn State and excelled in all her coursework. She became a member of the Society of American Foresters (SAF) and served as president of the student SAF chapter in her senior year. She was inducted in to Xi Sigma Pi, the forestry honor society, in fall 2004. During her senior year she also served as a student representative on the School of Forest Resources Centennial Planning Committee. She completed the B.S. in Forest Science, Forest Management option, in May 2005.

Subjin’s other work experiences include two summers at the Pocono Environmental Education Center where she was a summer day camp coeducator teaching six- to nine-year-olds. She was a naturalist intern for one summer at the Adirondack Mountain Club, where she developed displays, conducted interpretive hikes, and staffed the High Peaks Information Center.

Since September 2004, Subjin has been a part-time administrative assistant with the Sustainable Forestry Initiative of Pennsylvania in State College, Pennsylvania. There she produces newsletters, progress reports, course flyers, and training schedules. That work continues this summer while she also serves as a counselor in Penn State’s Conservation Leadership School. Subjin has also been a certified interpretive guide in the National Association for Interpretation since August 2004.

The Rapp Prize for Academic Excellence was first awarded in 1992. Subjin is the sixth Forest Science senior to receive the award. Six Wildlife and Fisheries Science seniors and two Wood Products seniors have also been recipients of the Rapp Prize.

Laurie Goodrich Receives 2005 Latham Award

Laurie J. Goodrich has received the 2005 Roger M. Latham Memorial Graduate Award, given annually to an outstanding, full-time graduate student advised by Wildlife and Fisheries Science faculty members in the School of Forest Resources. Goodrich is a Ph.D. candidate in Ecology working with Dr. Margaret Brittingham, professor of wildlife resources.

The Latham Award memorializes Roger Latham, a lifelong conservationist and the outdoor editor of the Pittsburgh Press, and was created by Mr. Latham’s friends in 1981.
Goodrich’s dissertation investigates stopover ecology and habitat use of migrating raptors. She is conducting her research at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Kempton, Pennsylvania, where she has been employed since 1984.

“Migration ecology interests me because migration may be one of the most stressful periods of a bird’s life, yet relatively little is know about the ecological requirements of birds during this time,” says Goodrich.

Her adviser Dr. Brittingham elaborates, “Laurie’s research is novel in that she is following individual birds and determining how landscape and weather influence the behavior of migrating raptors. Her research will identify critical habitat needs and provide data for conserving these habitats.”

In her position as a biologist and naturalist at Hawk Mountain, Goodrich has the opportunity to participate in many areas in which Mr. Latham excelled. She is in charge of long-term monitoring of raptor and songbird migration, and conducts research on migration of forest ecology of birds annually. Some of her work is collaborative with Hawk Mountain interns and other staff, and she also collaborates with outside researchers in studies of forest communities. She has written more than 30 technical publications related to raptor migration and conservation, and forest songbird breeding ecology.

During the migration season, when 40,000 people visit Hawk Mountain, Goodrich presents special programs and lectures to members. She trains interns and volunteers in interpretive skills and bird identification. She speaks to Audubon groups, high school and college students, garden clubs, and nature organizations on a regular basis. Her writings include magazine articles and reports that present scientific findings in a manner useful to the general public.

Goodrich represents Hawk Mountain on the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry Ecosystem Management Advisory Committee, the Ornithological Technical Committee of the Pennsylvania Biological Survey, and other groups active in conservation and management of Pennsylvania’s natural resources. She also volunteers her time and expertise to serve on local land conservancies.

Goodrich completed an M.S. in Ecology at Rutgers University in New Jersey in 1982, where she studied the effects of disturbance on nesting behavior of the Least Tern (Sterna albifrons). She earned a B.S. in Biology at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York, in 1977.

Tim Gardner, Jon Russ, and Jared Seitz, all seniors in the Wood Products program, built an eight-foot Nutshell Pram wooden boat during the fall 2004 semester as part of an independent studies course. Robert Baldwin, associate professor emeritus of wood science and technology, directed the project. Lee Stover, senior research associate in forest resources, provided additional support and technical advice.

(L to r.) Tim Gardner, Jon Russ, and Jared Seitz proudly display the Nutshell Pram they built in a Wood Products Independent Studies course. (The boat is blue and white!)

The focus of the project was to encourage students to apply their classroom learning to a practical situation. Students were directed to build a wood sailing or rowing “dinghy” to standard plans published by Wood Boat magazine. The design utilizes
4 x 8-foot plywood panels with the addition of readily available dimensional lumber. A video, guidebook, blue prints, and handouts were provided at the beginning of the course. The students were responsible for all phases of the project, from procuring the materials to the final paint job.

The boat was constructed in the Forest Resources Lab mill shop area where the group metformally one evening each week with the instructor for approximately three hours. Additional time was spent, as the students’ schedules would allow.

Throughout the construction process, the students faced many challenges of building a boat from scratch. Plans and drawings needed to be interpreted, and modifications were required to adapt each student’s skill level to the tools available. The project not only further developed their woodworking abilities, but it also aided in honing each student’s problem solving and analytical skills, individually and as team members. At the end of the semester, the students were excited and justifiably proud of their work. Their team effort and classroom knowledge had paid off.

This is the second boat that students in the Wood Products program have built in an independent studies course.

Students Travel to Freiburg, Germany

Penn Staters participating in the Freiburg Exchange Program in May 2005 had the opportunity to enjoy a side trip to France. The group is pictured here atop the Holy Castle Ulrich, one of three castles of Ribeauville in the Vogese mountains of France.

Sixteen students and three chaperones visited the Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg this spring for a ten-day study tour of the Black Forest region of Germany. The visit was part of a continuing series of exchanges between the University of Freiburg and Penn State’s School of Forest Resources. The trip included a balance of scientific and cultural experiences.

While in Germany, students visited both hardwood and softwood timber stands in the Black Forest. They had the opportunity to observe single tree selection management of monoculture stands of black spruce, natural and artificial regeneration, and a stand undergoing transition to an all-aged “natural” forest. Additional features of the trip included the management of riparian zones for diversity and recreation, and a tour of one of the largest sawmills in Germany.

The cultural experiences were equally rewarding. The students had ample time to explore the historic town of Freiburg as well as several surrounding villages. A side trip to France provided an opportunity to hike in the Vogese mountains and then relax in the picturesque town of Ribeauville. The students also participated in a wine-tasting dinner in the Rhine Valley and toured an open-air museum of historic Black Forest farmhouses.

The generous support of the College of Agricultural Sciences, the School of Forest Resources, Danzer Corporation, C. & C. Smith Limber Company, Wenturine Brothers Lumber, and Krumenacker Lumber Company allowed the students to participate in the ten-day trip for a reasonable price of $800 per student. That fee covered airfare, in-country transportation, lodging, and meals on all days but one.

Dr. Bruce Lord and Mr. Matt Scholl of the School of Forest Resources organized the trip. Dr. Juergen Bauhus, Dr. Martin Kohler, and Ms. Debra Mohammed took care of the arrangements in Germany and also accompanied the Penn State group during the visit.

2005 Keystone Project

2005 Spruce Creek Keystone Project Team. Front row (l. to r.) Emilie Cooper, Nesha Mizel, Brent Bakner, Megan Walsh, Hyeon Jeong Kim. Back row (l. to r.): Leonard McNeal, Bryan Lees, Jennifer Sidleck, Joshua Gruver, Steve Torgerson.

A 600-foot riparian buffer along Halfmoon Creek at the Weaver Forest and a drinking water well monitoring program for fifty households were primary outcomes of the Spruce Creek watershed management practicum (2005 Keystone Project) by an interdisciplinary team of ten graduate students at the Center for Watershed Stewardship (CWS). The applied educational programs in community-based watershed management were carried out in close collaboration with the School’s Forestland Management Office and with considerable assistance by Bryan Swistock, extension associate in water resources, during the 2004-05 academic year.

The Weaver Forest site is located in Ferguson Township near the village of Marengo almost at the geographic center of Spruce Creek watershed about twelve miles southwest of University Park. Three acres of an old field bisected by 600 feet of Halfmoon Creek, (one of three streams designated as “impaired” by sediment and aquatic habitat loss in Spruce Creek watershed), was the area selected for the riparian buffer planting. Due to its key location in a 1.1-mile impaired stream segment, the Penn State property offered an excellent riparian forest “demonstration” project site to encourage adjoining landowners to implement stream protection aimed at reducing sediment loads and improving wild trout reproduction.

An intensive assessment of macroinvertebrates was conducted at four locations to provide baseline data. The Weaver Forest site macroinvertebrate community was found to be dominated by a few abundant, pollution-tolerant taxa—indicative of a water-quality impaired stream.

Base mapping, soil sample analysis for nutrients and moisture, and surveys of existing desirable native and exotic invasive vegetation were also part of the Weaver Forest assessment.
On April 1 and 2, 2005, about 20 students from Center for Watershed Stewardship and the Student Organization for Society and Natural Resources joined with watershed residents and Spruce Creek Watershed Association participants to plant the buffer. The heavy rain on the second planting day was a mixed blessing, as it eliminated any need to hand water the plants.
The Weaver Forest planting consisted of 925 native trees and shrubs in a buffer averaging 35 feet wide along 600 feet of stream. The Weaver Forest qualified for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s 2005 “Plant Give-Away” – a donation of nine species (900 plants) with a wholesale value more than $2,700. A Growing Greener grant provided $2,000 for Tubex tree tubes, hardware, and planting site preparation. Hand tools and equipment hauling were provided by the Forest Land Management office.

A long-term maintenance and management plan was prepared involving herbicide treatment to control competing vegetation, upgrading and stabilization of road access and demonstration area parking, signage, and a wildflower meadow planting.

In response to concerns about groundwater contamination expressed by Spruce Creek watershed residents and municipal officials, the 2005 Keystone Project conducted a drinking water well monitoring and research project offering free lab analysis of six water quality parameters. Swistock worked with the student team and CWS faculty to develop the program procedures, train CWS students in bacterial analysis lab techniques, conduct orientation programs for residential well owner participants, prepare a well owner survey instrument, and provided funding to purchase water sample bottles, bacteria culture media, and defray costs for nitrate, pH, and arsenic analysis by the Penn State Institutes of the Environment Water Quality Lab.

Fifty households, well distributed throughout the watershed, participated in the drinking water monitoring program. Participants were notified immediately if results indicated serious problems and were provided individual confidential records of the results, well protection publications, and Cooperative Extension materials at the Watershed Activity Day held April 23 (see related article) or by mail if unable to attend.

A summary of the well owner survey and the monitoring data were included in the final report distributed to municipalities, Spruce Creek Watershed Association, county Conservation Districts, and other organizations and individuals providing technical assistance or funding to the 2005 Keystone Project.

Watershed Activity Day

Watershed Activity Day was organized by the 2005 Keystone Project student team (see related article) from the Center for Watershed Stewardship (CWS). The day capped off the two-semester practicum in watershed management and featured hands-on watershed stewardship for youth and families, in keeping with the project’s education and outreach orientation and the organizational development goals of the newly formed Spruce Creek Watershed Association to engage more watershed residents. Watershed Activity Day was held at Camp Kanesatake, a United Methodist Church summer camp and retreat facility in a beautiful forested setting along Warriors Mark Run.

All 2005 Keystone Project students participated in the day’s activities beginning with a riparian buffer planting involving Boy Scout Troop #20 from Tyrone, their parents, Park Forest School students and interested watershed residents. More than 250 trees and shrubs donated by Centre County Conservation District were planted along 500 feet of the stream. Eighteen Scouts received instruction in proper tree planting methods and the environmental value of riparian buffers.

CWS students demonstrated fish censusing by electrofishing. They captured a good number of both wild and stocked trout. Participants got their hands wet sorting and identifying macroinvertebrates and learning how the organisms are useful indicators of watershed health.

A summary of the water well monitoring and well owner survey results were presented, as was a model of pollutant runoff in Warriors Mark Run.

The final activity was a guided tour of Evergreen Farms by Mr. Wayne Harpster and his son Andy who is responsible for nutrient management and other environmental aspects of the largest dairy in Pennsylvania. The hosts described water recycling and reuse five times in the milkhouse and cattle exclusion fencing of all stream frontage on their farm as examples of effective watershed stewardship practices.

Spring 2005 Commencement

UNDERGRADUATES
Forest Science
Ralph Campbell, Craig Curry, Adam Davis, David Duell, Carson Engelskirger, Eric Fritzinger, Matthew Golden Nathan Herring, Brian Kieffer, Robert Lindemuth, William Mentecky, Joshua Ongley, James Pastore, Scott Rogers, Thomas Stahl, Stephen Stipkovits, Amanda Subjin, Scott Ward, Abigail Zarichansky

Wildlife and Fisheries Science
William Bering, Christine Camacho, Andrew Fedor, Jason Kuzma, Michael Lohr, Jennifer Loveless, Alicia McCormick, Virginia Mengel, Shawn Miller, Sarah Rumbaugh, Matthew Schavnis, Joshua Schrecengost, Susan Smith, Mark Spangler, Michael Stafford, Jeremy Stempka, Amy Stover, William Tegyi, Rebecca Thomas, Carolyn Thyren, Rachael Urbanek, Andrew Weber, Elise Winterberger, Shawn Zaffino, Helen Zimmerman

Wood Products
Brett Barry, Erich Doebler, Austin Graybill, Levi Neimond, Jonathan Russ, Jared Seitz, Alan Stewart

GRADUATES
Forest Resources
William Clark, Ph.D.; Sudipta Dasmohapatra, Ph.D.;
Timothy Hicks, M.F.R.; Gary Micsky, M.Agr.;
Coreen Ripp, M.S.; Stephen Signell, M.S.

Wildlife and Fisheries Science
Kristen Saacke-Blunk, M.F.R.; Kirk Patten, M.S.

Ecology
Karen Sughrue, Ph.D.

Environmental Pollution Control
Christa Stanton, M.EPC

Penn State | College of Agricultural Sciences | School of Forest Resources