Natural Resources and the Environment News

Microbial Ecologist Honored with CAREER Award

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently recognized Jessica Ernakovich, assistant professor of natural resources and the environment, with a prestigious $1.1 million CAREER award to continue her work building a research, teaching and outreach program focused on soil microbes in the Arctic’s permafrost. Ernakovich will study how the microbes behave as the permafrost thaws and how the rate of...

In the Face of a Storm: Bend or Resist?

Bill McDowell, professor of environmental science. In a new study of the ecological impacts of tropical cyclones, an international research team including researchers from UNH addresses a question that people have asked for centuries: When confronted by a storm, is it better to be resistant like an oak or resilient like a willow? The findings, published in the journal Science Advances, could help...

Pine Pests

UNH researchers have discovered the southern pine beetle, one of the most damaging tree-dwelling insects in the Southeast, in forests in Maine and New Hampshire. The southern pine beetle has never been seen this far north and has forestry experts concerned, specifically about the unique pitch pine barrens found throughout New England. “Warmer winter temperatures make it easier for beetles to...