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PhD Program
Brian Keel
bgjkeel@aol.com
Doctoral Candidate
Environmental Studies
Entered the program in June 1999
Shushan, New York
Brian is a Forester with the United States Forest Service and has worked in Green Mountain National Forest (GMNF) since 1987. Brian is the monitoring and research coordinator for natural resources, and the Vermont monitoring cooperative field coordinator for Lye Brook Wilderness. Although GMNF personnel are not directly involved in research, they are involved in monitoring. There are several soil, air and water quality monitoring sites located in GMNF, including several within Lye Brook Wilderness that are used by the State of Vermont, the Forest Service Research Branch, and non-governmental organizations, as well as by GMNF personnel. As the monitoring and research coordinator, Brian reviews proposed new research projects for compliance with Forest Service standards and guidelines for use of GMNF lands for research purposes. Individuals and organizations who would like to use Green Mountain National Forest for research projects should contact Brian at bkeel@fs.fed.us, or 802.362.2307 ex 214.
Brian and his supervisor are presently working on a proposal for a long-term (50+ years) monitoring project designed to characterize and quantify temporal changes in vascular plant diversity and abundance, tree health and nutrient status, critical soil nutrients, and diversity and abundance of macro-invertebrates caused by acid deposition, climate change, invasive species, and changes in air quality. The project’s permanent plots are designed for the addition of other environmental parameters that require monitoring to keep track of changes to the forest environment. Individuals and organizations who would like to set up long-term monitoring of an environmental parameter within their specialized field should contact Brian at the above Forest Service e-mail or phone number.
Among his other duties are the management of the timber stand improvement and reforestation program, and forest inventory. Brian will be defending his dissertation in late winter 2007. Brian works on “assisted migration,” which refers to the technique of ensuring the long-term maintenance of plant populations across the landscape in the face of climate change and habitat fragmentation. As part of his dissertation he is constructing a theoretical framework of the concept of assisted migration. His dissertation research project focused on plant migration driven by rapid climate change and the problems of plant dispersal and colonization in a fragmented landscape, with a specialization in orchid conservation.
As part of his dissertation project Brian has completed a photoperiod experiment to determine if a change in photoperiod will hinder or enhance survival as orchids migrate north in a changing climate. Brian’s other research interests include, invasive species ecology and control, phenology of orchid flowering and the services of their pollinators as affected by rapid climate change, and climate change ecology.
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