Robert McDonald

Harvard University
Harvard Forest

Petersham, MA
(978) 724-3302 ext. 282 (voice)
(978) 724-3595 (fax)
rimcdon@fas.harvard.edu

Research Themes

Forest fragmentation and its effects; Forest conservation at broad spatial scales; land-use planning; environmental economics and sustainable development.

Education

Doctor of Philosophy, May 2004
University Program in Ecology
The Graduate School
Duke University, Durham, NC
Dissertation: Forest fragmentation and forest response in the North Carolina Piedmont.
Concentration: Carbon sequestration, forest conservation, land-use change, landscape ecology, remote sensing.
Awards: Aleane Webb Fellowship for excellence in Duke University Doctoral Research, 2003; NASA-MSU Travel Grant, International Association of Landscape Ecology Annual Meeting, 2002; National Science Foundation Pre-Doctoral Research Fellowship, 2001-2004; James B. Duke Fellowship for Academic Excellence, 2000; Bill and Melinda Gates Fellowship for Interdisciplinary Research, 2000.
Professional affiliations: Ecological Society of America, Society for Conservation Biology, International Association of Landscape Ecology.

Bachelor of Science, cum laude, June 2000
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Major: Biology Minor: Chemistry.
Honors thesis: Increased dominance by Acer rubrum and the decline of the Quercus-Carya climax in the North Carolina Piedmont.
Honors: J.N. Couch Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research, 2000; F.J. LeClair Award for Excellence in Botanical Research, 2000; Phi Beta Kappa, 1999; Order of the Golden Key, 1999.

Professional Experience

Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Forest, Harvard University
Lead a research project examining the landscape-scale effects of forest harvesting on biodiversity and invasive species spread in western Massachusetts. Designed a research protocol to meet the diverse needs of the scientists involved with the project that addressed the heterogeneity of forest harvesting practices in the state. Implemented the protocol, managing a crew of five and insuring that adequate resources and logistical support were available. Data analysis will begin once this summer’s field season is over. Summer 2004- Present.

Christine Mirzayan Science Policy Intern, Board of Agriculture and Natural Resources, National Academy of Sciences
Synthesized research on the effects of land-use change, nitrogen deposition, and carbon fertilization on terrestrial carbon sequestration. Designed a workshop to explore the implications of limited scientific knowledge of these effects to the development of national carbon inventories, and outlined further research to be funded. Edited manuscripts on feasibility of biocontrol of genetically modified organisms. Negotiated a future study of the US Forest Service fire management plan by the National Academies. Summer 2003

Triangle Research Initiative Research Associate, Duke University
Compiled and organized a geospatial database of information relevant to a broad array of economists, land-use planners, and ecologists who do research in the Raleigh-Durham metropolitan area. Converted all data layers to a common geographic projection, and generated metadata where needed. Classified a time-series of Thematic Mapper images for use by a variety of researchers. 2000-2003

Duke Forest Data Archivist, University of North Carolina
Served as the archivist for all long-term forestry data from the Duke Forest, an active research site since 1938. Filled in data gaps, and converted records to a common electronic format. Designed SAS programs to automate further updates of the database and to provide common analysis products in a timely fashion. 1998-2000

Forest Ecology Research Assistant, Hampshire College
Mapped locations of old growth-forests in Massachusetts, and prepared an extensive bibliography and course materials for a class on the subject. Studied decomposition rates in compost piles under different conditions. 1997-1998

Teaching Experience

Graduate-Level Teaching Assistant, Duke University
Landscape Ecology: Emphasis on the role of spatial heterogeneity in terrestrial systems: its detection and description, agents of pattern formation, landscape dynamics and models, and the implications of heterogeneity for populations, communities, and ecosystems.
Spatial Analysis in Ecology: Techniques for interpreting spatial data, including scaling techniques, pattern analysis, indices of patchiness (adjacency, contagion), and inferential methods (cross-correlation, permutation procedures).
Multivariate Analysis in Community and Landscape Ecology: Statistical methods for interpreting multivariate ecological datasets, with an emphasis on using modern Unix and PC-based statistical software.

Guest lecturer, Harvard University
Occasional seminars given by request of faculty in the Graduate School of Design (Richard Forman, PAES Professor of Advanced Environmental Studies in Landscape Ecology) and Harvard Engineering & Applied Science (Sumeeta Srinivasan, Lecturer on Engineering Sciences). Topics include the effects of urbanization on ecological systems, and modeling species habitat using GIS systems.

Student mentor, Harvard University
Mentored four undergraduates participating in Harvard Forest’s Research Experience for Undergraduate program, helping them perform innovative scientific research, conduct an analysis of their choosing, and present their results at a professional seminar. One of these undergraduates has continued to collaborate, and went on to expand the analysis into an honors thesis at her university.

Professional Activities

Memberships: American Association for the Advancement of Science, Ecological Society of America, International Association of Landscape Ecology, Society for Conservation Biology
Reviewer for Biological Conservation, Ecography, Ecological Applications, Ecological Modeling, Journal of Vegetation Science, Landscape Ecology.
Active participation in NSF’s LTER site at Harvard Forest
Invited participant in an EPA-funded Workshop on Scaling and Uncertainty Analysis in Ecological Studies http://leml.asu.edu/jingle/misc/2002_ScalingWksp_prog.pdf
Invited participant in an NSF-funded Workshop on Journalists/Scientists Science Communications and the News Media http://environmentwriter.org/resources/reports/November03_workshop.htm
Gained extensive field experience on community ecology studies in Big Bend National Park (TX), Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park (CA), and Everglades National Park (FL). Led multiple research crews working on resurveying a network of long-term forest research plots in the Duke Forest (NC). 1997-2003.

Selected Publications

McDonald, R.I., and D.L. Urban. 2006. Spatially varying rules of landscape change: lessons from a case study. Landscape and Urban Planning 74(1): 7-20

Urban, D. L., R. I. McDonald, E. S. Minor, and E. A. Treml. In press. Causes and consequences of land use change in the North Carolina Piedmont. In J. Wu, B. Jones, H. Li, and O.L. Loucks (eds.). Scaling and Uncertainty Analysis in Ecological Studies: Methods and Applications, Columbia University Press, New York.

McDonald, R. I., and D. L. Urban. In press. Forest Edges and Forest Composition in the North Carolina Piedmont. Biological Invasions.

Mansfield, C., S. Pattanayak, W. McDow, R. I. McDonald, and P. N. Halpin In press. Shades of green: Measuring the value of urban forests in the housing market. Journal of Forest Economics

McDonald, R.I., M. McKnight, D. Weiss, E. Selig, M. O'Connor, C. Violin, and A. Moody. 2005. Species compositional similarity and ecoregions: Do ecoregion boundaries represent zones of high species turnover? Biological Conservation 126: 24-40

McDonald, R. I., and D. L. Urban. 2004. Forest edges and tree growth rates in the North Carolina Piedmont. Ecology 85(8): 2258-2266

Taverna, K., D.L. Urban, and R.I. McDonald. 2004. Modeling landscape vegetation pattern in response to historic land-use: A hypothesis-driven approach for the North Carolina Piedmont. Landscape Ecology 20: 689-702

McDonald, R. I., R. K. Peet, and D. L. Urban. 2003. Spatial pattern of oak regeneration limitation in a complex forest environment. Journal of Vegetation Science 14:441-450.

McDonald, R. I., R. K. Peet, and D. L. Urban. 2002. Environmental correlates of oak decline and red maple increase in the North Carolina Piedmont. Castanea 67:84-95.

Selected Presentations

McDonald, R. I. 2005. Urban sprawl and its effects on forest harvesting and forest processes. Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook (Invited talk with honorarium).

McDonald, R. I. 2005. Species compositional similarity and ecoregions. Ecological Society of America, Montreal.

McDonald, R.I. 2005. Causes and Consequences of Forest Fragmentation in the North Carolina Piedmont. International Urban-Rural Interfaces Conference, Atlanta.

McDonald, R. I. 2004. Conservation implications of Forest Fragmentation in the North Carolina Piedmont. Woods Hole Research Center, Woods Hole, MA (Invited talk).

McDonald, R. I. 2004. The geography of Forest Fragmentation in the North Carolina Piedmont. Boston University Geography Department Seminar Series, Boston (Invited talk).

McDonald, R.I., P.N. Halpin, and D.L. Urban. 2004. Observing succession from space: a case study from the North Carolina Piedmont. International Association of Landscape Ecology, US Chapter, Las Vegas.

McDonald, Robert and D.L. Urban. 2003. Effects of Forest Edges on Woody Plant Composition in the North Carolina Piedmont: A Landscape Approach. Society for Conservation Biology, Duluth.

McDonald, Robert and D.L. Urban. 2003. Effects of Forest Edges on Plant Growth Rates. Ecological Society of America, Savannah.

McDonald, R.I., D.L. Urban, and P.N. Halpin. 2002. Identification of changes in species composition from remote sensing imagery. International Association of Landscape Ecology, US Chapter, Lincoln.

McDonald, R. I., R.K. Peet, and D. L. Urban. 2001. Landscape Impacts on Oak Decline and Red Maple Increase. International Association of Landscape Ecology, US Chapter, Tempe.

Forthcoming Manuscripts

McDonald, R.I., P.N. Halpin, and D.L. Urban. In review. Determination of successional trends from remote sensing imagery. Journal of Applied Vegetation Science.

McDonald, R.I., M.S. Bank, D.B. Kittredge, G. Motzkin, and D.R. Foster. In review. Forest Harvesting and Deforestation Relationships over Two Decades in Massachusetts. Forest Ecology and Management.

Additional Information

Skilled in the use of ESRI GIS products, ERDAS IMAGINE, Unix operating systems, Splus, R, SAS, Excel, PowerPoint, and EndNote. Competent in FORTRAN, C, Visual Basic, and HTML.

Interested in international environmental and human rights law, and the ways in which the removal of externalities at a global level reduces environmental damage.

Understands basic conversational Spanish and French.

Maintains a personal weblog on politics, environmentalism, and many other topics: http://www.hamlets_dreams.blogs.com

Writes short stories and poetry, including a story published online at Badosa.com.

Knowledgeable in epistemology and the history of science.