Dr. Paul Drewa
Dr. Paul Drewa and his graduate students continue studying the deciduous forests at the farm. Dr. Drewa is an ecologist who relies on numerous resources at the farm for research and education purposes. Graduate students Sheryl Petersen and Sandra Rutter are currently working under him. Dr. Drewa’s research lab, located at the Main Barn, is where he and his students use a wide variety of equipment to analyze soil samples as well as plant material. In addition, field equipment is conveniently stored in the lab and, thus, is readily available for research in natural settings that is conducted not only at the farm, but also at other numerous sites all over Ohio.
Natural areas at the farm serve as important study sites for Dr. Drewa’s research concerning the ecology of temperate deciduous forests. A two-year research study was initiated in summer 2006, to examine relationships between tree canopy adults and patterns of seed dispersal and seedling recruitment in fragmented forests. The main objective of the study was to evaluate seed abundance and seedling dynamics of beech and sugar maple under conspecific and heterospecific canopy adults. Similar studies are being conducted in other forested sites across northeast Ohio in partnership with Cuyahoga Valley National Park and Holden Arboretum.
Dr. Drewa and his students are also studying the role of lightning-initiated fires on native plantspecies in oak-hickory forests and oak barrens of southern Ohio in cooperation with The Nature Conservancy. All of these studies will be complemented with environmentally controlled experiments by using the greenhouse facilities at the farm.