CHRISTOPHER R. DOLANC 

Education:

   PhD, Ecology, University of California, Davis (2011)

   MS, Botany, Miami University (2002)

   BS, Biology, Missouri State University (1999)

   BM, Music Performance, Missouri State University (1996)

 

Positions Held:

   2014 - present           Assistant Professor, Mercyhurst University

   2013 - 2014                Adjunct Instructor, Folsolm Lake College

   2012 - 2014                Post-doctoral Researcher, UC Davis &  U.

                                               Montana

   2009 - 2012                Graduate Research Assistant, UC-Davis

   2005 - 2010                Graduate Teaching Assistant, UC-Davis

   2002 - 2005                Research Ecologist/Botanist, Forest Service

   2001 - 2002                Lecturer, Miami University

   1999 - 2002                Graduate Teaching Assistant, Miami U.

 

Curriculum Vitae

Research

My research interests are in plant population and community ecology, dendrochronology, historical ecology, climate change and management impacts on vegetation. I am particularly interested in the growth and distribution of trees and how they respond to climate and management.

 

Current and Recently Completed Projects:

Currently, I am researching how the structure and composition of forests of the Sierra Nevada, California (USA) have changed over the last several decades and the causes of those changes. For my dissertation research, I resampled historical forest plots in subalpine forests and compared modern and historical conditions. I also used tree cores to examine the relationship between growth and climate for several subalpine conifer species across a broad range of topography. I also carried out research in China, on forest succession and the growth-climate relationship of trees in high elevations of the Sichuan province.

 

Past Projects:

For the Kings River Experimental Watershed (KREW), I designed and implemented a vegetation survey to address forest management impacts on riparian vs. upland forest communities of the southern Sierra Nevada. My Master's research assessed the feasibility of an alternative forestry system in Peruvian lowland tropical rain forest.

Mailing Address:

   Mercyhurst University

   Biology Department

   501 E. 38th Street

   Erie, PA 16546