John D. Aber
Research
Most of my research is now in the area of sustainable ecosystem management, applying concepts learned over 30 years in the study of native forest ecosystems to managed woodlots and pastures. One active project focuses on the nutrient and energy balances of the UNH’s first-in-the-nation Organic Dairy Research Farm. In its first year, this project has involved 14 undergraduates and two graduate students in the measurement and analysis of forest productivity in the woodlands on the Farm, nutrient balances and losses to groundwater, and potential alternative energy sources.
I also teach and engage undergraduates in the broader area of alternative energy strategies with applications to New Hampshire’s energy system, and oversee a USDA Forest Service-sponsored research program on ecosystem health in the northeast.
Graduate Students
Alumni :: 2000-present
| David Bryant | May 2002 | Ph.D. |
| Benjamin Ellis (co-chair) | December 2001 | Ph.D. |
| William Salas (co-chair) | May 2001 | Ph.D. |
| Scott Ollinger | May 2000 | Ph.D. |
| Marie-Louise Smith | May 2000 | M.S. |
Teaching Responsibilities
- NR 400: Perspectives in Natural Resoruces
- NR 403: Introduction to Environmental Sciences
- NR 444H: Your Energy Future
- NR 730/830: Terrestrial Ecosystems
- NR 791/792: Project in Environmental Science 1 & 2
Selected Publications
- Aber, J.D., T. Kelly and B. Mallory (eds.). In Press. The Sustainable Learning Community: One University's Journey to the Future. University Press of England
- Foster, D.R. and J.D. Aber (eds.). 2004. Forests in Time: The Environmental Consequences of 1000 Years of Change in New England. Yale University Press, New Haven. 477pp.
- Aber, J.D. 2001and J.M. Jelilo. 2001. Terrestrial Ecosystems (2nd Ed.) Academic Press. 556pp.
- Aber, J.D. and A.H. Magill. 2004. Chronic Nitrogen Additions at the Harvard Forest: The First Fifteen Years of a Nitrogen Saturation Experiment. Forest Ecology and Management 196:1-6
- Magill,A.H., J.D. Aber, W. Currie, K.J. Nadelhoffer, M.E. Martin, W.H. McDowell, J.M. Melillo and P. Steudler. 2004. Ecosystem Response to 15 years of Chronic Nitrogen Additions at the Harvard Forest LTER, Massachusetts, USA. Forest Ecology and Management 196:7-28
- Galloway, J.N., J.D. Aber, J.W. Erisman, S.P. Seitzinger, R.H. Howarth, E.B. Cowling and B.J. Cosby. 2003. The Nitrogen Cascade. Bioscience 53:341-356
- Aber, J.D., C.L. Goodale, S.V. Ollinger, M.-L. Smith, A.H. Magill, M.E. Martin, J.L. Stoddard. 2003. Is nitrogen altering the nitrogen status of northeastern forests? BioScience 53:375-390
- Aber, J.D., S.V. Ollinger, C.T. Driscoll, G.E. Likens, R.T. Holmes, R.J. Freuder, and C.L. Goodale 2002. Inorganic N losses from a forested ecosystem in response to physical, chemical, biotic and climatic perturbations. Ecosystems 5:648-658
- Aber, J.D. 2001. Reaching Scientific Consensus and Informing Public Policy. BioScience 51:699
- Aber, J.D.., W.H. McDowell, K.J. Nadelhoffer, A. Magill, G. Berntson, M. Kamakea, S.G. McNulty, W. Currie, L. Rustad and I. Fernandez. 1998. Nitrogen saturation in temperate forest ecosystems: hypotheses revisited. BioScience 48:921-934
Education
- 1976 Ph.D. Yale University, Department of Forestry and Environmental Studies
- 1973 M.F.S. Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies
- 1971 B.S. Computer Science, Yale College, Department of Engineering and Applied Science
Selected Service Activities
- U.S. National Assessment: The Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change Forest Sector - Co-Chair (1998-2001)
- Program Review Panel, Sustainable Forest Management Program, Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research, Sweden (May, 2000)
- National Research Council Committee on the Future of Biosphere Dynamics (2002)
- NSF-IGERT Site Review - University of Michigan Biological Research Station (2002)
- National Research Council - Report Review - "Funding Smithsonian Research" (2002)
- National Research Council Committee on NEON - A National Ecological Observation Network (2003)
- National Science Foundation – Panel discussant - Advisory Comm. for Environmental Research and Education (2004)
- National Research Council Committee on “The Geological Record of Ecological Dynamics” (2002-2005)
- Lund University, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Thesis Opponent (March, 2006)
- National Ecological Observing Network (NEON) – Board of Directors (2006-8)
