Featured Scientist


Dr. Elizabeth Hane

In one of her experiments at the HBEF, Dr. Elizabeth Hane cleared large trees from several plots in the forest to help her study seedling growth. "Early one morning I went out to my experimental plots and saw a female moose and her calf leaving the plot just as I got there. When I looked down, I found that the straws I used to mark the seedlings were scattered everywhere. It became clear that they had spent the night sleeping in one of my seedling plots! You never know what kinds of disturbance your experiments are going to have," she explains.

Elizabeth conducted research for her Ph.D. at the HBEF, though she did not regularly encounter troublesome moose. However, it was precisely this interest in forests - and the organisms that live within them - that eventually drew Elizabeth to ecological research.

As she recalls, "I've always loved science, for as long as I can remember. I loved using a picture key to identify trees and flowers, even in elementary school. I got interested in astronomy when I was in high school, and started out studying astrophysics when I was in college at Rice University. It wasn't until my 3rd year in college that I found my true love, though - forest ecology. Once I found out that I could spend my time outside asking and answering questions about trees and forest systems, I was hooked! I went to graduate school after that at Brown University, and got a Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology. Now I work as a post-doctoral associate at the University of Vermont, at the Proctor Maple Research Center, doing research on sugar maple health."

In her graduate and current research at the HBEF, Elizabeth studies what factors influence the abundance of sugar maples. She wants to know if there are more or less sugar maples present at the HBEF now than in the past, and is interested in determining the cause of these changes. "Because Hubbard Brook has long-term data, we've been able to show that the number of maple seedlings and saplings has declined over time. So one of the things I'm researching is to see how competition with other species affects sugar maple seedling survival. In experimental plots, I remove other species to see if the sugar maples do better when they don't have to compete for light, water or nutrients. What I've found is that lots of factors seem to affect sugar maple health: competition, disease, herbivory, land-use history, and soil condition," she explains.

She continues, "One of the most interesting things I've learned is that indirect factors can be just as important as the obvious ones. The beech trees that are in the forest are being affected by a disease (beech bark disease) and one of the effects of this disease is that there are a lot of small beech trees in the understory of the forest. So the sugar maples are getting shaded out by this increase in beech saplings, and are being affected by a disease that doesn't actually strike them. This was a surprising result, and very exciting to me."

As with many HBEF scientists, Elizabeth's research interests and job result in an interesting and variable schedule. "In the summer field season, I spend a lot of time outside, usually on my hands and knees counting and marking seedlings, applying treatments, or taking soil samples. Often it is important to get all the samples in the same day, so I have to spend very long days outside. In the winter, things are slower, and I spend a lot of time writing articles, talking to other people, or reading articles about what other researchers are doing. I also teach classes to college freshmen, so I spend time preparing lectures and labs. I would love to find research to do outside in the winter so I didn't have to be inside all the time! But most of the seedlings and saplings I study are dormant under the snow during the winter."

A career in science?

When we asked Elizabeth if she had any thoughts about what it takes to have a career in science, she remarked, "I would suggest taking as many science and math classes as you can, and try to find out what interests you most. But don't forget that science isn't just about discovering things; you also have to communicate what you find to other people. So it's important to be able to write and speak clearly. Also, take advantage of summer field programs when you are in college. I spent one summer studying birds in Missouri when I was an undergraduate, and quickly learned that early morning birding was not for me!" You may contact Dr. Hane at: ehane@zoo.uvm.edu


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