The magazine of the SUNY

COLLEGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & FORESTRY

INSIDE E◆S◆FINSIDE E◆S◆FFall-Winter 1998Fall-Winter 1998

In This IssueINSIDE ESF is published fourtimes each year for alumniand friends of the SUNYCollege of EnvironmentalScience and Forestry.

SUNY-ESF

1 Forestry Drive

Syracuse, NY 13210-2778

President: Ross S. Whaley

Vice President for Administration:

Connie S. Webb

Editor and Designer: Jeri Lynn Smith,

Director of News and Publications

Photo Credits: page 3, Ben Dall; page 4,

provided by Larry VanDruff, Stevie

Famulari (Pataki); page 5, Kannan

Amr; page 6, Kannan Amr, illustra-

tion courtesy of Peter Grosshauser;

page 7, Stevie Famulari; page 8, Bill

Johnson; pages 9-10, Ben Dall;

page␣ 11, Charles Maynard; page 12,

courtesy of United University

Professions; page␣ 13, Stevie

Famulari.

Additional Assistance: Kathleen A.

Ciereck, Geraldine C. Trendell

Office of News & Publications

122 Bray Hall

315-470-6644

Campus Update 4VanDruff Has ‘Wild Adventure’ In NYC

Governor Announces Capital Plan At ESF

APA Chief Named To ESF Trustees

Jahn Lab Appeal Tops $1.1 Million

Whaley To Leave Post As President

Barrier-Free Trail Opens At Pack Forest

New Book Teaches Kids Counting

Storm Damages Campus Facilities 7A killer storm blowing through Central New Yorkdamages college greenhouses.

An Environment For Change 8New research in ESF’s Jahn Laboratory looks atenvironmental changes and analyzes their effects.

Saving The Stately American Chestnut 11Two ESF professors hope to discover the key to helpbring back this favored species.

Campus Profile: The Derecho 13The U.S. Forest Service’s Gordon Heisler takes alittle different look at the Labor Day storm.

On The CoverBased on architect’s renderings, staffers in ‘theCave,’ ESF’s Computer Aided Visualization (CAV)Laboratory in Marshall Hall produced our coverartwork of a renovated Baker Laboratory. Seepage 4 for additional information on the proposedrenovation.

The State University of New York College of Environmental Science andForestry offers a diverse range of accredited programs and degree options inchemistry, construction management and wood products engineering, envi-ronmental and forest biology, environmental resources and forest engineer-ing, environmental studies, forest resources management, forest technology,landscape architecture, and paper science and engineering.

The College’s mission is to be a world leader in instruction, research, andpublic service related to: understanding the structure and function of theworld’s ecosystems; developing, managing, and using renewable naturalresources; improving outdoor environments ranging from wilderness, tomanaged forests, to urban landscapes; and maintaining and enhancingbiological diversity, environmental quality, and resource options. As such,ESF has maintained its unique status within SUNY’s 64-school system as oneof only four specialized colleges and one of only eight doctoral-grantinginstitutions.

ESF takes affirmative action to provide equal opportunity for all peopleand to build a campus community that reflects a wealth of diversity.Printed on recycled paper.

1998 Fall-Winter INSIDE ESF 3

Campus Views

Preparation For College Teaching At ESF

by Jack Tessier

ESF is an institution known for excellence in scien-tific inquiry. Along with improving myself in this area,I am attending ESF in preparation to be a collegeprofessor. Although ESF may not be as well known forprograms in education, multiple opportunities exist todevelop skills and gain insights in the art and science ofuniversity teaching and learning.

My family has more than its share of teachers and mypersonal interest in teaching was developed throughscouting activities and tutoring opportunities in highschool and college. Combining the desire to teach witha deep appreciation for the natural world leads directlyto ESF, and my goal of being a college professor.

My first orientation experience upon arriving at ESFwas the Colloquium on Teaching and Learning. This isa training and information session for beginning gradu-ate assistants (GAs). Participants are given ample op-portunity to ask questions of various people from theESF community. Most importantly, I met experiencedGAs who helped me with the many details of beginningboth an academic program and a GA experience. I alsomet other incoming GAs, with whom I still hold deepfriendships that have helped me greatly in multiplefacets of my ESF experience. The colloquium continuesto be a lasting memory and reminder of ESF’s commit-ment to teaching and learning.

This fall I had the opportunity to serve as a teachingfellow for the colloquium, to “give back” what I learnedto the campus community and assist incoming GAs theway I was helped. If teaching others about what weknow is important to our way of life, then improving theway we prepare teachers is even more critical. Thus, thecolloquium completes the circle and creates a positivefeedback loop.

An academic influence on my preparations has beenthe Seminar on College Teaching (FOR/EFB 797). Theseminar helped me analyze components and synthe-size ideas about approaches to collegiate teaching andlearning. Particularly of value was the journal I keptthroughout the course. It helped me reflect on myteaching experiences and consider what was workingand what needed improvement.

Another valuable outlet is ESF Faculty Governance’ssubcommittee on instructional quality. The subcom-mittee supports educational symposia (Teaching Toolsand the Symposium on Teaching, Learning, and Tech-

nology) and, in general, considers approaches toheighten awareness and thought surrounding instruc-tion. Although my involvement has just begun, I be-lieve the subcommittee willprovide an important av-enue to learn more aboutefforts within the educa-tional community to im-prove instruction.

Perhaps the most impor-tant component of myteacher preparation hasbeen my two years as a GAin the Faculty of Environ-mental and Forest Biology.The experience helps melearn to deal with the day-to-day problems such ascovering different topicsand working with differentprofessors with different approaches to education. MyGA experience has shown me the satisfaction of learn-ing, teaching, and giving of oneself within the overallsystem of the educational process. Everyone who as-pires to teach at the college level should have theopportunity to serve as a GA.

Lastly, observing and taking note of the approachesand methods of colleagues, mentors, and other exem-plary professors at ESF have nourished and encouragedme. Of course, there is no single best way to teach or tolearn. Observing the daily happenings at ESF has helpedme experience some of the options and encouraged meto seek out the best option for each student as much aspossible. Reactions to teaching methods might changewith time. Years could pass before the value of certainapproaches is realized, which adds to the complexity ofchoosing the appropriate teaching method.

ESF has broadened my view of the “Ivory Tower”and helped me get an up-close look at my future ineducation. The ESF community has taught me to con-sider different teaching styles—to not be closed off toany one way or too supportive of any other. The im-provement of teaching and learning is the responsibil-ity of every teacher and aspiring teacher.

Jack Tessier is a doctoral candidate and research assis-tant in plant ecology in the Faculty of Environmentaland Forest Biology.

Jack Tessier

4 INSIDE ESF Fall-Winter 1998

Campus Update

continued on next page

VanDruff Has ‘WildAdventure’ In NYC

ESF Professor Larry W. VanDruffwill appear in a Turner Broadcast-ing System production next Mayhosted by award-winning actressIsabella Rossellini.

A recognizedexpert in urbanwildlife, VanDruffspent three hoursfilming a segmenton gray squirrelsin Central Parkwith the interna-tional star. Thematerial will befeatured in theprogram Wild!LifeAdventures. Theepisode, WildCity, will focus ona host of issuesdealing with wild-life in New YorkCity.

Craig Tufts ofthe National Wild-life Federation,who is Wild Cityco-host with Ros-sellini, recom-mended VanDruff

to appear on the program.VanDruff has used the gray squir-

rel to teach population ecology andbiology in his classes here since

joining the ESF faculty in 1970. Heconducted a series of studies of graysquirrel populations with studenthelp over several years in OakwoodCemetery.

A 1980 sabbatic leave took him toWashington, D.C. to study gray squir-rels in Lafayette Park across fromthe White House. The work wasdone under the auspices of the Na-tional Park Service.

One segment of the shoot showsRossellini and VanDruff using pea-nuts to attract squirrels to the site.“It’s a great people activity,” he said.“It promotes our interaction withthe squirrels which makes us appre-ciate wildlife and our role in theenvironment.

“For the squirrels it’s not such agood activity,” he said. Human feed-ing of wildlife reduces their need toforage and the animals lose theirnatural wariness. Human foods gen-erally constitute a poor diet for ani-mals and concentrate their num-bers, which can contribute to ahigher incidence of disease.

VanDruff said he was nervousabout meeting the film star, but thatRossellini “was very gracious, awonderful person. It was a delight-ful experience.”

Governor Comes BackTo ESF To Talk AboutCapital Plan

New York Governor George Patakiwas back on the ESF campus Au-gust␣ 26 to promote his $2 billionfive-year capital plan for SUNY.

Among the projects included inthe plan is the renovation of thecollege’s Hugh P. Baker Laboratory,featured on the cover. Pataki de-tailed local capital projects, campusimprovements, and technology up-grades at ESF and the SUNY HealthScience Center at Syracuse.

In addition to the Baker renova-tion, ESF is in line to receive some$1.4 million in funding to increase

Craig Tufts, Isabella Rossellini, and Larry VanDrufftake a break from filming in Central Park.

Gov. George Pataki, third from left,with ESF trustees, left to right DanielFitts, President Ross Whaley, ThomasBurkly, Robert Moses and Heidi Busa.

1998 Fall-Winter INSIDE ESF 5

continued on next page

ESF President Ross S. Whaleyannounced he will leave his posi-tion as president effective July 1,1999. Whaley made the announce-ment at the October 23 meeting ofESF’s board of trustees.

“We are fiscally, programmati-cally, and physically strong. We havea well-qualified management teamin place…and we have developed agood working relationship with theSUNY administration and board oftrustees,” said Whaley. “It is a timewhen a new president could devotehis or her attention to an excitingfuture for ESF without the encum-brance of a long list of problems.”

Whaley plans to remain at ESFand return to teaching. He is anationally recognized expert onnatural resource management anddevelopment.

“During his more than 14 years ofleadership at ESF, President Whaleyhas established an admirable repu-tation for himself and that institu-tion,” said SUNY Chancellor JohnW. Ryan.

“The State University is indebtedto him for his loyalty, dedication,and excellence of service. He hasbrought prestige to the college andthe university during his tenure.”

Ryan said he would recommendto the SUNY board of trustees thatWhaley be named a “university pro-fessor.” That title, said Ryan, “rec-ognizes his enormous contributions

and allows him to continue his ex-emplary service to the college andthe university.”

Curtis H. Bauer ’50, chairman ofESF’s board of trustees, was namedto lead the search committee for anew president.

Whaley was appointed presidentof ESF April 1, 1984, leaving a posi-tion as director of forest economicsresearch with the U.S. Forest Ser-vice in Washington, D.C. He alsoheld teaching and administrativepositions at the University of Mas-sachusetts, Colorado State Univer-sity, and Utah State University.

During his tenure as president,Whaley oversaw both ESF’s physi-cal and programmatic expansion.Sponsored research program annualexpenditures doubled to $6.2 mil-lion in FY ’97-98. Student applica-tions to the college have risensteadily during the last 14 years.

In addition to his duties as presi-dent, Whaley has pursued an im-pressive array of public and profes-sional service activities.Ross S. Whaley

Whaley To Leave College Presidency

the college’s distance learning capa-bilities, and approximately $4 mil-lion to rehabilitate classroom, labo-ratory, and living spaces at theRanger School in Wanakena, N.Y.Funding currently allocated to theBaker rehab totals $14.8 million.

“ESF is recognized throughoutthe world for the high quality of itsacademic programs,” said PresidentRoss S. Whaley. “To continue tobuild upon our tradition of success,these programs must be supportedby advanced technology facilitiessuch as those that will be providedby the planned rehabilitation ofBaker Laboratory.”

Jahn Lab Appeal Tops$1.1 Million

A gala dinner Thursday, Octo-ber␣ 22, capped ESF’s successful Ap-peal for the Jahn Laboratory.

The Jahn Lab Appeal raised morethan $1.1 million to purchase newscientific equipment and to estab-lish student scholarships for ESF’sFaculty of Chemistry. The Edwin C.Jahn Laboratory, the first new build-ing on campus in more than 30 years,was dedicated in October 1997.

“This was a groundbreaking cam-paign for ESF,” said College Presi-dent Ross S. Whaley. “It was the

first time in our history we werecalled on to mount a substantivecampaign and, in a very short timeframe, raise more than $1 million.I’m very proud to say that—with thegenerous help of our friends andalumni—we were successful at it.”

More than 120 people attendedthe reception and dinner includingthose individuals who contributed$1,000 or more.

Alumnus Walter P. Smith, Classof ’54, made the largest contributionto the fund. Smith, of Portola Val-ley, Calif., was on hand to see theJahn Laboratory’s main teaching

6 INSIDE ESF Fall-Winter 1998

Campus Update,continued

M ost ESF professorshave authored orcontributed to books.

But none of those books weredesigned to help young childrenlearn to count. Ghost Bat in aGum Tree by Bennette Tiffault, alecturer in ESF’s writing acrossthe disciplines program, uses il-lustrations and text about endan-gered species to create a delight-ful ‘early reader’ with a messageabout our disappearing wildlife.Illustrated by Peter Grosshauser,Ghost Bat is published by FalconPublishing, Inc. of Helena, Mt.

laboratory, for organic chemistry,dedicated as the Walter P. SmithLaboratory. Smith’s donation of$200,000 also is the largest singlegift the college ever received froman alumnus.

The environmental chemistryteaching laboratory has been namedthe Niagara Mohawk Laboratorythrough a gift from the NiagaraMohawk Foundation.

The polymer and analytical chem-istry laboratory was named the Wil-liam D. Gooden Laboratory througha gift made by Edward K. Mullen ’47on behalf of The Newark Group ofCranford, N.J. Mullen is chairmanand CEO of The Newark Group, oneof the country’s largest producers ofrecycled paper and boxboard prod-ucts. The gift was made in memoryof Gooden, a1970 ESF graduate whowas Newark’s national regionalmanager at the time of his death.

The celebration dinner was co-sponsored by ESF and the ESF Col-lege Foundation Inc. R. LelandDavis, Foundation president, servedas master of ceremonies.

Pataki Appoints APAChief To ESF Trustees

The executive director of theAdirondack Park Agency was ap-pointed to the ESF board of trusteesby Governor George Pataki.

Daniel T. Fitts of Lake Placid hasworked with the Adirondack ParkAgency since 1987. He was supervi-sor of administrative services beforetaking over as executive director inJanuary 1995. Before joining theagency, he was employed with stateSen. Ronald B. Stafford, R-Warren,for seven years, first as a legislativeaide and then as Stafford’s legisla-tive director.

Fitts is a native of Rouses Point inClinton County. He earned hisbachelor’s degree in environmentalscience from SUNY Plattsburgh in1976. He earned a master’s degreethat was issued jointly by ESF andSyracuse University in 1980. Thefocus of his graduate study was lawand policy administration, resourcemanagement, and land use planning.

Barrier-Free TrailOpens At Pack Forest

After seven years of hard work,the barrier-free Grandmother’s TreeNature Trail at ESF’s Pack Forest inWarrensburg is complete.

A log-cutting ceremony openedthe trail June 13. The ceremony wasco-sponsored by the GreaterAdirondack Resource Conservationand Development (RC&D) Counciland ESF.

“Creation of the barrier-free na-ture trail is a real plus for theWarrensburg-Lake George commu-nities,” said Richard A. Schwab,ESF’s director of forest properties.“It is the only handicapped-acces-sible trail in the southeastAdirondacks that is located in anold-growth forest environment.”

According to RC&D PresidentJohn A. Rieger, “The completion ofthis trail represents the culminationof years of perseverance by manydedicated people. The public andprivate sectors pulled together tomake it happen.”

1998 Fall-Winter INSIDE ESF 7

The college was among a handfulof locations in Syracuse that did notlose power and repairs began al-most immediately. Physical Plantsupervisors and work crews arrivedas early as 2 a.m. along with collegeadministrators, and contractors wereworking by mid-day.

The workers had help. About 25ESF students arrived on campusthroughout the afternoon, individu-ally and in groups, to volunteer theirservices in the clean-up effort.

Senior Sarah Gilbert, armed withprotective gloves and a trash canprovided by Physical Plant, spentmost of the day picking up glassfrom the Quad. “After all,” she said,“it’s our campus, too. We have a lotof pride in it.”

ESF faculty and staff also were atwork in the larger community help-

by Jeri Lynn Smith

The U.S. Weather Service calledit a derecho (de-RAY-cho)—a squallline of thunderstorms packingstraight-line winds with a punch.

The storm, with gusts up to 115miles per hour, killed two people atthe New York State Fairgrounds andleft more than 140,000 individualswithout power—some for more thana week. The winds devastated thou-sands of trees, homes, and busi-nesses as they blew through CentralNew York during the early morninghours of September 7.

Windows in the eight green-houses on top of Illick Hall wereshattered, embedding shards of glassin many of the plants and sendingglass raining down onto the Quadand walkways across campus. “One(greenhouse) frame is substantiallybent and will have to be recon-structed,” said ESF President RossS. Whaley.

All academic buildings sustainedvarying degrees of roof damage. Sev-eral lost some windows and suf-fered water damage to walls, floors,or equipment. ESF lost almost twodozen trees on the Syracuse campusand 60 more at the Experiment Sta-tion on Lafayette Road.

“It was a disaster area,” saidHoward Bruse, supervisor ofgrounds. “I walked around campusand I couldn’t believe it.”

ESF will receive $200,000 inemergency repair monies from theState University Construction Fund,said Brian Boothroyd, facilities pro-gram coordinator, to cover repairsassociated with the storm.

Labor Day Storm Damages Greenhouses,Other Campus Facilities

ing repair the damage done by thestorm. The college’s extension of-fice fielded hundreds of questionsfrom individual homeowners in theweeks following Labor Day.

A number of faculty members areparticipating with area officials in acommunity-wide dialog on newlandscaping for Syracuse, and sev-eral have joined forces with indi-vidual groups and organizations,such as the DEC, to educate peopleon how to choose the right tree forthe right site when replanting.

“You hear about disasters all overthe world,” said Extension Special-ist Kim Adams. “This one took placeright in our own backyard. We haveto be out there and be visible. Wehave to help.”

Smith is director of News and Pub-lications at ESF.

The most severely damaged greenhouse suffered structural damage.

For a different view of the storm and its effects, turn to page 13.

8 INSIDE ESF Fall-Winter 1998

At its most benign, the biochemical phenomenonknown as red tide can blight a vacation at the beach. Atits worst, it can kill people and wreak havoc on shell-fisheries.

Why do tiny organisms in the sea produce a poisonpotent enough to kill human beings? The question hasintrigued Dr. Gregory L. Boyer for 25 years.

“It didn’t seem to make sense that little algae floatingout in the middle of the ocean would make a toxin thatwould kill humans,” he said. “It’s not an easy moleculeto make. The organisms have invested a lot of energy inmaking these things. So there’s got to be a reason for it.”

In the pristine confines of ESF’s new high-techEdwin C. Jahn Laboratory, Boyer is searching for thedriving force behind certain harmful algal blooms knownas red tide.

His work could not have been done in Hugh P. BakerLaboratory, chemistry’s former home. The buildingwas simply too old and—from a scientist’s point ofview—too contaminated for such exacting work. Therewas enough trace metal in the air to raise questionsabout the results of experiments that involved preciseamounts of the same substances.

“So Jahn Lab has been a real boon in that regard,”Boyer said. “We now have a clean environment wherewe can work on this stuff.”

Boyer was one of the first faculty members to moveinto the new building, which opened in October 1997.Graduate students have been at work in Jahn for a yearand undergraduates are taking classes there this fall.

The building provides ESF’s faculty members andvisiting researchers with clean, efficient, modernfacilities.

“Things are certainly easier to do here,” said Dr. JohnP. Hassett, chair of the Faculty of Chemistry. “There ismuch better ventilation, much better power. The air iscleaner, there’s not as much dirt around. The atmo-sphere is controlled and steady. And not only are thepeople more comfortable, the instruments like it, too.”

Heat and high humidity can interfere with the opera-tion of advanced analytical instruments, such as gaschromatographs. Summers in Baker were “difficult,”Hassett said.

Boyer is one of several ESF chemists whose work isclosely tied to observing changes in the environmentand analyzing their effects. Dr. David J. Kieber is study-ing the way changes in the spectrum and intensity ofsunlight affect photochemical processes. In particular,he focuses on the way changes in the amount of ozonein the atmosphere affect water chemistry. Dr. TheodoreS. Dibble’s work centers on air pollution, using lasersand supercomputers to investigate the breakdown oforganic compounds.

The work is timely. Ten months into 1998, the year’saverage temperature ranked as the third warmest on

AnAnAnAnAnEnvironmentEnvironmentEnvironmentEnvironmentEnvironmentfor Changefor Changefor Changefor Changefor Changei ni ni ni ni n AAAAA C h a n g i n gC h a n g i n gC h a n g i n gC h a n g i n gC h a n g i n gE n v i r o n m e n tE n v i r o n m e n tE n v i r o n m e n tE n v i r o n m e n tE n v i r o n m e n t

by Claire B. Dunn

1998 Fall-Winter INSIDE ESF 9

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record in Syracuse. It was a fraction of a degree behind1949 and within striking distance of 1933, the hottestyear on record.

Kieber’s work took him to Antarctica this fall tosample ocean water. He works with a photobiologistfrom the Smithsonian Institution and a microbiologistfrom the University of West Florida. In addition, ESFgraduate student Gary Miller of Syracuse, andundergrads Todd Medovich of Candor, N.Y., and StevenBeaupre of Fulton, N.Y., are doing research on the ship,along with an undergraduate from Carlton College inMinnesota.

The crew was at sea for five weeks, living andworking on the RV Laurence M. Gould, a vessel run bythe National Science Foundation. They are workingnorth of the Antarctic Circle, near the point where theWoodell and Scotia seas meet.

“Basically what we do is take the lab from here andput it on a ship and take it down there,” Kieber said.“We’re one of the first groups of chemists that hasworked there. For the first time, we’re relating photo-chemistry to biology.”

“We’re studying the interactions between chemistryand biology,” he said. “We’re looking at productionrates, how fast things change, how the change in sun-light affects it all, both at the surface and deeper. Howfast do the changes occur at different wavelengths? Ifwe can figure it out, we can start modeling it.”

A need for effective modeling is also a force behindDibble’s work. His field is physical chemistry, in par-ticular studying the breakdown of organic compoundsin the atmosphere. He uses high-tech equipment toinvestigate the chemistry of smog.

“This kind of science is really lasers and lights,”Dibble said.

Dibble’s lab in the Jahn building is draped with thesame type of black, flame-retardant curtains used intheaters to keep out excess light. Wearing protectivegoggles, he and his team of three graduate studentsshoot lasers at stable chemical compounds, breakingthem into unstable compounds that are normally foundin concentrations nearly too low to measure. Under thecontrolled laboratory conditions, the concentrationsare high enough to measure with a second probe fromthe pulsating laser.

“These are reactive chemicals,” he said. “You can’tbuy them in a bottle from a chemical supply shop.”

The light flashes at a blinding 10 megawatts, but forjust a fraction of a second. It could flash 20 billion timesin a second.

“It sounds like a lot but it averages a total of 10 watts,less than a standard light bulb,” Dibble said.

The tests help reveal how quickly certain com-pounds are removed from the atmosphere, and whatkind of chemistry moves the process along.

Dibble’s research, supported by the National ScienceFoundation, is to provide better data for computermodels used by regulatory agencies in air pollutioncontrol efforts. The federal Environmental ProtectionAgency gives individual states the responsibility forreducing ozone levels; in New York, the job falls to theDepartment of Environmental Conservation.

“You can divide ozone into three basic types,” Dibblesaid. “The good, the bad, and the ugly. Its location in theatmosphere changes the role it plays. At ground level,it does more harm than good.”

Good ozone, about 15 miles above Earth, providesprotection from the sun’s ultraviolet rays. This is theozone that is supposed to be protected by the elimina-tion of Freon, the same ozone layer where holes arefound in the Arctic and Antarctic.

The bad ozone is lower, about five to 10 miles abovethe Earth’s surface, where many scientists believe green-house gases help raise the temperature of the lower

“This kind of science is really lasers and lights,” saidTheodore S. Dibble.

10 INSIDE ESF Fall-Winter 1998

atmosphere. That layer led to the Kyoto Accord to lowerlimits for automobile emissions.

Ozone gets ugly at the ground level, where it takesthe form of smog and can cause breathing problems.

Three factors contribute to ugly ozone: sunlight, theuncontrollable factor; organic compounds in the gasphase; and nitric oxide/nitrogen dioxide, the byproductsof combustion.

Boyer studies the way different nutrients affect toxinproduction. One aspect of his work looks at the bio-chemistry and physiology involved in harmful algalblooms; in short, what causes them? The flip side looksat the chemistry of detecting toxins. Toward that end,his focus is improving and simplifying the instrumentsused to study and detect the algal blooms known as redtides, some of which are toxic to shellfish.

While researchers know that nutrient factors affecttoxin production and cause the malady known asparalytic shellfish poisoning, they just don’t knowexactly how it all works. The major funding sources for

Boyer’s work are the New York Sea Grant Institute andthe U.S. Department of Agriculture.

There is evidence red tides have existed for hun-dreds of years. In the 1970s, they were found in the Bayof Fundy; in 1972, they were off the coast of Maine; in1976, they were found near Massachusetts.

“We have been able to watch these things marchdown the coast,” Boyer said. “They don’t occur everyyear, which raises the question, ‘What causes them tooccur?’

“It’s not just people who die from eating poisonedshellfish. Birds die. There was a case of whales dying.The zooplankton ate the algae, the salmon ate thezooplankton and the whales ate the salmon and died.So it isn’t just that people are the only ones who die, it’sjust that we hear more about it.”

Gone are the days of injecting mice with toxins andwaiting for them to die. Boyer’s tools are the instru-ments of the ’90s: high-performance liquid chromatog-raphy (HPLC) and graphite electrodes.

“We use a lot of novel techniques that were devel-oped here,” Boyer said.

Ten years ago, he was part of the team that designeda process for using HPLC to test for red tides. He isworking on methods that will allow an HPLC test toshow researchers only the toxic compounds they areseeking when separating and analyzing the contents ofshellfish.

The process has worked well, he said, but is still toocomplex for use by anyone but a highly trained chemist.

“Now we’re trying to dumb-engineerthe HPLC down, with half the movingparts, half the hardware, so it’s cheaperand easier for anybody to use,” Boyersaid. “Our goal is to make a systemwhere all you have to do is turn on aswitch and the equipment does every-thing.”

He displayed a prototype of the newunit during the summer of 1997 at theSixth Canadian Workshop on HarmfulMarine Algae. There is one unit func-tioning at the St. Andrew’s BiologicalStation in New Brunswick, Canada, andanother in the Jahn Lab that Boyer hopesto see tested in Antarctica.

Boyer wants to simplify a paralyticshellfish poisoning analyzer enoughthat it can be taken outside the labora-tory and used on fishing boats.

“We’re going to really have to engi-neer it down so you can put it on a boatand bang it around,” he said. “We wantfishermen to be able to use it.”

A mobile analyzer would allow a fisherman to opena few scallops, puree them into a blender, and injectsome of the extract into the unit. It would detect toxinsin the shellfish, revealing whether they were safe to eator deadly poisonous.

“What we’re trying to do is develop a ‘quickie’ test.We’d like a green-yellow-red dial that would tell thefishermen, ‘Stop right there. Turn around and go home.’”

Dunn is assistant director of News and Publications atESF.

Gregory L. Boyer grows algae to look for simpler ways of testing ocean

1998 Fall-Winter INSIDE ESF 11

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by Claire B. Dunn

Laboratories in quiet corners of ESF could re-veal the secret to revitalizing what was once amajor component of the nation’s eastern forests:the American chestnut tree.

Two ESF profes-sors, a research asso-ciate, and a smallgroup of graduatestudents are in thepainstaking processof genetically engi-neering an Americanchestnut that is re-sistant to the inva-sive blight that nearlywiped out the spe-cies 50 years ago.

This fall, the workis being undertakenwith renewed en-ergy. The currentNew York state bud-get provides$150,000 to fund theAmerican ChestnutProgram at the col-lege. It is anticipatedthat this appropria-tion is the first in-stallment of a three-year research efforttotalling $450,000.

Senator Mary Lou Rath (R-Erie and Geneseecounties) was the lead legislator in obtainingfunds for the research program and was successfulin securing bipartisan support in both houses ofthe state Legislature.

“We were teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.We were literally down to the point where we hada couple hundred dollars left. So the state grantsaved the project,” said Dr. Charles A. Maynard, aspecialist in forest genetics and tissue culture whois a professor in ESF’s Faculty of Forestry.

One aspect of the research is the province of Dr.William A. Powell, a molecular biologist in ESF’s

Faculty of Environmental and Forest Biology. Heis searching for genes that will make Americanchestnuts resistant to the fungus that kills them.

One possibility, he said, is transferring a natu-ral defense gene from another plant into chestnut

trees. He is workingwith a gene that helpswheat seedlings pro-tect themselves fromfungi found in the soil.The gene neutralizesthe acid produced bythe fungi and as abyproduct produceshydrogen peroxide,which stimulates theseedling’s natural de-fense mechanisms.

Or, the answermight be in frog skin.

Researchers havediscovered that frogshave a gene for an anti-microbial peptide thatprevents the damp skinof frogs from being cov-ered with fungi andbacteria. Anti-micro-bial peptides are a classof short proteins foundin a wide range of or-ganisms, includingfrogs, moths, and hu-

man beings. Powell redesigned the frog gene inthe laboratory to make it effective against theblight pathogen.

The third focus of Powell’s attention is a genethat enables certain fungi to digest other types offungi.

This fall, assisted by graduate students, Powellfocuses on assessing which of the three genes isthe best choice for the chestnut project. He alsoworks on attaching the DNA sequence that acts asa promoter, allowing the gene to be effective in the

Saving The American ChestnutGenetic Engineering Could Turn Out Blight-Resistant Species

12 INSIDE ESF Fall-Winter 1998

trunk and branches of the tree, the only parts of thechestnut affected by the blight.

While Powell is working on genes, Maynardand Dr. Zizhuo Xing, a plant tissue culture spe-cialist, are across the ESF quad in Marshall Hall,perfecting techniques for transferring genes intochestnut embryos.

The members of Maynard’s research team re-move the developing embryos from a chestnut.Normally, one of those embryos would matureinto a seedling. But, using a process called so-matic embryogenesis, the scientists can back upthe chestnut’s cycle a few steps so it continues toproduce more embryos. The process was devel-oped in Georgia and modified by Xing, who worksin ESF’s Faculty of Forestry.

After the embryos multiply, the researchersperform the gene transfer, bombarding the em-bryos with the blight-resistance genes with whichPowell has been working. Then they determinewhich embryos carry the gene. When the develop-ing embryos are large and strong enough, they aretransferred into a potting mix and nurtured in agrowth chamber where light, heat, humidity, and

temperature are con-trolled. Powell tests theyoung plants to deter-mine if they indeedhave the blight-resis-tance gene, and thosethat do are moved out-doors to the college’sLaFayette Road Experi-ment Station so theirgrowth can be moni-tored.

It is a tedious, time-consuming process.

“We’ve got to get bet-ter at it before we cantalk legitimately aboutcranking out thousandsof trees that people canplant in their yards,”Maynard said.

The American chest-nut is a member of theoak family. It tends togrow straight, makingit suitable for use as

telephone poles and railroad ties. Pioneers usedchestnut logs for the foundation of their cabinsand homeowners would likely use it for backyarddecks if it were available today.

“The heartwood of the species is amazingly rot-resistant,” Maynard said. “It is the natural equiva-lent of pressure-treated lumber.”

In addition to the practical aspects of havingAmerican chestnuts towering in the forest,Maynard said, there is some old-fashioned nostal-gia attached to the stately trees.

“Everybody’s grandpa passes down stories aboutgathering chestnuts and throwing them back andforth at each other across the creek, and turningout the hogs into the woods to fatten up for thewinter,” Maynard said. “It’s part of the wholecultural, nostalgic thing.”

The blight was first identified at the Bronx Zooin 1904. By 1950, few American chestnut treessurvived.

“In New York, we have the distinction of beingthe first place where the blight started,” Powellsaid. “It would be really nice to be the place whereit ends.”

Zizhuo Xing, William A. Powell, and Charles A. Maynard show off a seedlingdeveloped in their labs.

1998 Fall-Winter INSIDE ESF 13

Campus Profile

The Derecho:What A

Blast!by Gordon Heisler

continued on next page

Over the summer, the U.S. ForestService and Faculty of Forestry col-laborated in a study of water use byurban trees. Our instruments arelocated beside an 8-foot tall redmaple tree near the northwest cor-ner of Marshall Hall. The study waspossible because of the helpful co-operation of Howard Bruse, Physi-cal Plant’s supervisor of grounds,and his staff.

A number of people have askedwhat the instruments, which includemeteorological sensors, have to sayabout the Labor Day storm. Thoughdata collection procedures for the

s t u d ywere notdesignedto mea-sure windd a m a g e ,there issome in-formationof interestfrom sen-sors thatoperatedthrough-out thestorm.

T h es e n s o r s

are about 30 feet west of the north-west corner of Marshall Hall, andabout 60 feet south of Moon Library.They measure wind speed and di-rection at 7 feet and air temperatureand humidity at 5 feet above ground.The wind sensors are just a footbelow the top of the sample redmaple tree and about 5 feet horizon-tally to the south. They are about 10feet below the level of MoonLibrary’s roof to the north. Treesand shrubs block the northeasternquarter, Marshall Hall blocks eastthrough southeast, and Jahn Lab isto the southwest through west. Thesite is relatively open to the westthrough northwest.

Our equipment recorded averagesfrom the wind, air temperature, andhumidity instruments over five-

minute periods along with total rain-fall summed over five minutes. Wealso recorded the highest 10-secondaverage wind speed during each day,the measurement that turns out tobe of most interest.

On the night of the storm up to1:14 a.m. our instruments showedunusually light winds—less thanone mph—blowing from variabledirections between the northeastthrough south. Air temperature wassteady at 74oF and relative humiditywas about 76 percent, all ratherpleasant conditions.

Between 1:14 and 1:19 a.m., windspeed picked up dramatically to anaverage of 8 mph, direction shiftedto southwest, and rain fell at a rate of1.3 inches per hour. The 8-mphspeed is not especially remarkable;however, the highest five-minute av-erage speed we recorded here in thissomewhat protected location dur-ing the last three weeks was aboutseven mph. The average wind speedprobably was much increased byhigh winds in the last part of thisfive-minute period, judging from thenext averaging period and NationalWeather Service radar images.

Between 1:19 and 1:24 a.m., windspeed averaged 23.4 mph and aver-age direction moved around fromsouthwest to 36 degrees north ofwest (306-degree azimuth), or nearlynorthwest. Rain increased to a rateof 3.6 inches per hour. Air tempera-ture in 10 minutes had dropped 5oFto 69oF. For one 10-second periodon September 7, our anemometerrecorded a gust of 67 mph, mostlikely during this five-minute inter-val. And most likely it was duringthis period that most of the damageoccurred.

At 1:23 a.m., a 77-mph averagespeed over five seconds (which de-fines a gust officially) was recordedat Hancock Airport at a height ofabout 30 feet above ground. Nor-mally wind speed increases withheight, so maximum wind speed oncampus was similar to speed at the

Physical Plant Supervisor PeterDeMola, in the bucket truck, re-moves limbs from damaged treesnext to Marshall Hall.

14 INSIDE ESF Fall-Winter 1998

Profile: The Derecho continued

airport. As for timing, a clock at theseverely damaged New York StateFairgrounds is reported to havestopped at 1:20 a.m. Moving at up to60 mph, as reported by the NationalWeather Service, the front wouldhave moved from the Fairgroundsto campus in a few minutes.

During the next five minutes—1:24 to 1:29 a.m.—wind speeddropped to an average of only fourmph, though our gauge recordedrain at a rate of 5.3 inches per hour.Wind direction shifted around tonorth-northeast. The sharp cold frontthat caused the high winds broughtmuch cooler air; temperature wasdown now to 64oF. This pattern ofhigh winds followed by very highrainfall rate is fully consistent witha sharp, rapidly moving squall-linefront.

Between 1:29 and 1:34 a.m., raintapered to 0.4 inches per hour,temperature was down a bit more to63oF, 11 degrees lower than beforethe storm front hit. By 1:49 a.m., therain was essentially over, and oursensors could detect little differencefrom the pre-storm conditions otherthan the dramatic difference intemperature.

Our rain gauge recorded a total of0.94 inches of rain between 1:00 and2:00 a.m. This is almost exactly theamount recorded by the weatherstation at Hancock Field (0.93inches) which suggests that stormconditions were about the same oncampus as at the airport, where hur-ricane-force gusts (wind speedgreater than 73 mph) were recorded.

The patterns of wind directionand speed that we measured corre-

late well with damage on campus.For example, strong winds fromapproximately the northwest (theaverage 306-degree direction ourinstrument recorded during thestrongest winds) explain the demol-ished London plane trees in front ofMoon Library, the windows on thenorth of Baker and Jahn laborato-ries, and the loss of the hackberrytrees in front of Marshall Hall.

Illick Hall provided shielding forthe trees on that side of the quad.Wind was lifted and probably accel-erated to speeds much faster thanthe 67-mph gust we measured as itflowed over Moon Library to hit theupper parts of the London planesand the hackberry trees. The Beau-fort Wind Scale defines winds be-tween 64 and 72 mph as a “violentstorm,” exceeding the “storm” cat-egory (55-63 mph winds); even“storms” cause “considerable dam-age” with “trees uprooted.”

The highly damaged vegetationon the north side of Moon Library isexposed to the northwest. Windsshould also have been acceleratedin flowing around the southwestcorner of Moon Library. The factthat the sugar maple there wasmostly unscathed may attest to rela-tive high durability against winddamage for this species, though thetree may simply have the vagaries ofthe chaotic turbulence in the windflow to thank for being spared.

In most places where there is dam-age on campus (and in the adjacentcommunity, as well), a glance to thewest or northwest reveals an openwind fetch. Many trees in OakwoodCemetery were blown over, most

falling in directions between north-east to southeast. At the north end ofBray Hall, a 5-foot shrub was up-rooted, partly because it did nothave a very well developed rootsystem, but partly because it wasgrowing beneath tree crowns thatdirected fast winds to blow beneath.

Tall trees on the hill behindMarshall Hall were damaged, ap-parently by wind over the top of thebuilding. Trees on the hill north ofWalters Hall were severely dam-aged by winds coming across theexpanse of the flagpole and otherparking areas. Severe damage to treeson the hill below the Moon Libraryparking lot is predictable from theexposure of the site and the brittle-ness of most of the species there.Several spruce and fir trees on cam-pus and many throughout the rest ofthe community snapped off highabove ground because the crownshave high wind resistance creatinglarge forces that must be supportedby the single stem.

The small red maple tree we havebeen studying has shredded leaves,especially on the western side,caused perhaps by flying debris orhail, but it was otherwise undam-aged. Similar-sized trees nearbywere a little more exposed. Thoughno breakage occurred, their 2-inchstems have a persistent bend towardthe southeast.

Although not designed to cap-ture such an event, our instrumen-tation provided enough informationto give us an interesting glimpse ofthis unique event.

Gordon Heisler is a meteorologistwith the U.S. Forest Service Coop-erative Research Unit based at ESF.

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Evening Credit CoursesEcology and Development, Ski Area Development, NationalParks, CAD, Creative Problem Solving, Policy, GIS,Environmental Information, Industrial Chemistry,Environmental Impact, Forestry, Writing, Nature inLiterature, Environmental Toxicology, Natural ResourceLaw, Environmental Information Policy, EnvironmentalCommunications, Sociology/Psychology, and more…

Credit Classes Start January 19Credit Classes Start January 19Credit Classes Start January 19Credit Classes Start January 19Credit Classes Start January 19

Noncredit Courses and ConferencesForest Sampling, January 12Introduction to ArcView GIS, January 14-15Wood Procurement, February 12Energy Issues in the Forest Products Industry, MarchForest Best Management Practices, April or MayThe Hazard Tree Dilemma, April or MayManaging Beech Tree Disease, MayRegenerating Northern Hardwoods, May or June

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