2012 RAP Award
SUNY ESF – Masters Candidate
Measuring the Damage Caused by Invasive Earthworms in Hemlock Forests
Since colonization, people have introduced earthworms to our environment. In the northern United States, there are no native earthworms. Earthworms are popularly thought of as beneficial; fishermen use them as bait, farmers add them to their fields, and ecologists cultivate them in their compost bins. Recently, researchers have begun to investigate the negative impact of earthworms. I will study the impact of invasive earthworms on eastern hemlock forests.