Dr. Jennifer L. Schafer
I am an assistant professor in the Department of Biology at Winthrop University. I am also a research affiliate at Archbold Biological Station. I earned my BA in Zoology, with a minor in Botany, from Miami University in 2001. I researched the role of watershed land-use in determining chlorophyll concentrations in Ohio reservoirs (with Dr. Michael Vanni). I earned my PhD in Botany from the University of Florida in 2010. My dissertation was titled: Effects of fire on nutrient availability and limitation in Florida scrub ecosystems. My PhD advisor was Dr. Michelle C. Mack, who is now at Northern Arizona University. I worked in the Mojave and Sonora deserts as a post-doc at Rutgers University-Newark (with Dr. Claus Holzapfel), and I worked in longleaf pine savannas as a post-doc at North Carolina State University (with Dr. William A. Hoffmann). I was an assistant professor of Biology at William Jewell College for three years before moving to Winthrop Unviersity. |
Graduate Students
Jordan Winter
Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) leaf litter (i.e., pine straw) is raked from the understory of longleaf pine savannas and sold for use in landscaping. Jordan studied the effects of pine straw raking on soil seeds banks. He set up plots in raked and unraked sites at the McCain Research Forest Management Area (near Aberdeen, NC). Jordan assessed understory plant cover and collected soil samples from each plot and is now monitoring seed germination in the lab. Jordan also investigated the effects of pine straw raking on fire intensity at the Sand Hills State Forest in South Carolina. He used pyrometers to measure fire intensity is sites with different raking histories. Jordan earned his BA in Biology from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2016. |
Undergraduate Students
Jesse Martin
Jesse spent three and a half weeks during summer 2018 working in scrubby flatwoods communites at Archbold Biological Station in Florida. Dominant shrubs persist in fire-prone scrubby flatwoods by resprouting after fire. Jesse measured the photosynthetic rate of resprouts of 11 species to determine if photosynthesis (i.e., the rate of carbon assimilation) is related to post-fire growth rates. In addition, Jesse became interested in the hemi-parasitic plant hog plum (Ximenia americana). She investigated the neighborhood of plants around individuals to determine if hog plum has host preferences and collected leaves to measure foliar nitrogen concentrations. In this picture, Jesse is using the LI6400 portable photosynthesis machine to measure photosynthesis of saw palmetto (Serenoa repens). |
Tyler Southworth
Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) savannas are pyrogenic ecosystems. Fires historically occurred every two years, on average. Many longleaf pine savannas are currently managed with prescribed fire, with the goal of burning specific areas every three years. Longleaf pine savannas are also managed for the production of pine straw (i.e., leaf litter), which is raked and sold for use in landscaping. Tyler studied the effects of burning and pine straw raking on soil characteristics. He measured litter depth and collected soil samples from burned and unburned and raked and unraked sites at McCain Research Forest Management Area. Tyler measured soil pH and percent soil organic matter, and he is planning to measure total soil carbon and nitrogen. In this picture, Tyler is using a GPS unit to record the location of one of his soil sampling locations. Tyler presented his research at the Biology Department poster session in spring 2019 and got 2nd place for the Houk prize. He spent all of his winnings on chicken sandwiches. |
Mackenzie Jenkins
Mackenzie spent three weeks during summer 2019 working at Archbold Biological Station in Florida. Chapmannia floridana (Florida Alicia) is an herbaceous perennial that is endemic to Florida. Flowering stems of C. floridana are covered with glandular trichomes. Mackenzie is investigating if the sticky trichomes act as an indirect defense by trapping carrion, which attracts predators, which can then eat herbivores that target flowers and fruits. Mackenzie sampled C. floridana individuals in scrubby flatwoods, southern ridge sandhills, firelanes, pastures, and degraded scrub and counted trichomes, carrion, herbivores, and predators on flowering stems, and the number of intact and damaged flower buds, flowers, and fruits. Mackenzie is conducting her Honors thesis research on saltmarsh plant communities in South Carolina. |