Current Research

• Investigating the primary belowground microbiological, soil chemical, and soil physical processes, their governing factors, and the integral control of forest health, productivity, carbon sequestration, carbon dioxide efflux, and sustainability in urban ecosystems.

Research Interests

Currently conducting and planning new research to

develop indicators that predict the interactive effects of increasing greenhouse gases and suburban homeowners' lawn management practices on the soil microbial biomass found within urban forest patches;

to quantify the urban carbon cycle in sites established in the northeastern and mid-Atlantic United States.

Major objectives of this research will include:

comparing soil chemical, physical, and microbial properties on established research sites by relating forest health issues, nitrogen deposition, and the cycling of carbon;

to develop indicators of urban forest health;

to develop an urban soil quality index relating how the physical, chemical, and biological properties of soil are affected by urbanization and human activity and how these changes may affect tree health;

to investigate the influence of land use and environmental factors on landscape characteristic and dynamics in urban ecosystems at Cub Hill, Maryland.

Education

• State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Ph.D. 2003
• Alabama A&M University, Normal, AL, M.S. 1992
• Alabama A&M University, Normal, AL, B.S. 1989

Professional Organizations

• American Pathology Society
• Alpha Zeta Agricultural Fraternity
• Ecological Society of America
• Soil Science Society of America

Featured Publications & Products

• Wargo, Philip M.; Vogt, Kristiina; Vogt, Daniel; Holifield, Quintaniay; Tilley, Joel; Lawrence, Gregory; David, Mark. 2003. Vitality and chemistry of roots of red spruce in forest floors of stands with a gradient of soil Al/Ca ratios in the northeastern United States.