Current Research

My overall goal is to take information gained from plot level studies on forest health, productivity, and ecosystem function and design studies that examine these same issues at a landscape or regional scale. This means being able to work across paradigms, such as individuals and institutions that only trust ground-level data gathered at the tree itself, and those that want to incorporate the most advanced technology to view forests and ecological systems for thousands of miles with no human contact involved. This has been challenging work. To accomplish this shift in scale I work to devise, develop, or modify techniques that allow us to expand our studies spatially while maintaining the necessary scientific rigor. This provides valuable information and new knowledge about the impacts of large scale phenomena such as acid rain, forest decline, and introduced pests and diseases.

• Characterize the linkage between forest canopy chemistry and stream water chemistry and map forest canopy level cation concentrations using hyperspectral remote sensing technology to map stream water quality across the landscape.
• Discover the link that biogeochemistry has with sugar maple (and co-occurring species) health and growth across the northeastern United States and develop tools or information that can be used to make land management decisions.
• Determine the role of Ca-oxalate in forested ecosystem plant available Ca supply.
• Develop methodologies for utilizing commercially available hyperspectral remote sensing imagery for early detection of invasive insects and diseases in rural and urban forests.

Research Interests

I am interested in working in urban ecosystems in order to apply remote sensing technology and early stress detection techniques to urban forests. Urban forests are often the first place we see invasive insects which later become problems in our rural forests if they are not contained or controlled (e.g. Asian Longhorn Beetle, Emerald Ash Borer).

Why This Research is Important

We live in a changing environment and scaling up our understanding of plot level dynamics involved in forest health issues to a landscape scale will allow us to detect forest health issues earlier and design management strategies for maintaining the health of our forests at a regional scale.

Education

• University of New Hampshire, Ph.D. Natural Resources 1996
• University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, M.S. Forestry 1991
• University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, B.S. Forest Science 1984

Featured Publications & Products

• Long, Robert P.; Horsley, Stephen B.; Hallett, Richard A.; Bailey, Scott W. 2009. Sugar maple growth in relation to nutrition and stress in the northeastern United States.
• Hallett, Richard; Pontius, Jennifer; Martin, Mary; Plourde, Lucie. 2008. The practical utility of hyperspectral remote sensing for early detection of emerald ash borer.
• Horsley, Stephen B.; Bailey, Scott W.; Ristau, Todd E.; Long, Robert P.; Hallett, Richard A. 2008. Linking environmental gradients, species composition, and vegetation indicators of sugar maple health in the northeastern United States.
• Pontius, Jennifer; Martin, Mary; Plourde, Lucie; Hallett, Richard. 2008. Hyperspectral remote sensing for early detection of invasive pests.
• Hallett, Richard; Pontius, Jennifer; Martin, Mary; Plourde, Lucie. 2008. Evaluating the practical utility of hyperspectral remote sensing imagery: an EAB case study.

Publications

• Pregitzer, Clara C.; Charlop-Powers, Sarah ; Bibbo, Silvia ; Forgione, Helen M.; Gunther, Bram ; Hallett, Richard A.; Bradford, Mark A. 2019. A city-scale assessment reveals that native forest types and overstory species dominate New York City forests.
• Rogers, Elizabeth ; Zalesny, Ronald ; Hallett, Richard ; Headlee, William ; Wiese, Adam . 2019. Relationships among Root Shoot Ratio, Early Growth, and Health of Hybrid Poplar and Willow Clones Grown in Different Landfill Soils.
• Johnson, Michelle L.; Novem Auyeung, D.S. ; Sonti, Nancy F.; Pregitzer, Clara C.; McMillen, Heather L.; Hallett, Richard ; Campbell, Lindsay K.; Forgione, Helen M.; Kim, Mina ; Charlop-Powers, Sarah ; Svendsen, Erika S. 2019. Social-ecological research in urban natural areas: an emergent process for integration.
• Long, Robert P.; Horsley, Stephen B.; Bailey, Scott W.; Hallett, Richard A.; Hall, Thomas J. 2019. Sugar maple decline and lessons learned about Allegheny Plateau soils and landscapes.
• Sonti, Nancy F.; Hallett, Richard A.; Griffin, Kevin L.; Sullivan, Joe H. 2019. White oak and red maple tree ring analysis reveals enhanced productivity in urban forest patches.
• Hallett, Richard; Johnson, Michelle L.; Sonti, Nancy F. 2018. Assessing the tree health impacts of salt water flooding in coastal cities: A case study in New York City.
• ​Hallett, Richard ; Hallett, Tanner . 2018. Citizen science and tree health assessment: How useful are the data.
• Doroski, Danica A.; Felson, Alexander J.; Bradford, Mark A.; Ashton, Mark P.; Oldfield, Emily E.; Hallett, Richard A.; Kuebbing, Sara E. 2018. Factors driving natural regeneration beneath a planted urban forest.
• Nowak, David J.; Bodine, Allison R.; Hoehn, Robert E.; Ellis, Alexis ; Hirabayashi, Satoshi ; Coville, Robert ; Auyeung, D.S. Novem; Sonti, Nancy Falxa; Hallett, Richard A.; Johnson, Michelle L.; Stephan, Emily ; Taggart, Tom ; Endreny, Ted . 2018. The urban forest of New York City.
• Pontius, Jennifer; Hanavan, Ryan P.; Hallett, Richard A.; Cook, Bruce D.; Corp, Lawrence A. 2017. High spatial resolution spectral unmixing for mapping ash species across a complex urban environment.
• Zalesny Jr., Ronald S.; Stanturf, John A.; Gardiner, Emile S.; Bañuelos, Gary S.; Hallett, Richard A.; Hass, Amir; Stange, Craig M.; Perdue, James H.; Young, Timothy M.; Coyle, David R.; Headlee, William L. 2016. Environmental technologies of woody crop production systems.
• Simmons, Brady L.; Hallett, Richard A.; Sonti, Nancy Falxa; Auyeung, D. S. N.; Lu, Jacqueline W. T. 2016. Long-term outcomes of forest restoration in an urban park.
• Pregitzer, Clara C.; Sonti, Nancy F.; Hallett, Richard A. 2016. Variability in urban soils influences the health and growth of native tree seedlings.
• Hanavan, Ryan P.; Pontius, Jennifer; Hallett, Richard. 2015. A 10-Year assessment of hemlock decline in the Catskill Mountain region of New York state using hyperspectral remote sensing techniques.
• Oldfield, Emily E.; Felson, Alexander J.; Auyeung, D. S. Novem; Crowther, Thomas W.; Sonti, Nancy F.; Harada, Yoshiki; Maynard, Daniel S.; Sokol, Noah W.; Ashton, Mark S.; Warren, Robert J.; Hallett, Richard A.; Bradford, Mark A. 2015. Growing the urban forest: tree performance in response to biotic and abiotic land management.
• Pontius, Jennifer; Hallett, Richard. 2014. Comprehensive methods for earlier detection and monitoring of forest decline.
• Oldfield, Emily E.; Felson, Alexander J.; Wood, Stephen A.; Hallett, Richard A.; Strickland, Michael S.; Bradford, Mark A. 2014. Positive effects of afforestation efforts on the health of urban soils.
• Zalesny, Ronald S., Jr..; Hallett, Richard A.; Falxa-Raymond, Nancy; Wiese, Adam H.; Birr, Bruce A. 2014. Propagating native Salicaceae for afforestation and restoration in New York City's five boroughs.
• Hallett, R.A. 2013. Planting forests in NYC: Is the goal restoration, reforestation, or afforestation.
• Hallett, Richard A. 2013. The value of an urban forest.
• Hallett, Richard A.; Bailey, Scott W.; Horsley, Stephen B.; Long, Robert P. 2006. Influence of nutrition and stress on sugar maple at a regional scale.
• Pontius, Jennifer; Hallett, Richard; Martin, Mary. 2005. Using AVIRIS to assess hemlock abundance and early decline in the Catskills, New York.
• Bailey, S.W.; Horsley, S.B.; Long, R.B.; Hallett, R.A. 2004. Division S-7 - forest & range soils. Influence of edaphic factors on sugar maple nutrition and health on the Allegheny Plateau.
• Smith, Marie-Louise; Ollinger, Scott V.; Martin, Mary E.; Aber, John D.; Hallett, Richard A.; Goodale, Christine L. 2002. Direct estimation of aboveground forest productivity through hyperspectral remote sensing of canopy nitrogen.
• Horsley, Stephen B.; Long, Robert P.; Bailey, Scott W.; Hallett, Richard A.; Wargo, Philip M. 2002. Health of eastern North American sugar maple forests and factors affecting decline.
• Horsley, Stephen B.; Long, Robert P.; Bailey, Scott W.; Hallett, Richard A.; Hall, Thomas J. 2000. Factors associated with the decline disease of sugar maple on the Allegheny Plateau.
• Horsley, Stephen B.; Long, Robert P.; Bailey, Scott W.; Hallett, Richard A.; Hall, Thomas J. 1999. Factors contributing to sugar maple decline along topographic gradients on the glaciated and unglaciated Allegheny Plateau.
• Hallett, Richard A.; Horsley, Stephen B.; Long, Robert P.; Bailey, Scott W.; Hall, Thomas J. 1999. Foliar chemistry of sugar maple: a regional view.
• Bailey, Scott W.; Horsley, Stephen B.; Long, Robert P.; Hallett, Richard A. 1999. Influence of geologic and pedologic factors on health of sugar maple on the Allegheny Plateau.

Research Highlights

Highlight	Title	Year
NRS-2019-110	In New York City, the Value of Urban Trees Adds Up New York City’s urban forest produces cleaner air, lower energy costs, reduced ultraviolet radiation, and less storm water in the city’s sew ...	2019
NRS-2015-175	“Smart Forests” Digital Environmental Sensors and Telecommunications Take Research to New Levels Scientific breakthroughs of the 21st century will be powered by tools that help researchers collect and manipulate massive datasets, visualize t ...	2015