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Faculty Profile
Andrew Newhouse

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Department of Environmental Biology
319 Illick Hall

aenewhou@esf.edu
315-470-6744

Research Interests

I direct ESF's American Chestnut Research and Restoration Project and related tree restoration activities.  My experience includes molecular biology lab work, environmental studies on transgenic trees, social considerations for the use of biotechnology in conservation, and federal biotechnology regulatory policy. 

My team and I are currently studying restoration considerations for American chestnut, and working to apply biotechnological tools toward protecting other threatened trees such as Ozark chinquapin (also threatened by chestnut blight), American beech (Beech Leaf Disease), and American elm (Dutch elm disease and elm yellows).  We are always looking for motivated undergraduate and graduate students to participate in this and related research!

Publications

Google Scholar

Current Graduate Advisees

Allison HumbertAllison Humbert
arhumber@syr.edu

  • Degree Sought: PHD
  • Graduate Advisor(s): Lynch and Newhouse
  • Area of Study: Environmental & Forest Biology

Links
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Allison-Humbert

Personal Statement
Allison Humbert is a PhD student in Environmental Biology at SUNY ESF, advised by Dr. Shannon Lynch. Her research focuses on beech leaf disease (BLD), an emerging foliar disease threatening eastern North American forests. She is investigating the BLD pathosystem and the abiotic and biotic factors that influence BLD spread. Allison earned her B.S. in Biochemistry and Biology from Bowling Green State University, where she researched post-translational modification and novel antibiotic discovery. Before graduate school, she worked as an analytical chemist, notably contributing to analytical method development for AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine. Her research is supported by the McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Program, the Robert A. Zabel Scholarship, and the Lowe-Wilcox Fellowship. Allison finds beauty in the intricate lives and interactions of microbes and is committed to advancing the management practices for forest pathogens.

Madi MontalvoMadi Montalvo
memontal@syr.edu

  • Degree Sought: MS
  • Graduate Advisor(s): Newhouse
  • Area of Study: Environmental & Forest Biology

Sophia SurianoSophia Suriano
sgsurian@syr.edu

  • Degree Sought: PHD
  • Graduate Advisor(s): Lynch and Newhouse
  • Area of Study: Environmental & Forest Biology

Personal Statement
I am passionate about plant disease, microbiology, and fungal pathogens. I received my B.S. from the University of Maine in 2023 in Botany and Microbiology, where i worked as an undergraduate research assistant in Dr. Seanna Annis' Fungal Pathology lab. I completed my M.S. at ESF with my research investigating Beech Leaf Disease (BLD infected leaf litter as a potential reservoir of inoculum. I am continuing to study the below-ground microbiomes associated with transgenic American chestnuts and the soil microbiomes of potential restoration sites to assess the microbial diversity and abundance between communities. My goals is that these studies increase scientific knowledge and inform best management practices to preserve and restore northeastern forests.

Graduate Research Topic
-Soil Microbiome Analysis of the American Chestnut and Potential Restoration Sites

Amy TwohigAmy Twohig
altwohig@syr.edu

  • Degree Sought: MS
  • Graduate Advisor(s): Parry and Newhouse
  • Area of Study: Environmental & Forest Biology

Graduate Research Topic
Plant pathogen-insect vector complexes

Favorite Quote
"The highest function of ecology is the understanding of consequences." Frank Herbert, Dune