Research Team

Dr. Sarah J. Nelson

Sarah Nelson is the Director of Research at the Appalachian Mountain Club. Prior to AMC, she was at the University of Maine for 21 years, most recently as an Associate Research Professor in the School of Forest Resources and also as Director of the Program in Ecology and Environmental Sciences. Her research focuses on understanding the effects of atmospheric pollution and climate change on forests, foodwebs, and freshwaters in remote and protected ecosystems. Current research includes geochemistry in lakes, climate change with a focus on changing winters, and mercury contamination, using approaches including long-term monitoring, biosentinels, and citizen/community science. Research sites include remote or protected lands, including long-term sites across Maine, mountain ponds in the Northeast, and national parks around the U.S. For about a decade, she worked with high school teachers and Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park in a series of projects focused on teacher professional development regarding mercury in watersheds, snowpack and climate, and data literacy, and is now working with teachers and community partners in the Merrimack River Watershed who are assessing mercury contamination in Lowell and Lawrence, MA.

Areas of expertise: freshwater geochemistry, climate change, mercury biogeochemistry, long-term monitoring, air and water quality, citizen science

Publications

Google Scholar profile

CV

Email: [email protected]

Dr. David Publicover

Dave joined the Research Department in 1992 and over the past 30 years has provided scientific information and analyses to the development of AMC policies and positions related to terrestrial land management and conservation. His work has included GIS-based regional conservation planning and prioritization, renewable energy siting, public lands management, sustainable forestry, and ecological reserve design. Since 2003 he has been responsible for land and forest management planning on AMC’s Maine Woods Initiative holding, where he oversaw the securing of Forest Stewardship Council certification and the development of three forest carbon offset projects. He holds a BS in Forestry (University of New Hampshire), and MS in Botany (University of Vermont) and a DF in forest ecology (Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies).

Publications

Email: [email protected]

Larry Garland

Larry Garland is the AMC staff Cartographer, a position he has held since 1996. His responsibilities include the production of large-format trail and recreation maps for AMC publications covering geographic regions from Maine to the mid-Atlantic, recreation planning and trail assessments, and visual impact analysis of proposed infrastructure projects. Map production includes field data collection and verification, assimilation and managing GIS databases, and rendering of maps using graphics software. Maps for AMC guidebooks and interpretive guides are produced in collaboration with the AMC Books Department, authors, and land managers to ensure accurate and appropriate content. Maps are also produced for AMC facilities, the Trails Department, Appalachia, web and digital platforms, and other AMC communications according to the needs of the respective departments. Opportunities also arise for contract and grant-funded projects though government agencies and private entities with symbiotic missions.

Area of Expertise: Trail mapping and assessments, GIS analysis

Publications

Email: [email protected]

Dr. Jordon Tourville

AMC Research Fellow Dr. Jordon Tourville has a Ph.D., Ecology from the State University of New York – College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry. His research focuses on the response of plant and forest communities, particularly in montane systems, to global change drivers. His current research includes investigating controls on tree species seedling establishment and distributions, climate-related changes in understory plant phenology, and community changes of alpine vegetation in the northeastern US.

Areas of Expertise: Phenology, alpine communities and ecology, climate impacts on montane systems, mycorrhizal ecology

Publications and CV: https://jordontourville.com/publications/

Email: [email protected]

Georgia Murray

Georgia Murray is a Staff Scientist with the Appalachian Mountain Club since 2000. Previously she has conducted biogeochemical research for the Marine Biological Laboratory’s Ecosystem Center at Toolik, Alaska a Long-term Ecological Research site and worked at the University of Washington maintaining a long-term small watershed monitoring site within Olympic National Park. Georgia currently oversees Appalachian Mountain Club’s ambient air pollution program in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service including mountain-based monitoring of cloud, rain, and stream water chemistry in Wilderness areas in the White Mountain National Forest. She also leads AMC’s plant phenology monitoring work using Nature’s Notebook, which incorporates community science, and conducts mountain climate research.

Publications

Projects: Air and water quality in mountains, Phenology, alpine communities, climate impact on montane systems, citizen science

Email: [email protected]

Cathy Poppenwimer

For over 20 years Cathy has been with the AMC doing land conservation utilizing geographic information systems (GIS) through analysis and public awareness. Projects include land conservation assessment at the parcel and landscape scale; GIS data development using satellite imagery, GPS data, and analysis; development and management of the Planning and Conservation section of the Pennsylvania Highlands website that provides tools to assist conservation planning and implementation; map development and design.

Areas of expertise: land conservation assessment, GIS analysis,

Publications

Email: [email protected]

Carolyn Ziegra

Carolyn Ziegra is a Research Forester with the Appalachian Mountain Club and joined the organization in 2022. She is a graduate of the School of Forest Resources at the University of Maine, where she contributed to research related to late-successional forest species in Maine’s Acadian forest type. Carolyn helps facilitate research projects with various regional partners on AMC’s Maine Woods Initiative project in Northern Maine. A large part of her position is also the implementation of early intervention silvicultural practices and oversight of land management activities on AMC’s 114,000-acre ownership in Maine. Her work helps achieve AMC’s land management objectives of creating more resilient forest structures that encourage the growth of late-successional species and stand characteristics.

Areas of expertise: early intervention silviculture, spruce-fir silviculture, late-successional forest management, GIS analysis

Email: [email protected]