Personnel

Principal Investigator
Dr. Christie Bahlai
Associate Professor, Kent State University, Department of Biological Sciences, 2023-
Co-Director, Kent State University, Environmental Science and Design Research Institute 2023-

Assistant Professor, Kent State University, Department of Biological Sciences, 2017-2023
Ph.D. University of Guelph, 2012, Environmental Biology
Mozilla Fellow for Science 2015-2016

Christie Bahlai is a computational ecologist who uses approaches from data science to help solve problems in conservation, sustainability, and ecosystem management.  She combines a background in physics and organismal ecology with influences from the tech sector and conservation NGOs to address problems in population ecology. She likes insects, information theory, and practical answers to complex questions.  Her current research focusses on developing tools to support information synthesis in temporal ecology.

Christie has strong interests in social justice in science, and believes that directly addressing diversity issues through technology and culture change benefits both scientists and science. She teaches a course called Reproducible Quantitative Methods that touches on many of these topics.

Google Scholar | Blog | Twitter | GitHub |  CV (9-18-2020)

 Staff

Dr. Katie McNamara Manning
Postdoctoral Research Development Specialist, Kent State University, Environmental Science and Design Research Institute and Department of Biological Sciences 2023-

Ph.D. Kent State University, 2023, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
B.S. Michigan State University, 2016, Environmental Biology/Zoology

Katherine (Katie) McNamara Manning is a postdoc at Kent State’s Environmental Science and Design Research Institute (ESDRI). In this role she coordinates and serves as mentor for the ESDRI undergraduate fellows program, administers grants, and develops and conducts research within the institute and the Bahlai lab, with a focus on place based research. Katie is also an accredited Green Roof Professional.
Prior, she conducted her doctoral research in the Bahlai lab studying insect ecology in managed systems, with a focus on investigating the effect of frame-of-reference on scientific findings, especially in terms of insect collection methodology. Her work explored this with field work on green roofs and natural analogs, novel ground-dwelling insect trap creation, and insect biodiversity monitoring trap comparisons utilizing short and long-term datasets. 

Visit Katie’s Website or connect on LinkedIn

Dr. Tom Franzem
Postdoctoral Scholar, Kent State University, Department of Biological Sciences, 2023-

Ph.D. The University of Alabama, 2023, Biological Sciences
B.S. State University of New York College at Oneonta, 2017, Biological Sciences

Dr. Thomas (Tom) Franzem is a postdoctoral research associate in the department of Biological Sciences, with a research focus on insect conservation and ecology, as well as investigating patterns that emerge when data is collected under different methodologies. Tom conducted his dissertation research in the Ferguson lab at the University of Alabama (UA), where he produced work aimed at addressing insect declines via grassland restoration, biodiversity monitoring, and population genetics.  Specifically, Tom modeled the impacts of restoration practices and land-cover on scarab and carabid beetle occupancy and abundance in a unique and endangered southeastern prairie ecosystem, developed a rapid, structured survey methodology to efficiently produce biodiversity data, and collected a uniquely distributed longhorn beetle, Tetraopes texanus, across its’ range and defined its’ population structure. While pursuing his PhD, Tom also helped found and lead The Conservation Biology Society at UA, organized several symposia at the annual meetings of the Entomological Society of America, engaged in countless outreach and education events, and founded a locally successful rock-band.  

Graduate Students

Rebekah Jones
Ph.D. Candidate, Kent State University, Department of Biological Sciences, 2019-
M.A. Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, 2016, Religion
B.S. Cedarville University, 2011, Environmental Science

Rebekah focuses on researching restoration management techniques and how they can be more effective and efficient. The FoSTER project in Cuyahoga Valley National Park is where most of this research takes place, as sites in the park were previously mined and left to recover naturally. While it has been a lot of work, there are signs that management techniques such as ripping compacted soil are leading to better growth and survivorship for trees planted on the site. Other restoration management techniques that Rebekah is studying include different types of soil amendments and soil inoculation with the symbiont mycorrhizal fungi that is present in nearly all plant roots. Rebekah is a Northeast Ohio native, having grown up in Solon and worked in several local environmental science related jobs, including the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Holden Arboretum, Cleveland Metroparks, and the Cuyahoga Valley Environmental Education Center.

Robert Boyd
M.S. Student, Kent State University, Department of Biological Sciences, 2023-
B.S. Kent State University, 2023, Conservation Biology

Robert’s research primarily revolves around exploring innovative methods in insect identification and comparison. The focus of his current projects is on the application of game cameras and audio to detect and classify various insect species. This approach is set against the backdrop of traditional techniques like sweep netting and pitfall traps, commonly utilized in entomology. By integrating these modern tools with conventional methods, his work seeks to enhance our understanding of insect populations and behaviors. Robert’s academic journey in biology has been driven by a keen interest in blending technological tools with biological research to offer new perspectives in the study of insects.

Read about Robert’s work in Kent State Today

Justin Smith 
M.A. Student, Kent State University, Department of Biological Sciences, 2024-
B.S. Lake Erie College, 2022, Biology
Justin is conducting is independent research project in the Bahlai lab studying lady beetle niche partitioning and phenology with long-term data from the Kellogg Biological Station Long-Term Ecological Research Station. Justin is also assisting with the campus bee survey and Carabidae pitfall trapping and collection. 

Stephanie Petrycki
Ph.D. Student, Kent State University, Department of Biological Sciences, 2024-
B.S. Kent State University, 2024, Zoology
Stephanie’s research aims to understand how changing environmental conditions affect interactions between species. Her current project is focused on collecting observational and population data from ant-aphid mutualisms present on common milkweed in Northeast Ohio. Using open-top passive warming chambers, she can study how differences between elevated and ambient temperatures affect the interaction between ants and aphids. Additionally, she is working alongside collaborators to develop an agent-based model that can be used to understand the potential impacts of future climate scenarios of ant-aphid interactions in montane ecosystems.

Undergraduate Students

Sophia Carmichael
Environmental and Conservation Biology, Kent State University
Projects: trapping method comparison; campus bee survey; monitoring campus insects

 

 

 

Drew Davis
Environmental Studies and Organismal Biology, Kent State University
Projects: assessment of biodiversity in records compared to current projects; campus bee survey; insect density estimation using Convolutional Neural Network and images

 

 

Gus de Azevedo Nantes
Kent State University
Project: campus bee survey

Karolina Polakowski
Kent State University
Project: insect density estimation using Convolutional Neural Network and images