Natural Sciences Department

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Dr. Nicholas Danz

Assistant Professor
Plant Sciences, Ecology

ndanz{atuws}

ph. 715-394-8161

office. Barstow 211A

Education
PhD University of Minnesota 2009
MS University of Minnesota Duluth 1998
BSE University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 1993

Courses
BIOL 111 Plants and People
BIOL 260 Forest Ecology and Management
BIOL 312 Biogeography
BIOL 315 Plant Physiology
BIOL 325 Plant Taxonomy

Role as Faculty
In my view, an essential component of an enjoyable life is being able to follow up on one's curiosities, to learn more about what one is passionate about. What I hope to accomplish as an educator is to spark interest in the natural world and to provide students deep understanding and practical skills to follow up on their own curiosities in biology.

Research Interests
After spending a decade as a research ecologist on enjoyable topics such as bog plant ecology, forest breeding songbirds, Great Lakes wetlands, forest management, and even diatoms, I can say with certainty that my research interests are wide and varied! I am currently working on projects related to a) spatial vegetation change across the historic prairie/forest biome boundary in Minnesota, and b) human influences on Great Lakes coastal wetland plant composition.

Student Opportunities

Studies of plant ecology on Wisconsin Point
Stewardship of natural plant communities of the Lake Superior basin
Human influence on wetlands of the St. Louis River estuary
Other topics related to forests, birds, or plants in NW Wisconsin or NE Minnesota

Recent Scholarly Activity

Danz, N.P., P.B. Reich, L.E. Frelich, and G.J. Niemi. 2011. Vegetation controls vary across space and spatial scale in a historic grassland-forest biome boundary. Ecography 34(3):402-414.

Etterson, M.A., G.J. Niemi, and N.P. Danz. 2009. Estimating the effects of detection heterogeneity and overdispersion on trends estimated from avian point counts. Ecological Applications 19(8):2049-2066.2008

Vora, R., S. Lerol, and N.P. Danz. 2008. Multi-species planting and other reforestation practices to restore within-stand diversity in northeastern Minnesota, USA. Ecological Restoration 26(4):340-349.

Danz, N.P., G.J. Niemi, R.R. Regal, T. Hollenhorst, L.B. Johnson, J.M. Hanowski, R. Axler, J.J.H. Ciborowski, T. Hrabik, V.J. Brady, J.R. Kelly, J.A. Morrice, J.C. Brazner, R.W. Howe, C.A. Johnston, and G.E. Host. 2007. Integrated gradients of anthropogenic stress in the U.S. Great Lakes basin. Environmental Management 39(5):631-647.

Niemi, G.J., R. Kelly, and N.P. Danz. 2007. Environmental indicators for the coastal region of the North American Great Lakes: introduction and prospectus. Journal of Great Lakes Research 33(Special Issue 3):1-12.

Complete list of publications

Curriculum vitae

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