Goebel Wins 2010 OARDC Junior Faculty Research Award: Forest Ecology, Restoration Expert

WOOSTER, Ohio — Ohio State University scientist Charles Goebel yesterday (4/22) was named winner of the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center's (OARDC) 2010 Distinguished Junior Faculty Research Award.

The award honors outstanding achievements by an OARDC faculty member at the rank of assistant or associate professor.

Goebel is an associate professor in the School of Environment and Natural Resources and a national expert in the fields of forest ecosystem restoration and ecology. He conducts basic research on factors controlling the structure and function of natural and managed ecosystems; and applied research on tools and methods for re-establishing or restoring the natural structure and function of ecosystems in disturbed landscapes.

“His research has impacted the Buckeye state and beyond, with particular emphasis on riparian forests of Ohio, fire-prone forests in the Great Lakes states and bottomland hardwood forests in the southeastern United States,” OARDC Director Steve Slack said, noting that some of Goebel’s work has received widespread media attention, including from The Washington Post.

Goebel joined OARDC in 2001 and since then has received nearly $7 million in research and training grants from such sources as the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Water Quality Program.

Among other achievements, he has published a book chapter and 31 refereed papers in top ecology, forestry and geomorphology journals; has received the Carnegie Foundation’s 2008 Curriculum Engagement and Outreach Partnerships recognition as a member of Ohio State’s Sugar Creek Watershed Initiative; and has advised two postdoctoral researchers, four doctoral students and five master’s degree students to completion. He is associate editor of The Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society and has been chair of the Society of American Foresters’ Forest Ecology Working Group.

The award carries with it a plaque, $1,000 to Goebel plus $3,000 to the operating account of his research program. It was presented in a ceremony during OARDC’s 2010 Annual Research Conference in Wooster.

OARDC scientists David Francis (chair), Andy Michel, Linda Saif, Guo-Liang Wang and Bill Weiss formed the selection committee.

OARDC is the research arm of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences and is the largest university agbioscience research center in the United States.

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