Lab & Field Research

Photo of three Chatham University students sit in grassy field with a shovel, camera, and bag doing research

Water Science & Sustainability

Master of Sustainability + MBA students in the Falk School measure and monitor stream conditions to better understand the ways water quality changes, and how that can change everything around us.

Photo of mushrooms growing on mossy tree stump in forest

Forest Health & Succession

Lichen species are a small, but important, part of our eastern forest ecosystem. Like other organisms, the biodiversity of lichen and their response to the environment may inform us about overall forest health and succession. Unlike others, though, foliose lichen can accumulate airborne heavy metal particulates in their tissues, and so also serve as historians for regional air quality conditions. This research program, headed by Dr. Linda MK Johnson, involving sustainability and environmental science students aims to investigate and record lichen species diversity in areas of western PA, such as Powdermill Nature Reserve and Chatham’s Eden Hall Campus.