As a journalism undergrad at the University of Missouri, Crouch was on a backpacking trip in the Smoky Mountains when he came across broad swaths of trees that had died from diseases and invasive insects. It was an eye-opening experience that set him on a new career trajectory. He ended up taking some forestry classes during his undergraduate program, relating that \u201cever since that first experience and some of those early classes I took, I’ve been interested in insects and diseases that impact forest health.\u201d He received a master\u2019s degree in forestry from the University of Missouri and is now working on his PhD in NAU\u2019s School of Forestry<\/a>, studying OSS and aspen trees with Kristen Waring<\/a>, Professor of Applied Forest Health and Silviculture (forest conservation and management). In addition to Crouch and Waring, the research team includes Richard Hofstetter<\/a>, Professor of Entomology (study of insects) as well as Nick Wilhelmi and NAU alum Amanda Grady, both of whom work for the Forest Service\u2019s Forest Health Protection office in Flagstaff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n OSS is an invasive sap-sucking insect introduced to North America in the 1700s and now affects tree species across the continent. As Crouch explains, \u201cThe vast majority of non-native insect species are pretty innocuous. But there’s a subset of them that cause serious harm to native ecosystems. And that’s where the term invasive comes in.\u201d He is studying the impacts of OSS infestations<\/a> on aspen in the Southwest and offering treatment recommendations to local forest managers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While scientists first documented OSS on aspen trees a few decades ago, it wasn’t until the last five or six years that they started seeing negative impacts from the insect infestation. \u201cWe think climate is probably what triggered the outbreaks that we’re seeing now. Either warmer temperatures help the insect survive and reproduce, or the warmer temperatures are stressing the aspen out because we know aspens are susceptible to environmental stress,\u201d Crouch says. \u201cThose warmer temperatures might weaken its defenses and allow oystershell scale to go gangbusters.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Crouch also pointed out another interesting discovery from their research: OSS seems to be unable to handle very cold temperatures. \u201cRight around Flagstaff, there is tons of OSS, but if you go up on the Peaks, you won’t see any,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Young aspen trees, with small stems, appear especially prone to OSS. Crouch calls these trees \u201cthe aspen forests of the future.\u201d Elk and deer browsing, climate change, fire suppression, and OSS are all bottlenecks limiting the abundance of young aspen on the landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Part of Crouch\u2019s study is trying to find strategies that mitigate OSS and the other stressors on the aspen. \u201cThat’s what I’m interested in. We have all these stressors on forest ecosystems and trying to understand the impacts that those are having. And then, what can managers do to try and keep these important ecosystems on the landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n While at NAU, Crouch has been enjoying the outdoors and the collaborative nature of the School of Forestry. \u201cI’m working with an entomologist, a silviculturist; I\u2019m talking with people who do hydrology and soils,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd we’re working together to figure out these big, important problems. That’s something that makes NAU\u2019s School of Forestry really cool. I’ve grown a lot from experiencing that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also appreciates the partnerships between NAU and the national forests and thanks his mentor, Professor Waring, for introducing him to local partners. \u201cShe’s the reason that I came here. She is the one I’ve relied on for all these connections with folks working on the forest here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n His goal after he finishes his PhD is to continue research, possibly with the US Forest Service. He is passionate about problem solving and continuing to work with forest managers. \u201cWe have these problems on the forest\u2014many human-caused\u2014but I want to continue trying to figure out what forest managers can do to promote and maintain ecosystems that we really care about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2021 and 2022, Crouch received ARCS Scholar<\/a> awards, which recognized his excellence in research and helped fund his field work. For more on Crouch and his team’s efforts to save aspen trees, head to The NAU Review<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Doctoral candidate Connor Crouch is working with forest managers to find ways to maintain a healthy aspen ecosystem in the face of multiple stressors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":570,"featured_media":5268,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[495,494,70,492,491,92,493],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5263"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/570"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5263"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5481,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5263\/revisions\/5481"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Studying insect infestations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Connor](\"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/179\/2023\/01\/4455_Connor_Crouch_20230119-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nCollaborating to solve problems<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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