Contact Information
Phone:(808) 956-3979

Cell: (760) 742-5184

Fax:(808) 956-3923
Email: tedmonds@hawaii.edu

University of Hawai`i at Manoa
3190 Maile Way, Room 101
Honolulu, HI 96822

Affiliations
Botany and Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology (EECB)

Dissertation Title: Quantifying and Predicting the Ecological Meltdown of a Unique Hawaiian Forest Ecosystem by an Invasive Alien N-fixing Tree: a Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis Based Approach

Personal Statement: Increasingly, human activity is having a deleterious impact on the world’s biodiversity. The United Nations recently announced that extinctions are occurring at the fastest rate since the global cataclysm that eradicated the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. It is widely known within the scientific community that alien invasive species pose a serious threat to global biodiversity, second only to habitat loss. Human societies must learn to effectively manage and control invasive species if extinction rates are to be reduced. An important component of invasive species management includes the development of spatial models that can predict where invasive species are likely to occur, and how fast they will spread.

My research involves mapping the extent, modeling habitat suitability and dispersal of Albizia (Falcataria moluccana), a nitrogen-fixing alien invasive tree species on the island of Hawai’i. Albizia is known to change nutrient inputs and cycling, alter forest successional processes, and cause shifts in canopy structure and community composition. It was widely planted throughout the island of Hawai’i during the 1920s-1950s in an effort to reforest degraded watersheds, but has since, by virtue of its rapid speed of growth and ability to thrive on nutrient poor volcanic substrates, invaded some of the last tracts of native-dominated wet lowland rainforest on Hawai’i.

I am using a variety of remotely sensed image datasets to map the historical and current extent of Albizia. A further stage in my research will involve modeling the environmental parameters that determine habitat suitability for this species. I will use the mapped extent of historical and current populations to determine the trajectory of population growth and range expansion. My intent is to use GIS and remote sensing technology to provide timely and reliable spatial information that can be applied directly to invasive species management.

Awards:

• March 2006: Watson T. Yoshimoto Scholarship
  Institution: Ecology, Evolution & Conservation Biology Program, University of Hawaii at Manoa

• September 2005: NASA Earth Systems Science Fellowship
  Institution: Botany Department, University of Hawaii at Manoa
  http://research.hq.nasa.gov/code_y/nra/current/Fellowship-ESS05/winners.html

• 2001 - 2002: Merit Based Equity Scholarship
  Institution: Department of Geographical Sciences & Planning, University of Queensland
  

Publications:

• Catherine Ticehurst, Stuart Phinn, Tim Edmonds and Alex Held (2003) Remote sensing for mapping weeds: An example from the Wet Tropics (Pond Apple) in Grice, A.C. and Setter, M.J. Weeds of Rainforests and Associated Ecosystems. Cooperative Research Centre for Tropical Rainforest Ecology and Management. Rainforest CRC, Cairns, Australia.

• Ticehurst, C., Phinn, S., Held, A .and Edmonds, T (2003) Mapping an invasive weed (Pond-apple) in the Wet Tropics using multi and hyperspectral image data. Proceedings of Spatial Sciences Conference, National Convention Centre, Canberra, Australia.

• Phinn S., Edmonds T., Ticehurst C. and Held A. (2002) Mapping current infestations: developing remote sensing procedures for early detection of new Pond Apple infestations. Report for the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Australia.

Seminars:

• Development of a Spatial Habitat Model to Enhance Target Detection of an Invasive Tree Using Landsat ETM, Botany Departmental Seminar, University of Hawaii at Manoa. (27 April 2004)

• Mapping Pond Apple (Annona glabra) in Northeast Queensland using a habitat suitability map and Landsat ETM data. Presented at the 47th Annual Symposium of the International Association of Vegetation Science, Kona, Hawaii. (23 July, 2004)

• Weed Mapping: Seminar for Natural Resource Information Systems (GEOS7326),
  University of Queensland. (October, 2001).

Education:

• 2003 – Current: PhD in Progress
  Botany Department, University of Hawaii at Manoa

• 2001 – 2002: Master of Geographic Information Science Degree
  University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

• 1999 – 2000 Bachelor of Science (Ecology)
  Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
  (1997 -1998, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia)

Professional Memberships:

• Ecological Society of Australia

• Golden Key National Honor Society (Australian Chapter)