Robert Brooks 
EESI Associate
Robert Brooks
Ph.D. (Wildlife Biology), University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1980
Contact Information:
Penn State Cooperative Wetlands Center
216, 217, 219 Walker Building
Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802
email: rpb2@psu.edu
Dept. website: http://www.geog.psu.edu/people/brooks/
Current Research Interests:
Wetlands restoration and creation on altered and damaged landscapes
Monitoring protocols for reference wetlands and mitigation projects
Modeling cumulative impacts in wetland and riparian portions of landscapes
Developing hydrogeomorphic models for riverine, depression, and slope wetlands
Developing ecological indicator models using macroinvertebrates, amphibians and birds
Treatment of mine drainage using constructed wetlands
Habitat modeling for wetland-riparian wildlife.
Selected Publications:
Spinola, R. M., T. L. Serfass, and R. P. Brooks. 2008. Survival and post-release movements of river otters translocated to western NY. Northeastern Naturalist 15(1):13-24. (Major Advisor)
Cole, C. A., C. P. Cirmo, D. H. Wardrop, R. P. Brooks, and J. Peterson-Smith. 2008. Transferability of an HGM wetland classification scheme to a longitudinal gradient of the central Appalachian Mountains: initial hydrological results. Wetlands 28(2):439-449.
Peterson-Smith, J., D. H. Wardrop, C. A. Cole, C. P. Cirmo, and R. P. Brooks. 2008. Hydrogeomorphology, environment, and vegetation associations across a latitudinal gradient in highland wetlands of the northeastern USA. Plant Ecology DOI 10.1007/s11258-008-9523-x
Laubscher, S. E., G. Rocco, J. A. Bishop, M. M. Easterling, B. K. Armstrong, and R. P. Brooks. 2007. Condition assessment of five tributary watershed ecosystems at Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site and New River Gorge National River. National Park Service, Northeast Region. Philadelphia, PA. Natural Resources Report NPS/NERCHAL/NRR-2007/08. 134pp.
Rheinhardt, R.D., M.M. Easterling, M.M. Brinson, J.M. Rubbo, R. P. Brooks, D. F. Whigham, D. O’Brien, J. T. Hite, and B. K. Armstrong. Canopy composition and forest structure provide restoration targets for low order riparian ecosystems. Restoration Ecology.
Brooks, R., M. McKenney-Easterling, M. Brinson, R. Rheinhardt, K. Havens, D. O’Brian, J. Bishop, J. Rubbo, B. Armstrong, and J. Hite. A Stream-Wetland-Riparian (SWR) index for assessing condition of aquatic ecosystems in small watersheds along the Atlantic slope of the eastern U.S. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment.
Griscom, B., G. Constantz, A. McQueen, B. Rasleigh, R. Brooks, W. Myers. Submitted. Lower resistance of high elevation streams to human land use impacts in West Virginia as measured by stream macroinvertebrate index of biotic integrity. Aquatic Conservation, in review.
Cole, C. A., and R. P. Brooks. 2000. A comparison of the hydrologic characteristics of natural and created mainstem floodplain wetlands in Pennsylvania. Ecological Engineering 14(3):221-231.
Brooks, R. P., and K. Saacke Blunk. 2000. Riparia & Biodiversity. A teaching guide to the Riparia Biodiversity Poster., Penn State Cooperative Wetlands Center, University Park, PA. 8pp. Full color poster available.
O'Connell, T. J., L. E. Jackson, and R. P. Brooks. 2000. Bird guilds as indicators of ecological condition in the central Appalachians. Ecological Applications 10(6):1706-1721.
Gray, A., R. P. Brooks, D. H. Wardrop, and J. K. Perot. 1999. Pennsylvania’s Adopt-a-Wetland Program Wetland Education and Monitoring Module: Student Manual. Penn State Cooperative Wetlands Center, available at www.wetlands.cas.psu.edu. 100pp.
Brooks, R. P., T. J. O’Connell, D. H. Wardrop, and L. E. Jackson. 1998. Towards a regional index of biological integrity: the example of forested riparian ecosystems. Environ. Monit. Assmt.51:131-143.
Serfass, T. L., R. P. Brooks, J. M. Novak, P. E. Johns, and O. E. Rhodes, Jr. 1998. Genetic variation among river otter populations in North America: Considerations for reintroduction projects. J. Mammal. 79(3):736-746.
Wardrop, D. H., and R. P. Brooks. 1998. The occurrence and impact of sedimentation in central Pennsylvania wetlands. Environ. Monit. Assmt. 51(1-2):119-130.
Prosser, D. J., and R. P. Brooks. 1998. A verified habitat suitability index for the Louisiana Waterthrush. J. Field Ornith. 69(2):288-298.
Brooks, R. P. 1997. Improving habitat suitability models. Wildl. Soc. Bull. 25:163-167