Stephen Morreale
Director of MPS Program. Senior Research Associate and Adjunct Associate Professor, Natural Resources and the Environment
Stephen Morreale obtained his PhD in Zoology from the Cornell University and is currently a faculty member in the department and graduate field of Natural Resources and the Environment at Cornell. He serves as the Associate Director of Research at Cornell’s Arnot Teaching and Research Forest and is the Director of the Master of Professional Studies Program in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment. Stephen also is a Faculty Fellow at the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future. His research endeavors and graduate and undergraduate teaching focus on conservation ecology, engaging in projects locally, regionally, and worldwide. All his research integrates ecological theory and conservation and is directed toward improving resource management strategies. While his research is embedded in a framework of ecologically based science, much of his conservation efforts have emphasized interactions with people and nature, with the simultaneous goals of enhancing biodiversity and improving community well-being.
Education
BA; MA; PhD Zoology
Recent Research
Dr. Morreale has extensive credentials and experience in the realms of ecology and conservation biology research and teaching, with numerous theoretical and applied studies in terrestrial, coastal, estuarine, and pelagic marine environments. For more than 25 years, nearly all his research has been conservation-focused, incorporating the analyses of patterns of natural resources, ecological processes, and human utilization and management. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in conservation ecology and current important global conservation applications and strategies. Dr. Morreale employs a variety of tools in his research, including spatial analysis, animal population measures, forest assessment, GIS, satellite telemetry, and remote sensing, along with restoration, regeneration, and ecological enhancement techniques.
Geographically, his conservation research has been widespread in collaboration with an extensive global professional network. Diverse studies worldwide have included soil restoration studies in China and North America, community-based forest conservation in communal lands in Mexico, forest regeneration in northeastern US, social and ecological impacts of sedentarization and relocation policies in western China, impacts of whale watching ecotourism industry on humpback whale mating systems in Brazil, niche modeling and development of new conservation plans for the tiger in Bhutan, effects of anthropogenic underwater noise in coastal ecosystems, and studies of sea turtle ecology and marine conservation in North and Central America, the Northwest and Eastern Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas, and the Eastern Tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans. Much of Dr. Morreale’s research generates solutions such as developing practical and effective methods to encourage forest regeneration, reverse desertification of soils, alleviate undesired effects of spatial and temporal overlap of commercial fishing activities and marine animals, and enhance and improve environmental quality and biodiversity.
Dr. Morreale is the primary or co-author of numerous publications in many widely distributed and high impact scientific journals, including Science, Nature, Global Environmental Change, Scientific Reports, Ecological Applications, Energy Policy, Conservation Biology, and Proceedings of the Royal Society, in addition to a book on ecology and conservation of amphibians and reptiles.
Courses Taught
- NTRES 3260: Applied Conservation Ecology
- NTRES 6140 Controversial Conservation
Selected Publications
Wang, B., Liu, J., Li, Z, Morreale, S.J., Schneider, R.L., Xu, D., & Lin, X. 2023. The contributions of root morphological characteristics and soil property to soil infiltration in a reseeded desert steppe. CATENA, Volume 227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2023.107098.
Li, J., Schneider, R. L., Morreale, S. J., Wang, H., Wang, R., Wang, F., & Li, Z. 2023. The roles for branch shelters and sheep manure to accelerate the restoration of degraded grasslands in northern China. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 10, 2551.
Rubio, E., Morreale, S. J., & Pérez-Cirera,V. 2021. Impacto positivo del capital social en la gobernanza forestal comunitaria: Un análisis cuantitativo. Revista de Sociología, 36(2),1–20. https://doi.org/10.5354/0719-529X.2021.65567.
Schneider R.L and Morreale S.J. 2021 Soil Health Restoration to Address Food and Water Security. In: Leal Filho W., Azul A.M., Brandli L., Lange Salvia A., Wall T. (eds) Life on Land. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95981-8_147.
Schneider, R.L., S.J. Morreale, Z. Li, E.M. Pluer, K. Kurtz, X. Ni, C. Wang, C. Li, and H. Van Es. 2020. Restoring soil health to reduce irrigation demand and buffer the impacts of drought. Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering, 7(3):339-346.
Lawrence, T.J., S.J Morreale, R.C. Stedman, and L.V. Louis. 2020. Linking changes in ejido land tenure to changes in landscape patterns over 30 years across Yucatán, México. Regional Environmental Change, 20(4), pp.1-13.
Thinley, P., R. Rajaratnam, S.J. Morreale, and J.P. Lassoie. 2020. Assessing the adequacy of a protected area network in conserving a wide-ranging apex predator: The case for tiger (Panthera tigris) conservation in Bhutan. Conservation Science and Practice p.e318. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.318
Li, Z., Y. Xie, R.L. Schneider, S.J. Morreale, J. Li, C. Li and X. Ni. 2020. Importance of adding woodchips to local amendments for improving soil health and increasing yield in severely degraded soils of Northern China. Soil Research 58(5):478-487.
Case, E, T. Shragai, L. Harrington, Y. Ren, S. Morreale, and D. Erickson. 2020. Evaluation of unmanned aerial vehicles and neural networks for monitoring of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) larval habitats. Journal of Medical Entomology: 57(5):1588-1595
Pluer, E.M., R.L. Schneider, W.T. Pluer, S.J. Morreale, and M.T. Walter. 2020. Returning degraded soils to productivity: Water and nitrogen cycling in degraded soils amended with coarse woody material. Ecological Engineering 157, p.105986 (Online)
Lawrence. T, S.J. Morreale and R.C. Stedman. 2019. Distant political-economic forces and global-to local pathway to impacts on forests of ejido landscapes across Yucatán, México. Land Degradation & Development 30:2021–2032. doi: 10.1002/ldr.3400.
Li, Z., K. Qiu, R.L. Schneider, S.J. Morreale and Y. Xie. 2019. Comparison of microbial community structures in soils with woody organic amendments and soils with traditional local organic amendments in Ningxia province of Northern China. Peer J. (2019): e6854
Hoover, A.L., D. Lianga, J. Alfaro-Shiguetoc, P.H. Dutton, J. Mangel, P.I. Miller, S.J. Morreale, L. Sarti, H. Bailey, and G.L. Shillinger. 2019. Predicting residence time using a continuous-time discrete-space model of satellite telemetry data for leatherback turtles. Ecosphere. 10(3) 2019. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2644
Ruelle M.L., KA. Kassam, S.J. Morreale, Z. Asfaw, A.G. Power and T.J. Fahey. 2019. Biocultural diversity and food sovereignty: A case study of human-plant relations in northwestern Ethiopia. Food Security 11:183-199. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-019-00888-0
Ren, Q., Li, C., Yang, W., Song, H., Ma, P., Wang, C., Schneider, R.L. and Morreale, S.J., 2018. Revegetation of the riparian zone of the Three Gorges Dam Reservoir leads to increased soil bacterial diversity. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 25:23748–23763. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2333-3
Thinley, P, R. Rajaratnamb, J.P. Lassoie, S.J. Morreale, P.D. Curtis, K. Vernes, L. Lekie, S. Phuntsho, T. Dorji, P. Dorji. 2018. The ecological benefit of tigers (Panthera tigris) to farmers in reducing crop and livestock losses in the eastern Himalayas: Implications for conservation of large apex predators. Biological Conservation 219:119-125 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2018.01.015
Laldjebaev, M., S.J. Morreale, B.K. Sovacool, and K.S. Kassam. 2018. Rethinking energy security and services in practice: National vulnerability and three energy pathways in Tajikistan. Energy Policy 114:39-50.
Wang, P., S.A. Wolf, J.P. Lassoie, G.L. Poe, S.J. Morreale, X. Su, and S. Dong. 2016. Promise and reality of market-based environmental policy in China: Empirical analyses of the ecological restoration program on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Global Environmental Change 39:35-44.
Robinson, N.J., S.J. Morreale, R. Nel, and F.V. Paladino. 2016. Coastal leatherback turtles reveal conservation hotspot. Nature - Scientific Reports 6:37851. doi:10.1038/srep37851.
Wang, P., J.P. Lassoie, S.J. Morreale and S. Dong. 2015. A critical review of socioeconomic and natural factors in ecological degradation on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China. The Rangeland Journal 37:1-9.
López-Uribe, M.M., S.J. Morreale, C.K. Santiago and B.N. Danforth. 2015. Nest suitability, fine-scale population structure and male-mediated dispersal of a solitary ground nesting bee in an urban landscape. PLoS One 10(5):1-20 e0125719 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0125719.
Patel, S.H., S.J. Morreale, A. Panagopoulou, H. Bailey, N.J. Robinson, F.V. Paladino, D. Margaritoulis and J.R. Spotila. 2015. Changepoint analysis: a new approach for revealing animal movements and behaviors from satellite telemetry data. Ecosphere 6(12):1-13. DOI:10.1890/ES15-00358.1.
Thinley, P., S.J. Morreale, P.D. Curtis, J.P. Lassoie, T.Dorji, Leki, S. Phuntsho, and N. Dorji. 2015. Diversity, Occupancy, and Spatio-temporal Occurrences of Mammalian Predators in Bhutan’s Jigme Dorji National Park. Bhutan J. of Nat Res & Development (2015) 2(1): 19-27. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.17102/cnr.2015.03.
Liao, C., S.J. Morreale, and K.S. Kassam. 2014. Following the Green: Coupled Pastoral Migration and Vegetation Dynamics in the Altay and Tianshan Mountains of Xinjiang, China. Applied Geography 46:61-70.
Carrillo-Rubio, E, M. Kery, S.J. Morreale, P.J. Sullivan, B. Gardner, E.G. Cooch and J.P Lassoie. 2014. Evaluating the response of bird communities to logging degradation using multi-species occupancy models. Conservation Biology 28(4):1034-1044.
Roe, J.H., S.J. Morreale, F.V. Paladino, G.L. Shillinger, S.R. Benson, S.A. Eckert, H. Bailey, P. Santidrián Tomillo, S.J. Bograd, T. Eguchi, P.H. Dutton, J.A. Seminoff, B.A. Block, and J.R. Spotila. 2014. Predicting bycatch hotspots for endangered leatherback turtles on longlines in the Pacific Ocean. Proc. Royal Society B 281:20132559.
Wang, P., J.P. Lassoie, S. Dong, and S.J. Morreale. 2013. A Framework for Social Impact Analysis of Large Dams: A Case Study of Cascading Dams on the Upper-Mekong River, China. J. Environmental Management 117:131-140.
Bailey, H., S.R. Benson, G.L. Shillinger, S.J. Bograd, P.H. Dutton, S.A. Eckert, S.J. Morreale, F.V. Paladino, T. Eguchi, D.G. Foley, B.A. Block, R. Piedra, C. Hitipeuw, R. Tapilatu and J.R. Spotila. 2012. Identification of distinct movement patterns in Pacific leatherback turtle populations influenced by ocean conditions. Ecological Applications. 22(3):735-747.
Blanco, G. S., Morreale, S. J., Vélez, E., Piedra, R., Montes, W.M., Paladino, F.V. and Spotila, J.R. 2012. Reproductive output and ultrasonography of an endangered population of East Pacific green turtles. J. Wildlife Management 76(4):841–846.
Ruelle M. L., S.J. Morreale and K.S. Kassam. 2011. Practicing Food Sovereignty: Spatial analysis of an emergent food system for the Standing Rock Nation. J. Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development 2:163-179.
Morreale, S.J. and K.L Sullivan. 2010. Community-level enhancements of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Front. Earth Sci. China 4:14–21.
Gardner, B., P.J. Sullivan, S. Epperly and S.J. Morreale. 2008. Hierarchical modeling of bycatch rates of sea turtles the western North Atlantic. Endangered Species Research 5:279-289.
Gardner, B., P.J. Sullivan, S.J. Morreale, and S. Epperly. 2008. Spatial and temporal statistical analysis of bycatch data: patterns of sea turtle bycatch in the North Atlantic. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 65:2461-2470.
Schneider, R.L, M.E. Krasny and S.J. Morreale. 2001. Hands-On Herpetology: Exploring Ecology and Conservation. NSTA Press, Arlington, VA.
Morreale, S.J., P.T. Plotkin, and D.J. Shaver. 2007. Adult migration and habitat utilization: ridley turtles in their element. In: The Biology and Conservation of Ridley sea turtles. Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, MD, pp 213-229.