Overview

My research interests and expertise include: plant stress physiology; climate change impacts on plants, soils and ecosystems; soil ecology; and nitrogen and water management for farms and gardens. My work ranges from basic plant physiology and soil research to education outreach to farmers, policy-makers, and the general public. Science communication includes frequent interaction with news media, and writing for the popular press, such as my soil ecology book for general audiences: Tales From the Underground: A Natural History of Subterranean Life.

Research Focus

The potential impact of carbon dioxide and climate change on natural and managed ecosystems has become an increasingly important part of my research and extension program since the early 1990s. Soil health, and nitrogen and water management are other major areas of research. With such a broad program, I typically collaborate with colleagues in other disciplines such as plant genetics and molecular biology, soil microbiology, and biogeochemistry. Current research projects include: (1) climate change impacts on soil biological processes affecting nitrogen retention in agroecosystems; (2) development of a protocol for soil health assessment in relation to crop production; (3) plant phenology indicators of climate change; (4) improving nitrogen use efficiency in sweet corn production.

Outreach and Extension Focus

My extension efforts focus on new approaches to soil health assessment and management, irrigation management for vegetable crops, and education outreach to policy makers and the general public regarding climate change impacts on managed and natural ecosystems.

Instruction Focus

I teach HORT 460 (Cropping Systems Ecology), HORT 615 (Agriculture Statistics), and HORT 116 (First-Year Writing Seminar on "Nature Writing ").

Additional Links

• 1. Cornell Soil Health Program
• 2. Climate Change Information for Farmers and Gardeners
• 3. Northeast Climate Impacts Assessment
• 4. U.S. Climate Impacts Assessment
• 5. Research program
• 6. Teaching program
• 7. Tales From the Underground: A Natural History of Subterranean Life
• Link to CALS Research portal
• Link to CALS Impact statements

Selected Publications

• Wolfe, DW, L Ziska, C Petzoldt, A Seaman, L Chase, K Hayhoe. 2008. Projected change in climate thresholds in the Northeastern U.S.: Implications for crops, pests, livestock, and farmers. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change. 13: 555-575,
• Idowu OJ, H van Es, G Abawi, D Wolfe et al. 2008. Farmer-oriented assessment of soil quality using field, laboratory, and VNIR spectroscopy methods. Plant and Soil 307: 243-253.
• Hayhoe, K, C Wake, T Huntington, L Luo, M Schwartz, J Sheffield, E Wood, B Anderson, J Bradbury, A Degaetano, T Troy, D Wolfe. 2007. Past and future changes in climate and hydrological indicators in the U.S. Northeast. Climate Dynamics 28(4): 381-407.
• Warren, DR, MS Weiss, DW Wolfe, B Friedlander, B Lewenstein. 2007. Lessons from science: communication training. Science 316:1122.
• Gugino, BK, OJ Idowu, RR Schindelbeck, HM van Es, DW Wolfe, GS Abawi. 2007. Cornell Soil Health Assessment Training Manual. 1st ed. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
• Wolfe, DW. Sept. 2007. Climate change: How will it affect crops, livestock, and farming in the Northeast? Natural Farmer. Northeast Organic Farming Association (www.nofa.org ), pp.18-23.
• Wolfe, DW. April 19, 2007. How the new world of climate change and disruption of nature is challenging the American spirit. Cornell Chronicle. Op-Ed.
• Wolfe, D.W. 2006. Approaches to monitoring soil systems. IN: Uphoff, N. et al. (eds.) Biological Approaches for Sustainable Soil Systems. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, Chap. 47.
• Wolfe, DW, MD, Schwartz, AN Lakso, Y Otsuki, RM Pool, N Shaulis. 2005. Climate change and shifts in spring phenology of three horticultural woody perennials in northeastern USA. Internat. J. Biometeor. 49(5): 303-309.
• Melkonian, J, DW Wolfe, T Owens. 2005. Effects of elevated CO2 on gas exchange and photochemical and nonphotochemical quenching at low temperature in tobacco plants varying in Rubisco activity. Photosynthesis Res. 83: 63-74.
• Jifon, JL and DW Wolfe. 2005. High temperature-induced sink limitation alters growth and photosynthetic acclimation to elevated CO2 in beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 130(4):515-520.
• Wolfe, DW. 2001. Out of thin air: how a special group of microbes tap into the atmosphere`s huge storehouse of nitrogen and make it available to the rest of us. Natural History 110(7): 44-53.
• Oyanedel, E, DW Wolfe, TG Owens, AJ Monforte, and SD Tanksley. 2000. Quantitative trait loci analysis of photoinhibition under chilling stress in tomato. Acta Horticulturae 521:227-232.
• Crawford, RMM and DW Wolfe. 1999. Temperature: cellular to whole plant and population responses. In: Luo, Y and H. Mooney (eds.) Carbon Dioxide and Environmental Stress. Academic Press, San Diego. Chap 3, pp. 61-106..
• Wolfe, DW, R Gifford, D Hilbert, and Y Luo. 1998. Integration of acclimation to elevated CO2 at the whole-plant level. Global Change Biol. 4:879-893.
• Wilks, DS and DW Wolfe. 1998. Optimal use and economic value of weather forecasts for lettuce irrigation in a humid climate. Agric. and Forest Meteorology 89:115-129.
• Boese, S, DW Wolfe, J Melkonian. 1997. Elevated CO2 mitigates chilling-induced water stress and photosynthetic reduction during chilling. Plant, Cell and Environ. 20: 625-632.
• Wolfe, DW, DT Topoleski, NA Gundersheim, and BA Ingall. 1995. Growth and yield sensitivity of four vegetable crops to soil compaction. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 120(6): 956-963.

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