Shane is a Research Associate for CUERP. He began working for Loyola in 2007, when he co-taught STEP: Biodiesel and managed Loyola's biodiesel laboratory. Since 2008, Shane has worked as a full-time CUERP researcher.

He conducts and facilitates studies focused on the interplay between the invasive species Typha x glauca and biodiversity, plant community dynamics, nitrogen and methane cycling, and Great Lakes water level change in coastal wetland ecosystems. Additionally, Shane is a Principal Investigator on an EPA funded Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant that couples the restoration of Great Lakes coastal wetlands with the production of biogas, a renewable energy source.

Prior to coming to CUERP, Shane worked as a field biologist for the State of Wisconsin, where he conducted field biological research and invasive species monitoring and conducted remote sensing and GIS research and mapping. Additionally, Shane has worked as a teaching assistant at the University of Michigan Biological Station and as an environmental educator in Maine.

Shane received a MS in Forestry from University of Vermont (2005), and a BS in Resource Ecology and Management from the University of Michigan (2001).

slishawa@luc.edu

GRANTS & AWARDS

Environmental Protection Agency, Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Innovative Environmental approaches. $449,603 (September 2010). A sustainable approach for restoring wetland biodiversity. Nancy Tuchman, Dennis Albert, and Shane Lishawa.

Loyola University Chicago Core, Curriculum Innovation Award. $5000 (May 2008). Loyola University Chicago Core Curriculum Committee and the Provost’s Office. For designing an environmental studies course that fulfills the University’s Civic Engagement and Leadership core value area.

Environmental Protection Agency, People, Prosperity, and the Planet Award. $75,000 (April, 2008) “Biodiesel Education: Green-collar Recruiting and Environmental Education for the Next generation (BE:GREEN)” Nancy Tuchman, Daniel Larkin, Shane Lishawa, Alison Varty, and Luke Beasley. Grant funds used start a comprehensive renewable energy high school outreach program.

PUBLICATIONS

Freyman MJ, Lishawa SC, Larkin DJ, Geddes P, Kuehn KA, Tuchman NC. In prep. Mechanisms of litter accumulation in Typha x glauca (hybrid cattail) dominated Great Lakes coastal wetlands.

Lishawa SC, Ruddell D, Machin B, Bergdahl DR. In prep. Hemlock woolly adelgid risk assessment in eastern hemlock dominated deer wintering areas of southern Vermont.

Jankowski KJ, Geddes P, Larkin DJ, Lishawa SC, Tuchman NC. In prep. Habitat characteristics associated with Typha x glauca invasion influence patterns in wetland denitrification potential.

Larkin DJ, Lishawa SC, Tuchman NC. In review. Appropriation of nitrogen by the invasive cattail Typha x glauca.

Lishawa SC, Treering DJ, Vail LM, McKenna O, Tuchman NC. In review. A novel approach to reconstructing plant invasions using historical aerial imagery and paleobotanical methods: Applications for invasion ecology research.

Larkin DJ, Freyman MJ, Lishawa SC, Geddes P, Tuchman NC. 2012. Mechanisms of dominance by the invasive hybrid cattail Typha X glauca. Biological Invasions. 14 (1): 65-77.

Mitchell ME, Lishawa SC, Geddes P, Larkin DJ, Treering DJ, Tuchman NC. 2011. Time-dependent impacts of cattail (Typha x glauca) invasion in a Great Lakes coastal wetland complex. Wetlands. 31 (6): 1143-1149.

Varty AK, Lishawa SC, Tuchman NC. 2011. Sustainability education through an interdisciplinary and service-learning approach. In Social Responsibility and Sustainability: Multidisciplinary Perspectives Through Service Learning. Ed. T. McDonald. Stylus Publishing. New York, NY. 35-58.

Lishawa SC, Albert DA, Tuchman NC. 2010. Water level decline promotes Typha X glauca establishment and vegetation change in Great Lakes coastal wetlands. Wetlands. 30 (6): 1085-1096.

Lishawa SC, Schubel AT, Tuchman NC, Varty AK. 2010. Sustainability education as a catalyst for university and community partnerships. Metropolitan Universities. 21 (1): 58-72.

Varty A, Lishawa S. Biodiesel education in high schools. 2009. Teaching green: The high school years. Eds. Tim Grant and Gail Littlejohn. New Society Publishers. Gloria Island, Canada. March 2009.

Varty A, Lishawa S, Tuchman N. 2008. Engaging students in campus sustainability initiatives through innovative courses. Proceedings of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education 2nd Biennial Expo. Raleigh, NC. November 9-11 2008.

Lishawa SC, Bergdahl DR, Costa S. 2007. Winter conditions in eastern hemlock and mixed hardwood deer wintering areas of Vermont. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 37 (3): 697–703.

Lishawa SC. 2005. Hemlock woolly adelgid risk assessment in deer wintering areas of southern Vermont. University of Vermont. Masters Thesis.