Dr. Andy Vander Yacht manages the forest ecology laboratory and teaches classes on ecosystem services and fire ecology and management at MSU. His research seeks to 1) understand how disturbances affect the structure, composition, health, and resiliency of temperate forested ecosystems, and 2) how this knowledge can inform modern forest management. Specifically, this includes forest mesophication, fire and fuel ecology, community succession, seed dispersal, and the restoration of disturbance-dependent vegetation and wildlife. Before coming to MSU, Andy gained applied experience with the MI DNR, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and as a private land management consultant. He received his Ph.D. (Natural Resources) and M.S. (Wildlife Science) from the University of Tennessee and a B.S. in Biology from Hope College.