Although a native Floridian, Lee has always felt at home in
Alabama. He grew up on a small rural farm and attended high
school in Chipley, Florida before going to what was then
called Livingston University for his undergraduate study.
Majoring in Biology and Environmental Science, he finished
his B.S. in 1993. Towards the end of his undergraduate work,
he became interested in coastal ecosystems, specifically
intertidal salt and brackish marshes. He began work
examining plant-plant interactions in salt marsh communities
along the Mississippi Sound while completing a Master of
Science degree at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab.
From there, he moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1998 and
began work on his doctoral degree at Louisiana State
University. Although he remained interested in coastal plant
ecology, he studied the spread and ecology of exotic wetland
plant species for his dissertation research. While
conducting his own research, Dr. Stanton also assisted with
research on dredge spoil material and it effects in
re-nourishing deteriorating salt marshes, top-down control
of herbivores in controlling salt marsh plant productivity,
as well as managing experimental restoration efforts in some
of Louisiana’s rapidly deteriorating freshwater floating
marshes. He completed his Ph.D. in Oceanography and Coastal
Sciences in spring 2005 and accepted a position at LSU as a
Post Doctoral Researcher in the Coastal Ecology Institute.
In the spring of 2005, Dr. Stanton explored the Pearl River
Basin in southeast Louisiana and began collecting baseline
data on several freshwater floating marsh communities in
that area. In late August that year, the eye-wall of
Hurricane Katrina passed over his research sites. Although
that area sustained catastrophic damage, the real-time data
that were collected from those sites gave an extremely rare
glimpse of pre-storm conditions and immediate post-storm
effects of those natural areas.
In May 2006, Dr. Stanton took a position as a plant
ecologist for a private consulting firm in Ft Myers,
Florida. There he managed large-scale wetland restoration
efforts for a wetland mitigation bank on what was once
agriculture land. In addition to managing an active exotic
plant eradication program, he was able to apply his
expertise in restoration from the ground up- he directed
bulldozers and excavators to obtain correct wetland
elevations and helped design replanting plans of wetland
plant species that mirrored the resulting hydrology.
When he was offered a position at his Alma Mater, there was
virtually no hesitation. He came back to UWA to serve not
only as an assistant professor in the Department of
Biological and Environmental Sciences, but also to serve as
the Director of the Black Belt Conservation Research
Institute.
In his spare time, Dr. Stanton travels to many different
places, most of which with a fly rod in one hand and field
guide in the other. He is an avid fly fisher, even
constructing his own fly rods and tying his flies. He has
fished across much of Canada and most of the western states,
not to mention taking advantage of the many opportunities
afforded in the Gulf of Mexico. In addition, he enjoys scuba
diving and spear fishing, sailing, hiking, camping
(preferably near water), natural history, and playing
acoustic guitar.
Classes
usually taught:
EN 100,
BY 450, EN 440, EN 441
Additional UWA assignments, etc.
Dr.
Stanton also serves as the Director of the Black Belt
Research and Conservation Institute, which is a unit of the
Center for the Study of the Black Belt
Academic/Research
Interests:
Dr. Stanton is fascinated by invasive species (plant and
animal) and how they become established. He is also
interested in the factors that control their success, how
quickly they spread, and how invaders alter natural
ecosystem processes and function.
Over the past several decades, the cumulative effects of
climate change, rising sea level and an anthropogenic
activity has had a tremendous negative impact in the coastal
zone. This emphasizes the need for concise research that
directly applies to both new development and habitat
restoration efforts. The sustainability of coastal wetlands
can be enhanced by conducting research a priori and then
applied during pre-project planning for new developments as
well as enhancing the success of restoration efforts.
His research interests lie primarily in the ecology of these
coastal wetland environments. Although most of his
experience has centered on wetland plant species, he has
also worked with many coastal vertebrate and invertebrate
species. Most recently, he focused on the ecology and
restoration of freshwater floating marshes in Louisiana and
their interaction with an introduced herbivore, the nutria.
Recent
publications:
Pennings, S.C., L.E. Stanton and J.S. Brewer. (2002).
Nutrient effects on the composition of salt marsh plant
communities along the southern Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of
the United States. Estuaries 25(6A):1164-1173.
Silliman, B., J. van de Koppel, M.D. Bertness, L. E. Stanton
and I.A. Mendelssohn. (2005). Drought, Snails, and
Large-Scale Die-off of Southern U.S. Salt Marshes. Science
310:1803-1806.
Stanton, L.E. 2005. The establishment, expansion and
ecosystem effects of Phragmites australis, an invasive
species in coastal Louisiana. Ph.D. Dissertation. Louisiana
State University. 182pp.
Stanton, L.E. 1998. The relative importance of competition
and facilitation between Juncus roemerianus Scheele and
Spartina alterniflora Loisel. in coastal Alabama. M.S.
Thesis, University of South Alabama. 95pp.
Stanton, L. E., B. Downer, I.A. Mendelssohn, and L. Handley.
(submitted to The International Journal of Remote Sensing).
Using remote sensing to evaluate the invasion and spread of
Phragmites australis in a brackish southwestern Louisiana
marsh.
Stanton, L. E., and I.A. Mendelssohn. (in prep). The effects
of disturbance and eutrophication on the establishment of
Phragmites australis.
Stanton, L. E., and I.A. Mendelssohn. (in prep). The
ecosystem effects of Phragmites australis, an invasive
clonal plant in southwestern Louisiana.
Stanton, L.E. (in prep). The role of preemption and
plant-plant interactions in the zonation of a micro-tidal
salt marsh in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico.
Recent presentations
Stanton, L. E. 2005. The establishment, expansion and
ecosystem effects of an invasive species in coastal
Louisiana. Invited speaker for the National Wetlands
Research Center Seminar Series. April 28, 2005. Lafayette,
Louisiana.
Stanton, L. E. Fall 2002. Space Invaders: The effects of
exotic species on native species, communities, and
landscapes. Invited lecture for Conservation Biology 4015.
Louisiana State University.
Stanton, L.E. and I.A. Mendelssohn. 2002. A Native Invader:
Phragmites australis Expansion in a Brackish Marsh in
Southwestern Louisiana. Presented at the Phragmites
australis: A Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing? Technical Forum and
Workshop at Cumberland County College, Vineland, New Jersey,
January 6-9, 2002.
Stanton, L.E. and I.A. Mendelssohn. 2001. The effects of
disturbance and eutrophication on the establishment of
Phragmites australis. Presented at the 16th Biennial
Conference of the Estuarine Research Federation in St.
Petersburg, Florida, November 4 – 8, 2001.
Stanton, L.E. and I.A. Mendelssohn. 2000. Phragmites
australis population expansion in Southwestern Louisiana.
6th INTECOL meeting. Quebec City, Canada August 6-12, 2000.
Stanton, L.E. and I.A. Mendelssohn. 1999. Spread of common
reed (Phragmites australis) in a southwestern Louisiana
coastal marsh. Presented at the 15th Biennial Conference of
the Estuarine Research Federation in New Orleans, Louisiana,
September 25 – 30, 1999.
Other or additional information
Certifications
Dr. Stanton is a Certified Ecologist through the Ecological
Society of America
Honors and Awards The Joseph Lipsey, Sr. Memorial Scholarship Award for
Excellence in Marine Science and Research. Louisiana State
University. 2003
Rockefeller State Wildlife Scholarship. 1999, 2000 and 2001
University of South Alabama Graduate Fellowship. 1994, 1995,
1996, and 1997
Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Student Research Award for
investigation of the relative role of competition and
facilitation in structuring salt marsh plant zonation in the
Northern Gulf of Mexico. 1996-97
Trustee’s Scholarship, University of West Alabama. 1988.
Honor Societies Phi Kappa Phi
Membership in Professional Organizations The Society of Wetland Scientists, the Estuarine
Research Federation, The Ecological Society of America
