معرفی
Steve M. Raciti is Associate Professor of Biology and Director of Graduate Studies in Biology and Urban Ecology at Hofstra University, where he is based in the Department of Biology. Operating out of 227 Gittleson Hall on the Hempstead, NY campus, he leads an active research program examining plant-soil interactions under urbanization and global change.
Education:
- Ph.D., Cornell University
- M.S., Cornell University
- B.A., Vassar College
Research Interests:
Raciti’s overarching goal is to understand how human activities influence ecosystems and to translate this knowledge into actionable strategies for mitigating environmental problems. His work is organized around three intertwined themes:
- The role of plants and soils in mediating air and water quality.
- Urbanization-driven changes to carbon and nitrogen cycling and their consequences from local to global scales.
- The fate of natural and semi-natural ecosystems embedded within urban and suburban landscapes.
Current projects span monitoring nitrogen pollution in the Hempstead Bay estuary, managing Long-Island grasslands for species diversity, evaluating urban-tree site quality across U.S. cities, tracking carbon and nitrogen stock changes along urbanization chronosequences, conserving the threatened Seabeach Amaranth, and using remote sensing to quantify storm- and land-use-driven shifts in tree canopy cover across Long Island and New York City.
Teaching & Mentorship:
At Hofstra, Raciti teaches undergraduate courses including General Biology I, Biostatistics, and Independent/Honors Research, as well as graduate seminars and statistical-analysis modules. He has mentored graduate students such as Polly Weigand (grassland ecology) and Chris Smith (coastal plant conservation), integrating them into large collaborative research initiatives with agencies such as the Long Island Regional Planning Council, the Town of Hempstead, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
Laboratory & Collaborations:
The Raciti Lab operates within Hofstra University’s Department of Biology and frequently partners with the National Center for Suburban Studies. External collaborators include Bryant Scharenbroch (Morton Arboretum & University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point) on urban-tree site indexing, and multiple municipal and state agencies on Long-Island-wide water-quality and canopy-monitoring programs.
