Dr. Vander Yacht coordinates the Applied Forest & Fire Ecology Lab (AFFEL) at SUNY ESF which seeks to address threats to forest resources by: 1) understanding the effects of disturbance on forest structure, composition, distribution, & function, 2) integrating this knowledge into the design of modern forest management strategies, tactics, & tools, & 3) testing efficacy through application. The AFFEL explores the hypothesis that disturbance is the key to forest resilience in the face of modern stressors. More specific interests within this broad theme include:

Restoring disturbance-dependent components of forest biodiversity
Effects of disturbance on the adaptive capacity of forests
Fire and fuel ecology and management in the Eastern USA
Microbial plant-soil(-fire) feedbacks & forest regeneration
Oak (Quercus spp.) and pine (Pinus spp.) ecology and silviculture
Mechanical, chemical, and fire control of American beech competition
Ticks, tick-borne disease, and prescribed fire management
Relationships between pyrodiversity and biodiversity
Traditional ecological knowledge of forest disturbance