Ken A. Aho, Ph.D.
| ahoken@isu.edu
(208) 282-3391 Room 136B Gale Life Sciences |
 |
Education
2006. Ph.D. in Biological Sciences, Department of Ecology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT. Alpine and Cliff Ecosystems in the North-Central Rocky Mountains.
2007. M.S. in Environmental and Ecological Statistics, Department of Mathematics, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT.
1995. B.S. in Biological Sciences, Department of Biological Sciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID.
Teaching
BIOL 2209 Ecology (Fall & Spring)
BIOL 3316 Biometry (Fall & Spring)
BIOL 4408 Plant ecology (Spring)
BIOL 4496 Ecology senior seminar (Fall & Spring)
BIOL 5599 Advanced data analysis for biologists (Fall)
BIOL 5581 Independent problems (Fall & Spring)
BIOL 6692 Introduction to R (Fall)
Research Interests
One of my strongest interests is the use of statistical tools to facilitate the conservation and reclamation of native plant communities. My research in this area has resulted in new approaches for both finding the correct number of plant communities in a landscape, and modeling optimal environments of native plant communities to aid in reclamation.
I am currently the principal investigator of a study to determine the effect of exotic mountain goats on native alpine vegetation in Yellowstone National Park. This study, essentially an extension of my doctoral work, will continue through 2011. A video describing this work can be found here.
I have created an R package asbio (applied statistics for biologists) which contains hundered of functions for statistical pedagogy and biological research. Asbio serves as a software companion to a biostatistical textbook I am completing : "Statistical Foundations for Biologists, a Textbook Using R (under contract; CRC Press; release date SP 2012)".
Books
Aho, K. Under contract. (CRC Press) . Statistical Foundations for Biologists, a Textbook Using R (Publication date June 2012).
Articles
Aho, K. In review. Vascular alpine flora of Mount Washburn. Madroño.
Aho, K., Weaver, T., and S. Regle. 2011. Identification and siting of native vegetation types on disturbed land: demonstration of statistical methods. Journal of Applied Vegetation Science. 14(2) 277-290.
Aho, K., Long, R. A. Kie, J. G. and R. T. Bowyer. 2010. A new index for measuring
perpendicularity of animal movements in relation to patch boundaries. Ecological Modelling.
221: 2004-2007.
Aho, K., and T. Weaver. 2010. Ecology of alpine nodes: environments, communities,
and ecosystem evolution (Mount Washburn; Yellowstone Natl. Park). Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research. 40(2): 139-151.
Aho, K., and T. Weaver. 2008. Measuring soil water potential with
gypsum blocks: calibration sensitivity. Intermountain Journal of Sciences. 14(1-3): 51-60.
Aho, K., Roberts, D. W., and T. Weaver. 2008. Using geometric and non-geometric internal evaluators to compare eight vegetation classification methods. Journal of Vegetation Science. 19: 549-562.
Aho, K., and T. Weaver. 2006. Measuring Water Relations and pH of Cryptogam Rock-Surface Environments. The Bryologist. 109 (3): 348-357.
Aho, K., Huntly N., Moen J., and T. Oksanen. 1998. Pikas (Ochotona princeps: Lagomorpha) as allogenic engineers in an alpine ecosystem. Oecologia. 114 (3): 405-409.
Funded Grants
Aho, K.* 2010. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Statistical Engineering Division, travel grant award, $800.
Aho, K.* 2010. National Science Foundation (NSF), travel grant award, $500.
Aho, K.* 2010. Spatial analysis of Idaho National Laboratory (INL) plant community data. S.M. Stoller Corporation. Price in negotiation.
Aho, K.*, Plant Community Classification at the INL and City of Rocks National Reserve. S.M. Stoller Corporation. October 2008 - December 2009. $11,000.
Aho, K.*, White, P. J., Hektner, M., and T. Weaver. Estimating impacts of growing mountain goat populations on tundra, Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. National Park Service (NPS). April 2008 - December 2011. $196,000.
Regel, S., Weaver, T.*, and K. Aho. 2005. Vegetation habitat analysis to enhance reclamation of drastically disturbed lands. Office of Surface Mining (OSM), and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ). $65,000.
*principal investigator