Eric Burkhart
Teaching Professor, Ecosystem Science and Management
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210 Forest Resources Building
University Park, PA - epb6@psu.edu
Huck Affiliations
Most Recent Publications
Managed online panel discussions as a participatory education approach.
M Kreye, Eric Burkhart, Katie Brooks, J Kreye, A Muth, C Norman, Scott Weikert, Journal of Extension
Habitat modeling of the medicinal plant goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) near its northeastern range-edge in Pennsylvania.
Ezra Houston, Eric Burkhart, Grady Zuiderveen, Xin Chen, 2025, Ecology and Evolution
Habitat modeling of ramps (Allium tricoccum) in Pennsylvania: guidance for forest farming
Ezra Stark, E Burkhart, Cassie Stark, Xin Chen, Sarah Nilson, 2024, Wild on p. 63-81
Forest Farming
Eric Burkhart, John Munsell, Jeanine Davis, 2024,
Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis L.) Extracts Inhibit the Growth of Fungal Isolates Associated with American Ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.)
Ying Gao, Ethan Swiggart, Kaela Wolkiewicz, Prabha Liyanapathiranage, Fulya Baysal-Gurel, Farhat Avin, Eleanor Lopez, Rebecca Jordan, Joshua Kellogg, Eric Burkhart, 2024, Molecules on p. 556
Allicin and total phenolic content in ramps (Allium tricoccum Ait.) in relation to phenological stage, morphological traits, and harvest location
R. Teal Jordan, Eric P. Burkhart, Margot Kaye, David Munoz, Joshua D. Lambert, 2024, Biochemical Systematics and Ecology
Two Ramp Taxa, Allium tricoccum and A. burdickii, Differ in Abiotic Habitat Characteristics and Floristic Associates in Pennsylvania
Cassie J. Stark, Sarah E. Nilson, Eric P. Burkhart, 2023, Natural Areas Journal on p. 185-195
Nontimber forest products from Pennsylvania: Ramps/Wild leeks (Allium tricoccum)
Eric Burkhart, Cathryn Pugh, Calvin Norman, 2023,
Ramp (Allium tricoccum Ait.) weight differs across the harvest season: implications for wild plant stewardship and forest farming
Sarah E. Nilson, Eric Burkhart, Rebecca Jordan, Joshua Lambert, 2022, Agroforestry Systems on p. 97-107
The identification of mesophytic cove sites in Pennsylvania.
Calvin Norman, Eric Burkhart, Kathryn Schmidt, Ephraim Zimmerman, 2021,
Most-Cited Papers
Neither Wild nor Cultivated: American Ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) Seller Surveys Provide Insights into in situ Planting and Husbandry<sup>1</sup>
Eric Burkhart, Grady Zuiderveen, Sarah Nilson, Catherine Pugh, S Nilson, Grady Zuiderveen, 2021, Economic Botany on p. 126-143
Citizen scientists record novel leaf phenology of invasive shrubs in eastern U.S. forests
Erynn Maynard-Bean, Margot Kaye, Tyler Wagner, Eric P. Burkhart, 2020, Biological Invasions on p. 3325-3337
Influence of postharvest drying temperatures on alkaloid levels in goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis L.)
Grady H. Zuiderveen, Eric P. Burkhart, Joshua D. Lambert, 2021, Hortscience: A Publication of the American Society for Hortcultural Science on p. 242-243
Benzylisoquinoline alkaloid content in goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis L.) is influenced by phenological stage, reproductive status, and time-of-day
Grady Zuiderveen, E Burkhart, Joshua Lambert, 2021, Phytochemistry Letters on p. 61-67
Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis L.) Extracts Inhibit the Growth of Fungal Isolates Associated with American Ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.)
Ying Gao, Ethan Swiggart, Kaela Wolkiewicz, Prabha Liyanapathiranage, Fulya Baysal-Gurel, Farhat Avin, Eleanor Lopez, Rebecca Jordan, Joshua Kellogg, Eric Burkhart, 2024, Molecules on p. 556
Allicin and total phenolic content in ramps (Allium tricoccum Ait.) in relation to phenological stage, morphological traits, and harvest location
R. Teal Jordan, Eric P. Burkhart, Margot Kaye, David Munoz, Joshua D. Lambert, 2024, Biochemical Systematics and Ecology
Ramp (Allium tricoccum Ait.) weight differs across the harvest season: implications for wild plant stewardship and forest farming
Sarah E. Nilson, Eric Burkhart, Rebecca Jordan, Joshua Lambert, 2022, Agroforestry Systems on p. 97-107
Two Ramp Taxa, Allium tricoccum and A. burdickii, Differ in Abiotic Habitat Characteristics and Floristic Associates in Pennsylvania
Cassie J. Stark, Sarah E. Nilson, Eric P. Burkhart, 2023, Natural Areas Journal on p. 185-195
Slipping away? Slippery elm in the herbal marketplace - past, present and future
Eric Burkhart, 2016, Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation on p. 4
Opportunities from American ginseng husbandry in Pennsylvania
Eric Burkhart, M Jacobson, 2017, on p. 16
News Articles Featuring Eric Burkhart
Apr 25, 2025
Traditional forest medicinal plant ghost pipe used differently today
Driven by the internet and social media, consumption of a strange white plant known as ghost pipe is enjoying a resurgence — but with a twist.
Full Article
Dec 03, 2024
Better habitats for forest farming wild leeks could help future foraging demands
In their latest study, an interdisciplinary Penn State research team characterized ramp habitat for the first time in Pennsylvania, offering guidance for the agroforestry practice known as forest farming.
Full Article
Nov 26, 2024
Better habitats for forest farming wild leeks could help future foraging demands
An interdisciplinary Penn State research team characterized ramp habitat for the first time in Pennsylvania, offering guidance for the agroforestry practice known as forest farming.
Full Article
Jul 04, 2024
A rainy Pa. forest offers a fun window into an Appalachian ecology debate
Tucked deep in Pennsylvania’s verdant southwest pocket, at the elbow of a river flowing south to north, is one of the commonwealth’s wettest places. Fayette County’s Ohiopyle State Park, named for its waterfalls, sees an exceptional amount of precipitation each year. It is lush. It is biodiverse. But is it a rainforest? Appalachia claims several temperate (not tropical) rainforests, and at least one website lists Ohiopyle State Park as a northernmost example.
Full Article
Oct 16, 2023
Grants awarded to Penn State faculty for tropical ecosystems research in Belize
Three projects have been awarded seed grants as part of the Penn State-Belize Foundation for Research and Environmental Education Research and Education Initiative to develop agroforestry systems .
Full Article
Jul 26, 2023
Second species of ramp, or wild leek, documented in Pennsylvania
The presence of a second species of ramp, Allium burdickii—commonly known as narrow-leaved wild leek—has been documented in southwest Pennsylvania by a team of Penn State researchers in a new study.
Full Article
Apr 10, 2023
Little stinkers: It’s time to hunt — and celebrate — the ramps of Appalachia
In these first sunny, wonderfully balmy days of spring, nothing hits the spot — or nose — quite like ramps.
Full Article
Nov 08, 2022
Ramped up: Higher demand for wild leeks has foragers overeager, threatens plant
Early spring enthusiasm for ramps — also known as wild leeks — may be causing lower plant yields and threatening communities of the forest herb, according to Penn State researchers.
Full Article
Sep 22, 2022
The secret, lucrative world of Pennsylvania’s wild ginseng diggers
Sang, a longtime nickname for the mysterious and lucrative ginseng root, might just be Pennsylvania’s most valuable crop, often selling for hundreds of dollars per pound. Some say the slow-growing root is being exploited, overharvested by deer or greedy newcomers.
Full Article
Aug 19, 2021
Researchers help track the growth of ginseng forest farming in Pennsylvania
There is good and bad news about ginseng collection and production in Pennsylvania, and likely much of Appalachia, according to a new study conducted by Penn State researchers.
Full Article
Aug 19, 2020
Invasive shrubs in Northeast forests grow leaves earlier and keep them longer
The rapid pace that invasive shrubs infiltrate forests in the northeastern United States makes scientists suspect they have a consistent advantage over native shrubs, and the first region-wide study of leaf timing, conducted by Penn State researchers, supports those suspicions.
Full Article
Jul 15, 2020
Ecology Institute announces grant recipients
The Ecology Institute has awarded 11 proposals from across the University as part of its Flower Grant program, including five projects submitted by faculty at Commonwealth Campuses.
Full Article
Jan 08, 2020
Demand for ginseng is creating a ‘wild west’ in Appalachia
With poachers cashing in on the Chinese appetite for American ginseng, growers are arming up.
Full Article
Nov 25, 2019
Forest farms could create market for ginseng, other herbs
A transition from wild collection of herbs to forest farming needs to occur in Appalachia to make the opaque, unstable and unjust supply chain for forest medicinal plants such as ginseng sustainable, according to a team of researchers who have studied the market for more than a decade.
Full Article