Eric Burkhart

Teaching Professor, Ecosystem Science and Management

Eric Burkhart

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

Ezra Houston, Eric Burkhart, Grady Zuiderveen, Xin Chen, 2025, Ecology and Evolution

Ezra Stark, E Burkhart, Cassie Stark, Xin Chen, Sarah Nilson, 2024, Wild on p. 63-81

Eric Burkhart, John Munsell, Jeanine Davis, 2024,

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

R. Teal Jordan, Eric P. Burkhart, Margot Kaye, David Munoz, Joshua D. Lambert, 2024, Biochemical Systematics and Ecology

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,

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

Eric Burkhart, Grady Zuiderveen, Sarah Nilson, Catherine Pugh, S Nilson, Grady Zuiderveen, 2021, Economic Botany on p. 126-143

Erynn Maynard-Bean, Margot Kaye, Tyler Wagner, Eric P. Burkhart, 2020, Biological Invasions on p. 3325-3337

Grady H. Zuiderveen, Eric P. Burkhart, Joshua D. Lambert, 2021, Hortscience: A Publication of the American Society for Hortcultural Science on p. 242-243

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

R. Teal Jordan, Eric P. Burkhart, Margot Kaye, David Munoz, Joshua D. Lambert, 2024, Biochemical Systematics and Ecology

Sarah E. Nilson, Eric Burkhart, Rebecca Jordan, Joshua Lambert, 2022, Agroforestry Systems on p. 97-107

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

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.

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.

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.

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 .

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.