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Rebecca Ostertag is a professor and researcher at the University of Hawaii. She currently chairs University of Hawaii's Masters in Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science.

Early Life and Education:
Rebecca Ostertag studied biology at Carleton College in Minnesota. She attended the University of Florida, where she studied botany and gained her doctorate.

Research:
Dr. Ostertag has conducted research in the fields of applied ecology and conservation ecology with a focus on the structure and functioning of tropical rain forests. Her research has led her to both Hawaii and South America. She has analyzed how native and nonnative species impact ecosystem function. This has included subjects as diverse as how species distribution affects nutrient cycling to how nonnative species can help restore ecosystem services. Much of her current work involves restoration ecology particularly the role nonnative species can play in insulating ecosystems and native species from damage from invasive species. She is currently researching how restoration ecology can use nonnative species to restore ecosystem services and resist the impacts of invasive species.

Grants and Projects
Ostertag has also contributed to the Liko Na Pilina project, the Restoring Ecosystem Service Tool, and the Hawai’i Permanent Plot Network (HIPPNET). She is involved with a NSF grant to aid students interested in environmental science. She also has received numerous other grants from the National Science Foundation.

Teaching
Professor Ostertag currently teaches at the University of Hawaii. She teaches both upper and lower level ecology on a theoretical and practical level, with an emphasis on field work.