My research interests include both laboratory and field investigations of the ecology of plants in extreme environments in an effort to select plants which are suitable for phytoremediation and restoration. I have successfully used native halophyte plants to reclaim salt contaminated soils in Ohio, Oklahoma, and Texas.

I have been involved with the American Chestnut Foundation for several years and have recently established a grove of blight resistant American Chestnut trees on stripmines in Ohio. Some of the trees have been inoculated with mycorrhizae and we will follow the growth and survival of these trees for the next several seasons. A long-term study of a disjunct population of American Chestnut trees in Wisconsin is also underway. We are specifically examining the genetics and founder effects (n=11) of this isolated population, which has grown to over 5,000 individuals.

Related studies involving graduate and undergraduate students include restoration work at Fernald (a former DOE uranium processing facility), a phytoremediation project at a brownfield site in Canada, and a reforestation project at a closed landfill in Cincinnati Ohio.

McEwan, R.W., C.H. Keiffer, and B. C. McCarthy. 2005. Dendroecology of American chestnut (Castanea dentata) in a disjunct stand of oak-chestnut forest. In Press. Canadian Journal of Forest Research.

McCarthy, B.C. and C.H. Keiffer. 2004. Hardwood seed production in an old-growth mixed mesophytic forest in southeastern Ohio. Pages 527-529. In D.A. Yaussy, D.M. Hix, R.P. Long, and P.C. Goebel, eds. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-316. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture. Forest Service. Northeastern Research Station. 539 p.

Leary, C.I. and C.H. Keiffer. April 2004. “Comparison of Standing Vegetation and Seed Bank Composition 1 Year Following Hardwood Reforestation in Southwestern Ohio”. Ohio Journal of Science. 104:20-28.

Leary, C.I., C.H. Keiffer, and B.C. McCarthy. June, 2003. “A reforestation approach in Southwestern Ohio: Results and Recommendations”. Restoration Ecology Vol. 21 Issue 2, p126, 26p.

Keiffer, C.H. and I.A. Ungar. 2002. Germination and Establishment of Halophytes on Brine Effected Soils. Journal of Applied Ecology. 39:402-415.

Franz, C. M. and C. H. Keiffer. 2002. Effectiveness of the EZJECT capsule Injection System against the Invasive Shrub, Amur Honeysuckle. The Ohio Woodland Journal7:19-20.

Rogstad, S.H., B. Keane, C.H. Keiffer, F. Hebard, and P. Sisco. 2001. DNA Extraction from Plants: The Use of Pectinase. Plant Molecular Biology Reporter. 19:353-359.

Keiffer, C.H. and I.A. Ungar. 2001. The Effect of Competition and Edaphic Conditions on the Establishment of Halophytes on Brine Effected Soils. Wetland Ecology and Management 9:469-481.

Keiffer, C.H. and I.A. Ungar. 1997. Germination and Survival of Halophyte Seeds following Prolonged Exposure to Hyper-saline Conditions. American Journal of Botany 84: 104-111.

Keiffer, C.H. and I.A. Ungar. 1997. The Effect of Competition and Salinity on Shoot Biomass and Ion Accumulation of Five Inland Halophytes. Canadian Journal of Botany 75: 96-107.

Keiffer, C.H. and I.A. Ungar. 1995. Germination Responses of Halophytic Seeds Exposed to Prolonged Hypersaline Conditions. In M.A. Khan and I.A. Ungar. (eds.) Biology of Salt Tolerant Plants. Dept. of Botany, University of Karachi. pp. 43-50.

Keiffer, C.H., B.C. McCarthy, and I.A. Ungar. 1994. The Effect of Waterlogging on the Growth and Survival of Salicornia europaea L., an Inland Halophyte. Ohio Journal of Science 3: 70-73.

Ungar, I.A., F. Bryan, J. Adams, and C.H. Keiffer. 1994. Eleocharis parvula (R. & S.) Link., a New Species Record for the Flora of Ohio. Ohio Journal of Science 3: 74.