General: Examining and analyzing the vascular flora and vegetational communities of East-Central Indiana
Specific: 

• Conducting floristic inventories of various federal, state, and private properties
• Analyzing the structure and composition of plant communities using permanent plot and point-centered-quarter data
• Examining the affects of forest fragmentation on herbaceous perennials, such as wild ginger, using the DNA fingerprinting technique known as Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP)

General: Cytological and molecular taxonomy of the fungal family Pilobolaceae (Zygomycota)
Specific: 

• Comparative ultrastructural and cytochemical analysis of spores and sporangia
• Population and phylogentic investigation of the Pilobolaceae using AFLP
• rDNA sequencing to elucidate taxonomy within the Pilobolaceae with the intent of   assisting the production of a monograph for the family

D.G. Ruch, B.G. Torke, B.R. Hess, K.S. Badger, and Paul E. Rothrock. 2007. The Vascular Flora and Vegetational Communities of Lick Creek Summit Nature Preserve, Wayne County, Indiana. Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science 116(2).

Baltzer, Holly, Donald Ruch, Benjamin Hess, and Byron Torke. 2007. Point-Centered-Quarter Analysis of the Upland Forest at Yuhas Woods in Randolph County, Indiana. Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science 116(1):108-109.

Ruch, D.G., B.G. Torke, C.R. Reidy, P.E. Rothrock, R. Waltz, E.A. Urly, J.L. Chance, L. Click, and K.S. Badger. 2007. The Vascular Flora and Vegetational Communities of Hayes Arboretum, Wayne County, Indiana. Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science 116(1):11-41.

Karns, D.R., D.G. Ruch, R.D. Brodman, M.T. Jackson, P.E. Rothrock, P.E. Scott, T.P. Simon, and J.O Whitaker, Jr. 2006. Results of a Short-Term BioBlitz of the Aquatic and Terrestrial Habitats of Otter Creek, Vigo County, Indiana. Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science 115(2):82-88.

Faber, T.J., K.M. Foos, and D.G. Ruch. 2006. Use of Chitinase and Chitosanase to form Sphaeroplasts from Pilobolus Sporangiospores. Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science 115(1):1-6.

Ruch, D.G. 2004. Recent Records of Macromycetes from Three East-Central Indiana Counties. Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science 113(2):99-108.

Ruch, D.G., C.R. Reidy, B.G. Torke, K.S. Badger, and R.E. Rothrock. 2004. Additions to the Flora of Ginn Woods, Delaware County, Indiana. Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science 113(1):1-6.

Stonehouse, A.L., K.S. Badger, D.G. Ruch, R.E. Rothrock. 2003. A Floristic Inventory and Description of the Structure and Composition of the Plant Communities of Botany Glen, Grant County, Indiana. Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science 112(2):135-159.

Ruch, D.G., B.G. Torke, C.R. Reidy, K.S. Badger, and P.E. Rothrock. 2002. The Flora and Vegetational Communities of Wilbur Wright Fish and Wildlife Area, Henry County, Indiana. Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science 111(2)147-176.

Ruch, D.G., M.C. Robbins, and K. Nurtjahja. 2001. The Lignicolous Fungi  of Ginn Woods, Delaware County, Indiana. Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science 110:79-93.

Foos, K.M, D.G. Ruch, and  J.A. Royer. 2001. Simple Methods for Collecting Coprophilous Fungi. Micologia Aplicada International 13(1):51-54.