Research Awards and Grants (2018)

December 31, 2018 CNR Web

Each month College of Natural Resources faculty receive awards and grants from various federal, state, and nongovernmental agencies in support of their research. This report recognizes the faculty who received funding between January 2018 and December 2018.

Powering Energy Efficiency and Impacts Framework: Mapping a comprehensive regional energy strategy for Upper Coastal Plain Council of Government Region (PEEIF)

Households in the five counties of the Upper Coastal Plains Council of Government (UCPCOG) spend an average of 35.92% of their total income on energy, compared to 10% for the average US household. Reducing the energy burden of low-income and energy intensive homes is a major challenge for local governments in the UCPCOG region. There are a number of federal, state, local programs that are targeted on improving energy efficiency for low-income households; however, these programs are run independently, leading to little, if any coordination. Our proposed framework allows for integrated planning, combined evaluation of impacts, and tracking of real energy savings from these programs. Our Powering Energy Efficiency & Impacts Framework includes an enterprise geodatabase of all the federal, state, utility, and local programs in the region. The spatial database will allow for a number of data analyses, including segmentation and cluster analysis. The data will be overlayed with various other external data to identify and target low-income households in the region. Our tool will be integrated with Resispeak, a utility energy analysis software, which will help track energy savings associated with the programs. Resispeak will also be used to identify homes with high energy intensity and to provide targeted outreach for applicable energy efficiency programs. This framework will allow UCPCOG and local governments in the region to conduct integrated planning, and informed decision-making, while creating a platform for independently run programs to collaborate, track associated energy savings, and increase program impacts.

Sponsor Name: Upper Coastal Plain Council of Governments (UCPCOG), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) – Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
PI(s) Name: Ross Meentemeyer, Center for GeoSpatial Analytics; Charlynne Smith, Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management
Budget: $124,094

Technology Development for Production of Concentrated Biosugar for Industrial Fermentation

The greatest challenge facing the bio-based economy is the ability to produce biomass-derived products that are cost-competitive with products derived from petroleum. Biomass contains 55~70% carbohydrate in its structure depending on the type of biomass and thus, biosugars (e.g. glucose and xylose) from cellulose and hemicellulose are promising intermediates for fuels, chemicals, and materials production via fermentation and catalytic conversion. It is our ultimate goal to develop a cost effective process of biosugar production for 21st century’s bioeconomy. The main goal of the project is to update the process model in ASPEN Plus® process simulation software with the input from the project team leaders and conduct the economic analysis to provide a feedback.

Sponsor Name: Korean Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT)
PI(s) Name: Sunkyu Park, Forest Biomaterials
Budget: $80,357

Insect Bite-proof Textiles For Military Uniforms

Vector-borne diseases have had a devastating impact on the readiness of combat troops. Because of their increased exposure through training and operations out of doors, deployed military personnel are often at greater risk of receiving arthropod bites than endemic populations. Mosquito resistance to existing insecticidal chemistries is problematic in some areas of military operations. Military personnel are also concerned that exposure to chemical treatments has adverse effects on their health or that of their family members. As a result, compliance in the use of required protective measures, especially use of insecticides and repellents, is often low among military personnel deployed in theatres of operation. Therefore, there is an urgent need to improve upon the current insecticide-based protection system and to develop an alternative effective bite-proof system, which reduces the insecticide dose and human exposure to chemical treatments. In the proposed work, we will produce and evaluate non-insecticidal bite-proof textile structures, compare their performance with traditional insecticidal textiles and develop non-insecticidal bite-proof garment prototypes, which will be tested under field conditions on human subjects. The ultimate goal is to integrate the non-insecticidal bite-proof technology into practical soldier garments for better protection against vector-borne diseases.

Sponsor Name: Armed Forces Pest Management Board, U.S. Department of Defense (DOD)
PI(s) Name: Marian McCord, College of Natural Resources
Budget: $95,000

Physical Activity Research Center (PARC) (previous title: Park Use and Physical Activity Among Children in Low Income and Racial and Ethnic Minority Communities)

In many regions of the country, policy and environmental changes have led to increased physical activity and lower obesity among children. Unfortunately, racial and ethnic and income disparities in childhood overweight and obesity remain and in some instances have widened. To reduce disparities, close examination of how policies and practices related to the built environment can intervene against childhood obesity for highest risk populations is needed. Therefore, we propose to examine patterns of park use among children from different racial and ethnic groups. Parks are widely available and affordable community resources that can increase routine physical activity among children during non-school hours (or out of school time). Although several studies show that parks and related environmental factors tend to increase the likelihood that children will be physically active, few studies include comparisons by race/ethnicity within low income communities.

Sponsor Name: University of California – San Diego, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
PI(s) Name: Myron Floyd and James Aaron Hipp, Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management
Budget: $10,872

A Longitudinal Mixed-method Study Of Korean Transnational-split Families’ Sport And Recreation Participation, Acculturation, And Subjective Well-being

The proposed study will employ a longitudinal mixed-method design to: (Aim 1) Examine the relationship among sport/recreation patterns, transnational family contacts, and subjective well-being of KTSF; (Aim 2) Examine the relationship between sport/recreation patterns of KTSF in the U.S. and their acculturation to the host society; (Aim 3) Explore how KTSF’s sport/recreation patterns evolve during the transnational period. The study will consist of two phases. The Phase 1 will include a questionnaire survey of 400 adult members of KTSF (husbands and wives) and children age 11-18 (middle school and high school age). In Phase 2, 15 families selected from among those who had participated in the survey will be asked to take part in in-depth, individual interviews.

Sponsor Name: University of Seoul, National Research Foundation of Korea
PI(s) Name: Kangjae Lee, Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management
Budget: $6,373

Hosting the Southeast Climate Science Center

The guiding strategy of the Southeast Climate Science Center (SE CSC) is to provide staffing and institutional support for core SE CSC mission areas. The SE CSC’s mission involves supporting researchers and managers to co-produce science connected to management decisions (actionable science), coordinating logistics and communications to bring partners and the community together (within NCSU, with USGS researchers, and across the broader community) to discuss global change impacts to the DOI mission, and training the next generation (graduate students) and current managers on how to use and develop global change science.

Sponsor Name: US Geological Survey (USGS)
PI(s) Name: Nils Peterson, Jamian Pacifici and Ryan Emanuel, Forestry and Environmental Resources; Erin Seekamp, Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management
Budget: $484,566

Predicting SRWC Productivity And Economic Feasibility

Woody feedstocks are expected to play a major role in the future sustainable renewable energy production. Economically viable short rotation woody crop (SRWC) production is particularly significant in North Carolina due to prominent wood pellet exports to Europe and evolving bioenergy markets. Extrapolating field-scale studies to state-scale assessment of feedstock productivity for North Carolina is a necessary tool to facilitate stakeholder decision making for SRWC procurement and for recommending best management practices to landowners. Our on-going studies have demonstrated that Populus can be grown productively throughout North Carolina, yet individual landowners will need to assess the merit of growing SRWCs on their own land based on their specific site conditions. Potential industrial users of wood feedstocks also need regional assessments of regional-scale potential for sustainable provision of adequate feedstocks before investing in new facilities. We will refine and validate an existing forest productivity model (3-PG model) for SRWCs including poplar, sweetgum, green ash, sycamore, and loblolly pine depending on their productivity performances at our sites. We will also perform plantation-level and regional-scale economic analyses based on the productivity predictions. Data from existing plantations in the coastal plain, piedmont, and mountain regions of North Carolina will be used for model validation

Sponsor Name: NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
PI(s) Name: Elizabeth Nichols, Dennis Hazel, Rachel Cook and Solomon Ghezehei, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Budget: $147,092

Capacity Building – Phase X: Increasing the Pool for the Development of a Multicultural Geospatial Workforce and Connection to Underserved Communities Across the US

This project builds upon and expands the Forest Service’s Partnership Outreach and Capacity Building, and the Multicultural Workforce Strategic Initiative Programs, and is an initiative that represents an opportunity for substantial collaboration between Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI), the 1862 land grant institutions, the Puerto Rico Commonwealth environmental and educational agencies, and the public served by the consortium/partnership

Sponsor Name: U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
PI(s) Name: Stacy Nelson, Center for Geospatial Analyitcs
Budget: $3,125

The Potential for Tall Wood Building to Sequester Carbon, Support Forest Communities and Create New Options for Forest Management

The project consists of a rigorous side-by-side comparison of CLT, steel, and concrete buildings considering the individual buildings and the integrated manufacturing and forestry system. It will involve a comprehensive, integrated study of the potential for CLT wood building to serve as a driver for: 1) Near-term carbon sequestration, and for providing other environmental benefits relative to alternative construction materials; 2) New opportunities for creating affordable housing for families and under-served communities; 3) Local and regional economic development associated with both the production of mass timber products, and new building construction; 4) New options for managing forests, that may allow forest land owners to economically thin overcrowded forest stands and remove standing dead and dying trees; and 5) Project results will be incorporated into a multi-attribute decision support tool to allow for the analysis of trade-offs, and used to focus the public discussion on the benefits and costs of the wide-scale deployment of CLT building systems.

Sponsor Name: U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities, Inc., U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
PI(s) Name: Stephen Kelley, Neethi Rajagopalan, Yuan Yao, and Ronalds Gonzalez, Forest Biomaterials
Budget: $80,357

GIS analysis of the benefits of State and Private Forest lands for water supply in the southern United States

Forests and water are inextricably linked, and people are dependent on forested lands to provide clean, reliable water supplies for drinking and to support local economies. As more than 90% of the forested land in the South is privately owned, water supplies in the region are at risk of degradation from continued conversion of forests to other land uses to support a growing population. Given the variety of threats to surface water, it will be increasingly advantageous for forest managers to highlight the importance of sound forest management practices in the interest of maintaining clean and abundant water supplies to drinking water intakes in the region. The USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station has worked to quantify the dependence of communities and populations on water originating on forested lands in 13 southern states. The goal of this proposed work is to generate public information materials, databases and map products that will quantify water supply originating from State and Private Forests lands and the populations served in the South.

Sponsor Name: US Forest Service
PI(s) Name: Stacy Nelson and Zakiya Leggett, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Budget: $127,736

Micro-Particles Generated from Laundering of Cotton and Other Fabrics

It is the objective of this proposal to define the quantity and characteristics of cotton fibers released during the laundering of garments and to compare the results to other fabrics. Further, this study aims to estimate the fate of these cotton fibers released in laundering during the waste water treatment process (screening, primary water treatment and secondary water treatment) as well as its degradation characteristics in oceans and lakes.

Sponsor Name: Cotton Research and Development Corporation
PI(s) Name: Richard Venditti and Joel Pawlak, Forest Biomaterials
Budget: $30,607

‘Bioreactive Distillation’ for Converting Transgenic Poplar into Industrial Chemicals by Extremely Thermophilic Caldicellulosiruptor

To realize the potential for producing fuels and chemicals from renewable resources in sustainable ways, bioprocess engineering strategies are needed that optimally integrate genetically modified feedstocks and metabolically engineered microorganisms. Extremely thermophilic bacteria from the genus Caldicellulosiruptor not only natively deconstruct lignocellulose to fermentable sugars but also can be engineered to subsequently produce industrial chemicals. By operating at high temperatures characteristic of extreme thermophiles, contamination risk can be virtually eliminated, thereby allowing bioreactor operation to align with well-established chemical processing technology rather than require approaches akin to pharmaceutical manufacturing. Furthermore, by strategically choosing target chemicals, separation of product from fermentation broths can exploit product volatility at elevated temperatures (‘bioreactive distillation’), thereby significantly reducing energy costs associated with recovering dilute products from large aqueous streams. This project has the following objectives:

1) Using a novel, high temperature bioreactor configuration, characterize deconstruction and conversion of wild-type and transgenic poplar lines to fermentation products at high feedstock loadings by wild-type Caldicellulosiruptor bescii;

2) Improve existing transgenic poplar lines to minimize recalcitrance and maximize deconstruction and conversion of lignocellulose to fermentation products by wild-type C. bescii;

3) Metabolically engineer C. bescii to produce acetone from cellobiose, and then optimize conversion efficiencies and rates at bioreactor scale using a novel process intensification schemes (‘bioreactive distillation’);

4) Using optimized transgenic poplar and metabolically engineered C. bescii, produce acetone from lignocellulose at bioreactor scale, and determine the impact of feedstock loading and processing conditions on conversion efficiency, yields, volumetric productivity, and product recovery.

Sponsor Name: US Department of Agriculture (USDA)
PI(s) Name: Vincent Chiang, Forest Biomaterials
Budget: $249,994.10

Collaborative Research: Regional Impacts of Increasing Fire Frequency on Carbon Dynamics and Species Composition in the Boreal Forest

The Arctic and boreal systems are warming faster than any other portion of the globe. In recent decades, Alaska has warmed twice as rapidly as the contiguous U.S. with additional warming of another 2-8 °C projected by the end of the century. Fire frequency and mean area burned have also significantly increased throughout the circumpolar north, threatening to disrupt this region by causing major shifts in successional pathways and significantly altering C dynamics. Our goal is to quantify the potential for large-scale changes in carbon (C) sink strength, C stocks, and vegetation in boreal forests due to climate change and repeated wildfires by integrating detailed, mechanistic field and lab work with dynamic, spatially explicit landscape modeling. Working in central Alaska, we will: (1) determine how fire frequency and climate change affect successional trajectories and above- and belowground C cycling, and (2) assess how the mechanisms that cause tipping points between vegetation types (i.e. conifer, hardwood, graminoid) and C sequestration (i.e. sink, source) vary spatially and temporally. To achieve our objectives, we will empirically measure above- and belowground C stocks, productivity, heterotrophic respiration, soil temperature and moisture content, and active layer thickness in the field and quantify C mineralization using laboratory soil incubations. We will also develop and validate a physically based permafrost/hydrology module for a widely-used, high resolution landscape simulation model (LANDIS-II) to forecast long-term dynamics of species composition and C sink strength given projected changes in climate (including thawing permafrost) and fire.

The fast pace of climate warming and an increase in fire frequency over the past few decades in northern latitudes has raised concerns about major shifts in vegetation and the long-term ability of ecosystems to capture and store C. Boreal forest ecosystems account for about 33% of all forests worldwide and contain about 45% of the world’s C stocks with the majority (~85%) stored belowground. For the past 6,000 years, black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) has been the dominant species on this landscape, exhibiting substantial resilience to changes in climate. However, unprecedented warming (causing earlier snowmelt, permafrost thawing, and longer growing seasons) and the emergence of a new fire regime over the past 60 years threatens to disrupt the existing dominance of black spruce and release globally significant amounts of C into the atmosphere. In some regions of interior Alaska, the fire return interval has decreased to only 10-50 years, favoring deciduous tree species and graminoids over conifers and significantly altering the timing and magnitude of C sequestration rates. An improved understanding of how C cycling and species composition of boreal forests will respond to climate change and disturbances at a fine spatial scale is critical to accurately project the future of the entire boreal-arctic region.

Sponsor Name: Portland State University, National Science Foundation (NSF)
PI(s) Name: Robert Scheller, Forestry and Environmental Resource Biomaterials
Budget: $21,933

Southeast Regional CESU Rally: Collaboration and Cooperation in Protecting Ecosystems

The goal of the 2018 Southeast Regional Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Rally is to disseminate and facilitate collaborative and interdisciplinary applied projects in the general area of conservation science and management.

Sponsor Name: NC Biotechnology Center
PI(s) Name: Marian McCord, College of Natural Resources
Budget: $350

Loblolly Pine Biomass Genetics/Cropping Study 2016-2017

Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) is the primary woody bioenergy feedstock for North Carolina. There are over 2.6 million acres of pine plantations in NC, and almost all have been established with loblolly pine genotypes from the NCSU Cooperative Tree Improvement Program. The 5-year-old Loblolly Pine Biomass Genetics/Cropping Study at the NCDA&CS Umstead Farm at Butner, NC is a unique field laboratory where we are evaluating the genetic differences in traits that impact biomass/bioenergy traits. In this field trial, we planted 10 of the best Coastal and 10 of the best Piedmont loblolly pine varieties with varying degrees of adaptation, growth, and wood characteristics. At age 3 years, Coastal families grew faster but suffered more cold damage and stem malformations than the better adapted Piedmont families. Funding is sought to continue this critical experiment and to better understand the genetic basis of variation in biomass/biofuel traits and improve pine varieties for biomass production. Trees will be at the ideal age to collect wood samples and measure density, strength, and moisture content to project dry weight yields and biomass/bioenergy value.

Sponsor Name: NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
PI(s) Name: Steve McKeand, Fikret Isik, Ross Whetten, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Budget: $91,944

Torrefaction

The College of Natural Resources torrefaction machinery at Lake Wheeler Field Laboratory will process up to 6,000 lbs. of Miscanthus pellets/Arundo donax grass and unspecified biomass pellets supplied by Jacobs Engineering. These results will be provided to Jacobs as part of an EPA project administered by Jacobs Engineering.

Sponsor Name: US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Jacobs Engineering
PI(s) Name: Daniel Saloni, Forest Biomaterials
Budget: $39,120

Baseline Assessment of Timber Products Output (tpo) In North Carolina

The main goal of this survey is to assess the production of primary forest product mills during the 2017 calendar year. One goal of this project is to eliminate mill non-responses. This is a key issue in setting an accurate baseline prior to anticipated future program changes. In order to complete the TPO process in a timely manner NC State will need to provide monthly status updates to the NCFS. The overall goal is to complete the 2017 TPO survey by the end of the 2018 calendar year. Completed mill survey reports should be provided to the NCFS. The NCFS will verify reported data and send all completed survey forms to the USFS FIA unit in Knoxville by the end of the 2018 calendar year. North Carolina will survey approximately 185 primary processors for the 2017 TPO cycle.

Sponsor Name: NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
PI(s) Name: Phil Mitchell, Harry Watt, Forest Biomaterials
Budget: $30,000

Biomass Torrefaction with Supercritical CO2

With the advent of supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) being used for power generation it is believed that the exhaust from the sCO2 turbine (>500oC, and pressures of >103 bar) can be used to extract value-added materials from biomass and to leave the extracted biomass more amenable to mechanical pulping. The remaining torrefied wood can be cofired with coal to provide fuel with a lower net carbon footprint. This work will help explore the broad feasibility of this approach by addressing the following questions.

Sponsor Name: Leonardo Technologies, Inc., US Department of Energy (DOE)
PI(s) Name: Marko Hakovirta, Forest Biomaterials
Budget: $30,000

Growing Greener Foundations Through Urban Parks with Purpose (Walnut Creek Wetland Community Partners)

WRRI and CNR will coordinate activities with the Walnut Creek Wetland Community Partnership to developing new community capacity and resources in the communities surrounding the Walnut Creek wetlands in Raleigh. Community members will be engaged to identify green space providing multiple benefits for people and the environment. Learning and career opportunities will be created as part of the project, to engage middle and high school students with the Center for Human and Earth Restoration, and to create part-time internships or positions to support the work.

Sponsor Name: Conservation Fund, Conservation Fund
PI(s) Name: Louie Rivers, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Budget: $40,000

Identifying Functional Variation In Complex Plant Genomes

Plant breeding is beginning to incorporate new tools based on genomic resources and methods, although the rate of availability and adoption of new tools and resources varies from species to species. Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.), the most-planted timber crop species in the United States, now has a draft sequence assembly of the 23-billion-basepair genome, and researchers are actively seeking ways to exploit this resource for purposes of applied breeding. The objective of this proposal is to test the hypothesis that specific regions of the pine genome are enriched in sequence variants that affect phenotype, and therefore have practical value for applied pine breeding purposes. A variety of methods will be used to add value to the current draft assembly, with the goal of creating a more useful resource for pine breeders to use in increasing the productivity and adaptability of loblolly pine. Preliminary data showing the feasibility of each of these methods in loblolly pine are available. The same or similar methods could be applied to other agricultural species, so benefits of this research will extend to crop and livestock breeders.

Sponsor Name: US Department of Agriculture (USDA) – National Institute of Food and Agriculture
PI(s) Name: Ross Whetten, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Budget: $490,000

Understanding the Machinability of MDF and HDF (I-02-VE)

The manufacturing of MDF and HDF with UF resins and PMDI resins results in different machinability of the fiberboards. One method of assessing machinability is edge panel quality after processing with a router. This is illustrated in the photos included. Both adhesives result in boards that meet physical property standards such as IB, TS, MOR and MOE but, it is observed that these boards machine differently. The use of hardwood versus softwood species also influences machinability. Perhaps the resin loading level and distribution of resin on the fiber surface influences machinability. It is important for both resin suppliers and MDF/HDF manufacturers to understand the way these resins interact and adhere to fibers and the how they affect properties like machinability.

Sponsor Name: National Science Foundation (NSF), Oregon State University
PI(s) Name: Daniel Saloni and Guillermo Velarde, Forest Biomaterials
Budget: $50,598

Evaluation of Trail Improvement Projects

Relevant to the evaluation, improving trail conditions increases the quality of trails, leading to higher accessibility and usage, enhanced visitor experiences, and increased health outcomes. Primary performance measures that will guide the evaluation plan will be taken from the National Performance Measures Instructions (Environmental Stewardship Focus Area) Addendum document published by CNCS, item EN5: Number of miles of trails or waterways (owned/maintained by national, state, county, city or tribal governments) that are improved, and/or created. Projects scheduled for treatment will be the population and a census approach will be used. The evaluation team will provide online training modules on the use of assessment tools and protocols to establish reliable observations.

Sponsor Name: Colorado Youth Corps. Association (CYCA)
PI(s) Name: Michael Edwards, Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management
Budget: $3,990

Database Integration Workshop: Building the Data Capacity for Food-Energy-Water Research

Energy and water are two critical sources for food production, developing sustainable agriculture system requires a wise management and balance among food, energy, and water systems. Intensive efforts have been made by the research community, government agencies, and the industry to generate data to meet the needs of various stakeholders, but such data is highly scattered and have not been integrated yet for the potential application of big data. We believe many solutions to addressing complex sustainability issues in U.S. food supply chains, especially those related to water and energy use, could be generated through the integration of different datasets and by providing easy-accessing, knowledge-sharing data management platforms or frameworks for decision makers in policy, academic, and industrial communities. In this project, we propose to host a 1.5 days workshop to gather experts from government agencies, academia, and the industry to discuss, brainstorm, and identify critical issues and future directions of big data investment for addressing FEW challenges. The topic is highly aligned with multiple program area priorities, such as bioenergy, natural resources, and environment, agriculture economics and rural communities, critical agricultural research and extension, and agriculture systems and technology. Insights generated in the workshop will be significantly helpful for USDA to identify priorities, future barriers, and funding needs to benefit U.S. food and agriculture, energy, and water sectors.

Sponsor Name: US Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)
PI(s) Name: Yuan Yao and Richard Venditti, Forest Biomaterials
Budget: $37,198

LTREB Collaborative Proposal: Climate Driven Acidification In Lowland Neotropical Streams: Building On 25 Years Of Groundwater-surface Water Interactions

This is an REU supplement for my project in Costa Rica. If awarded, this will fund one student to go to Costa Rica for the summer of 2018 to conduct research. The student will work on a long-term stream buffering experiment that is part of our funded project.

Sponsor Name: National Science Foundation (NSF)
PI(s) Name: Marcelo Ardon-Sayao, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Budget: $8,050

Tissue Day at NC State 2018 “Fiber Development, Sourcing Trends, and Innovation”

High fiber prices and constraints in fiber supply are topics of paramount interest for the hygiene tissue industry in North Carolina and the U.S.A. Several reasons can be referenced to expect a future of constant high fiber prices and potential disruption in supply. China, who imports more than 50% of the recycled fiber produced worldwide is the pre-eminent market driver for fiber cost, and market analysts indicate this trend to continue in the long term. Additionally, the reduction in consumption and production of writing paper (as an effect of the digital era) lead to the fact that fewer paper quantities will be available for recycling; furthermore, low fiber quality is currently an important issue, and it will continue to get worst. Based on calculations performed by our research group, the total fiber cost increase for the U.S. tissue industry in 2016 (in the facial tissue, bath tissue, hand towel, kitchen towel, and wipes markets) was more than USD 400 million, while fiber prices continue to maintain high levels in 2017. The latter factors present a compelling basis for attempts to enhance US competitiveness in these markets through a fundamental and applied understanding of fiber supply availability, conversion, and production processes. We are therefore excited to present Tissue Day at NC State 2018, which will focus on “Fiber Development, Sourcing, Trends, and Innovation.” We are proud to showcase more than 14 global experts who will discuss trends in the tissue industry, changes in consumption patterns, development, and outlook, and how that translates into fiber demand, supply, and pricing. This unique venue will feature discussions on fiber development and the use of biotechnology and nanotechnology on tissue manufacturing to reduce manufacturing cost, but also to increase and deliver additional value to consumers and manufacturers. In North Carolina, for example, there are two mills (Cascade and Vonhdrel) that produce nearly 200,000 tons per year of hygiene tissue; these production facilities can benefit from strategic research focused on reducing fiber cost and improving properties of the final product. NCSU has responded to the opportunity and challenges shown by existing and future tissue market trends and needs, by establishing the Tissue Pack Innovation Lab (www.go.ncsu.edu/tissue) whose purpose is to serve the local and global tissue industry. The singular goal of this event is to connect researchers within NC State University and State of North Carolina with the hygiene tissue and personal care industry and thus explore opportunities for collaboration in research.

Sponsor Name: NC Biotechnology Center
PI(s) Name: Ronalds Gonzalez, Lucian Lucia, Joel Pawlak and Marko Hakovirta, Forest Biomaterials
Budget: $2,500

TEA and LCA for Bioenergy and Bioproducts at Domtar

Although Domtars suggested approaches to convert excess pulp into wood-based sugar and then ferment it into biofuels and other valuable coproducts are innovative, in order to ensure their applicability compared to alternative systems their economic and environmental performance need to be evaluated as a combined integrated biorefinery system. After demonstrating the integrated biorefinery system, the economic and environmental performance of it will be evaluated using techno-economic analysis and Life Cycle Analysis (LCA)-based environmental assessment tools respectively. Broader implications of implementing these technologies across the pulp and paper industry will also be assessed. The improved efficiencies are expected to enhance the economic competitiveness of domestic pulp manufacturers and contribute to rural economic development through job creation and retention in an industry that employs hundreds of thousands of individuals and utilizes hundreds of millions of TPY of biomass.

Sponsor Name: Domtar Inc.
PI(s) Name: Ronalds Gonzalez, Forest Biomaterials
Budget: $50,000

CAREER: Trajectories of ecosystem recovery in coastal wetlands under a changing climate: connecting the dots with student research, citizen science and classroom data

Coastal wetlands provide important ecosystem services, such as flood protection, habitat for wildlife, and water quality improvement. Despite the recognition of their valuable services, local land use and global climate change are driving the loss of coastal wetlands. This project will examine the capacity of North Carolina coastal wetlands to continue to provide ecosystem services under a changing climate. The project will use remote sensing, tree ring analyses, field surveys and experiments, and new statistical methods to examine the response of both forested wetlands and marshes to droughts, storms, and increasing salinity. Past research has tended to focus on either forested wetlands or marshes, rarely has the response of both wetland types been studied together.

This project will adapt recently developed methods to identify “early warning signals” that could help forecast the loss of coastal wetlands. It will advance theoretical understanding of the structure and function of wetlands, while answering management relevant questions to help prevent wetland loss. The project will engage middle school teachers, undergraduate and graduate students, and citizen scientists in long-term ecological research by creating new curricula, field based exercises, a graduate course, and a citizen science mobile device application. The project will support three graduate students, five undergraduate students, and five middle school teachers over five years. The project will also advance the career of a young investigator that is a member of an underrepresented group.

Sponsor Name: National Science Foundation (NSF)
PI(s) Name: Marcelo Ardon-Sayao, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Budget: $225,564

An Operational Multisource Land Surface Phenology Product from Landsat and Sentinel 2

Dense time series of moderate spatial resolution imagery from the Sentinel 2A and 2B Multispectral Instrument (MSI) and the Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) are presenting the land remote sensing community with exciting new opportunities to monitor, map, and characterize temporal dynamics in land surface properties with unprecedented spatial detail and quality. By combining imagery from all three sensors, users will be able to exploit multi-temporal information in a way that has not been previously possible. At the same time, the large data volumes and high-dimensionality of blended time series from Landsat 8 and Sentinel 2 introduce substantial new challenges for users who wish to exploit these data sets.

Land surface phenology (LSP) products, which synthesize both the timing of phenophase transitions and also quantify the nature and magnitude of seasonality in remotely sensed ecosystem conditions, provide a simple and intuitive way to reduce data volumes and redundancy, while at the same time retaining information that is useful to a wide range of applications including ecosystem and agro-ecosystem modeling, monitoring the response of terrestrial ecosystems to climate variability and extreme events, crop-type discrimination, and land cover, land use, and land cover change mapping. Methods to monitor and map phenology from coarse spatial resolution instruments such as MODIS are both mature and operational. However, the spatial resolution of MODIS is inadequate for most of the applications identified above.

The goal of this proposal is to address the need for LSP data products at moderate spatial resolution. To this end, we propose to implement an operational Land Surface Phenology product at moderate spatial resolution based on blended time series of Landsat 8 OLI and Sentinel 2A and 2B MSI data. To demonstrate the need for this product, describe the strategy we propose, and illustrate the viability of our algorithm, this proposal includes four main elements. First, we summarize the background and justification for our proposed product. Second, we provide a formal definition for our proposed LSP data product, which includes a set of Science Data Sets (SDSs) that identify the timing of phenophase transitions and characterize the nature and magnitude of seasonality in remotely sensed land surface conditions. Third, we describe an algorithm that we developed and tested over the last several years, along with the input data requirements required for our proposed product. Fourth, we provide a detailed strategy for product validation along with validation results from a wide range of land cover types that demonstrate the effectiveness and accuracy of our algorithm.

For the initial implementation, we propose to generate our product at continental scale for North America at 30-meter spatial resolution using the Harmonized Landsat-Sentinel (HLS) data set that is being generated by NASA. Finally, as part of this effort, we propose to collaborate with Prof. Lars Eklundh at Lund University in Sweden, one of the pioneers of land surface phenology, who is funded in Europe to develop land surface phenology algorithms and data sets based on Sentinel-2.

Sponsor Name: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Boston University
PI(s) Name: Josh Gray, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Budget: $64,885

A longitudinal mixed-method study of Korean transnational-split families’ sport and recreation participation, acculturation, and subjective well-being

The study will consist of two phases. The Phase 1 will include a questionnaire survey of 400 adult members of KTSF (husbands and wives) and children age 11-18 (middle school and high school age). In Phase 2, 15 families selected from among those who had participated in the survey will be asked to take part in in-depth, individual interviews.

Sponsor Name: National Research Foundation of Korea, University of Seoul
PI(s) Name: Kangjae Lee; Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management
Budget: $13,830

Building Community Capacity around the Walnut Creek Wetlands in SE Raleigh

Project leads propose to continue work on building capacity for natural resource management in the community surrounding the Walnut Creek Wetlands in Southeast Raleigh. We will build on previous efforts of learning from residents about issues of concern and installing a demonstration rain garden. The project will involve building and engaging leadership of local high school students who are long-term participants of the Neighborhood Ecology Corps. NEC students will help with both portions of the project, including 1) We will conduct short term hydrologic monitoring and analysis to better understand localized flooding concerns; 2) we will host community workshops to educate about local water resources and engage residents in identifying potential locations for small green infrastructure projects to meet multiple goals. Funding will then be sought for installing a follow-up project.

Sponsor Name: Pisces Foundation, American Rivers, Inc.
PI(s) Name: Louie Rivers, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Budget: $5,000

Intercropping POPULUS for Bioenergy and Veneer

Producing feedstocks for bioenergy remains a national long-term priority. The congressionally-mandated Renewable Fuel Standard remains in effect and targets will increase with time. Many states have Renewable Portfolio Standards while the European Union increasingly is relying on the U.S. for feedstocks to support their energy and carbon policies. With low feedstock prices and high costs of establishment and production for purpose-grown energy crops, few landowners will engage in production until the enterprise is more profitable. We believe that using a modified short-rotation woody crops (SRWC) system, a high-value Populus veneer can be co-produced with energy feedstocks in North Carolina with little yield loss for feedstocks by growing high biomass-yield clones selected for the specific site based on our research with clones selected for veneer. Columbia Forest Products Inc. has expressed great interest in using Populus logs for veneer production following the outcome of processing Populus logs for veneer at their Old Fort facility in North Carolina. We propose to evaluate the efficacy of the hybrid feedstock/veneer SRWC system and evaluate the potential landowner incomes and investment quality using our established plantations, the enterprise budget and decision tool already developed, and the Populus productivity model (3PG) under development for North Carolina. We will screen and evaluate available clones for biomass yield and potential for veneer, determine optimum spacing and rotation regimes for the modified SRWC system to maximized economic returns and conduct investment quality analyses of such projects for North Carolina.

Sponsor Name: NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
PI(s) Name: Solomon Ghezehei and Elizabeth Nichols, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Budget: $132,512

Evaluating the Promise and Potential Impacts of R3 Efforts Targeting College Students

Declining hunting participation negatively impacts state and federal agencies’ ability to achieve wildlife management objectives and generate revenue for conservation activities. The decline is driven, in large part, by decreasing numbers of young adult hunters. Our study will focus on one particularly promising audience – college students – in an attempt to reverse these declines. We will addressing NCN #9 by identifying opportunities for recruiting new hunters as well as retaining or reactivating individuals with previous hunting experience. To accomplish this, we will work with multiple state agencies and public universities in two-phased project. First, we will survey diverse undergraduate students at participating universities to assess their hunting-related perceptions and behaviors and highlight potential R3 programming and outreach opportunities targeting specific subgroups. Second, we will utilize this information to develop, implement, and evaluate R3 workshops for college students without (or with very little) previous hunting experience. Our goal is to reveal best practices for cultivating and sustaining positive perceptions of and participation in hunting across different geographical and cultural contexts. Results shared via a Practitioner’s Guide (with suggested R3 Program Outline), academic publications/presentation, and workshops will help agency professionals, educators, and researchers understand and connect with young adult audiences.

Sponsor Name: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of the Interior
PI(s) Name: Lincoln Larson and Kangjae Lee of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management; and Nils Peterson, Forestry and Envrionmental Resources
Budget: $123,071

USDA NIFA: Spatial Congruence between Biodiversity and other Ecosystem Services across Scales in a Managed Landscape Mosaic

Rangelands in semi-arid and arid regions represent managed agroecosystems that provide wildlife habitat and multiple ecosystem services. However, these benefits are at risk from environmental change. In particular, shrub encroachment into grasslands is an important issue in many drylands worldwide. The overall goal of our project is to integrate ecological and social science approaches to understand how restoration efforts using shrub removal in the Chihuahuan Desert are affecting biodiversity and other ecosystem services across spatial and temporal scales. Such knowledge is needed to inform adaptive management by agencies, such as the Bureau of Land Management, that are attempting to produce resilient and sustainable landscapes. Managers need to know not only how much land to treat (including what would be too much), but also where treatments should be placed. Our overall hypothesis is that emergent properties at the landscape level will strongly determine the nature of and congruency of ecosystem services. This proposal will examine whether restoration efforts that remove shrubs are able to restore and retain ecosystem services over multiple spatial and temporal scales in the Chihuahuan Desert.

Our research project has a set of interrelated specific objectives designed to meet our overall goal: (1) Determine how restoration efforts are affecting multiple aspects of animal diversity, including songbirds, lizards, a keystone rodent, and scaled quail, a declining game bird. (2) Evaluate how these wildlife responses depend on landscape mosaic effects and time since treatment. (3) Determine responses of plant diversity to shrub removal. (4) Quantify how primary production and carrying capacity for livestock are affected by restoration treatments. (5) Determine whether reintroduction of a keystone species changes the pace of restoration trajectories and affects ecosystem services, including primary production and livestock productivity. (6) Assess stakeholder interpretations of management success and contrast perceptions among groups regarding ecosystem services being delivered from restored landscapes. (7) Integrate biodiversity, supporting services, provisioning services, and cultural ecosystem services into the assessment of socioecological systems. (8) Transfer knowledge gained about complementarities and trade-offs among biodiversity and other ecosystem services to land management agencies so future treatments can be advantageously placed to maximize benefits from rangelands.

Sponsor Name: University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign; US Department of Agriculture (USDA) – National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)
PI(s) Name: Bethany Cutts, Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management
Budget: $20,615

Breeding Bird Response to Wildfire in the Southern Appalachians Across a Burn-Severity Gradient

Populations of many disturbance-dependent breeding bird species are in decline, in part because the availability of open-canopied, young forest has decreased. Earlier research indicated that breeding bird abundance and species richness in the southern Appalachian region increases dramatically after high-severity burns, due to an influx of species associated with the increase of open-canopied forest. In western montane forests, bird response to mixed-severity fire is a complex interaction between pre-fire conditions, burn severity, and time since fire, yet less is known about these relationships in eastern US forests. Unprecedented wildfires throughout the southern Appalachians during fall, 2016 provide a unique opportunity to study breeding bird response across a range of fire severities in upland hardwood forest. Our research will test the hypothesis that disturbance-dependent bird species occurrence and overall breeding bird abundance will increase with burn severity. This research has important applied implications for breeding bird conservation and forest management.

Sponsor Name: US Department of Agriculture (USDA) – Forest Service
PI(s) Name: Chris Moorman, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Budget: $4,500

Johns Island Community Conservation Initiative: Ecosystem Services Mapping and Land Protection Toolkit

The Johns Island Community Conservation Initiative promotes the conservation of working farm and forest land on Johns Island to preserve provisioning, regulating, and cultural ecosystem services that are valued by the Johns Island community. This project will support the initiative by quantifying and mapping three criteria: (1) conservation value, including local and scientific perspectives on provisioning, regulatory, and cultural services; (2) threat of development, based on the Futures model; and (3) opportunity to protect, based on (a) property size and tenure, (b) landowner willingness to participate, and (c) availability of funding and legal support for conservation tools appropriate for different areas (e.g. coastal marsh vs. working farmlands) and landownerships (e.g. heir property vs. clear title). We will obtain spatially explicit information on these criteria through mapping workshops with the traditional island community; a survey of landowners in zones of high conservation value and threat to identify their preferences and constraints on participating in different conservation tools; and an assessment of the legal and financial feasibility of conservation tools appropriate for the conservation priorities mapped in the workshops and landowner preferences identified through the survey. This work will establish the groundwork for a strategy and toolkit for conservation of the working landscapes of Johns Island.

Sponsor Name: Lowcountry Land Trust, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation
PI(s) Name: Jelena Vukomanovic, Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management; Erin Sills, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Budget: $79,986

Watershed Response To Land Use And Climate Change In Central North Carolina

This agreement establishes a collaborative research effort with NC State University and the College of Natural Resources Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources. The objectives will provide policy-relevant scientific research on the current and changing conditions of water resources in the North Carolina Piedmont, a region of rapid human population growth and development.

Sponsor Name: US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
PI(s) Name: Katherine Martin, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Budget: $44,980

Green Space Characteristics and their Association with Population Health

The project supported under this agreement will allow the research team to compile and integrate data from multiple sources to address additional questions about green space and health. Using secondary data sources, the additional objective seeks to answer questions related to the relative importance of individual, household, and neighborhood factors that contribute to use of urban green space, and how green space use translates to perceived health.

Sponsor Name: US Forest Service
PI(s) Name: Myron Floyd and Aaron Hipp, Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management
Budget: $6,725

Restoring Ecosystems and Biodiversity through Development of Safe and Effective Gene Drive Technologies

Our goal is to develop safe, controllable, and effective gene drive technologies that can potentially be applied to eradicate invasive rodent populations on islands. We propose to achieve this by preventing the development of female progeny, thereby reducing population numbers and reproductive capacity. Invasive rodents directly and indirectly cause extinction and endangerment of species on islands globally and represent a major threat to biodiversity. Invasive rodents have these effects by directly preying on native species, out-competing them for resources, and destroying sensitive habitat. Pursuit of this goal is therefore closely aligned with the DARPA-relevant application of maintaining and protecting ecosystem biodiversity. Our proposed research under the Safe Genes program addresses Technical Areas 1 and 3 using three genetic model systems: Escherichia coli, fruit fly, and mouse. Project activities will be in three areas: genetics and reproduction; modeling and risk assessment; and ethics, engagement and communication. Impacts will include findings relevant to mitigating and reversing adverse gene drive effects and public and stakeholder engagement addressing broader concerns of international communities.

Sponsor Name: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
PI(s) Name: Jason Delborne, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Budget: $1,028,568

Forest Health Monitoring and Assessment

The Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) Program is a long term, national monitoring and research effort focusing on forest ecosystems. This interagency program is designed to assist resource managers and policy makers in managing forest resources in the United States, allocating funds for research and development, and evaluating the effectiveness of environmental policies. FHM national reporting efforts include an annual technical report that presents analysis and synthesis of technical information at national and multi-state levels as well as other publications that provide information about national forest health conditions and management priorities. Through the work in this agreement, the principal investigators and other research personnel will provide the Forest Health Monitoring Research Team of the USFS Southern Research Station’s Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center (EFETAC) with data analyses, natural resource assessments, and technical writing skills in support of the national Forest Health Monitoring Program’s annual technical report, and other research, analysis, and reporting tasks. The principal investigators and other personnel will also provide support to the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program in documentation development and updates for field procedures and the FIA public database.

Sponsor Name: US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
PI(s) Name: Fred Cubbage and Kevin Potter, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Budget: $277,012

Distribution and Abundance of the Neuse River Waterdog in North Carolina

Salamanders (Amphibia: Caudata) are an extremely diverse order of ectothermic organisms that occupy a wide array of habitat types and perform vital ecological roles for the systems in which they inhabit (Davic & Welsh, 2004). Many salamander species remain under-researched and poorly understood, resulting in minimal management and large uncertainty about the potential effects of such management. One example species is the Neuse River Waterdog, Necturus lewisi. N. lewisi is endemic exclusively to the Neuse and Tar River basins in Eastern North Carolina. Population trends are largely unknown, but current surveying indicates possible declines of 10-30% across the species’ range. Declines in abundance are likely to continue despite being classified as a “Species of Greatest Conservation Need” by the North Carolina State Wildlife Action Plan, because this status does not guarantee research and management funding in the same way threatened and endangered species might. Without proper research, it is virtually impossible to know the impacts of current management on N. lewisi and its habitat. The purpose of this grant is to conduct a multi-year project to increase knowledge about Neuse River Waterdog demographics, population size, and associations with habitat health to better manage for the species’ future survival.

Sponsor Name: NC Wildlife Resources Commission; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
PI(s) Name: Krishna Pacifici, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Budget: $115,139

Forest Health Retrospective: A National Evaluation of Insect and Disease Extent and Impact

The Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) national program of the USDA Forest Service determines status, changes, and trends in indicators of forest condition across all forested lands. FHM reports, produced in cooperation with North Carolina State University, quantify forest area affected by insects and disease only on a yearly basis. Similarly, the forest health section of the Resource Planning Act (RPA) Assessment, which reports on status and trends of renewable resources on forest and rangelands, has summarized recent FHM reports and provides mortality statistics from the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) database. A retrospective analysis examining trends in different aspects of forest health over recent decades would provide context to annual FHM reports (highlighting the periodicity of threats), lay the foundation for developing forest health projections within the RPA Assessment, and inform land management planning.

Sponsor Name: US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
PI(s) Name: Kevin Potter and Fred Cubbage, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Budget: $60,000

Impact of Youth Corps Partnerships on Partner Capacity

Working in a partnership model, conservation corps provide land management agencies with resources that support youth development and community engagement [Engagement], a dependable workforce that balances high quality work with reduced agency costs [Efficiencies], and ensure the enhanced ability of public land agencies to sustainably provide for conservation and visitor recreation [Enhancement]. Relevant to the evaluation, the primary long-term impact associated with these program activities ensures resource institutions, managers, and industries have the long-term capacity to sustainably manage natural resource assets. Conservation corps work with public land agency partners at multiple levels. However, most of this work occurs on federal and state lands. Two important partners for conservation corps are the USFS at the federal level and respective State Parks at the state level. This evaluation will focus on the ability of participating corps to enhance the capacity of these two organizations. The overall aim of the current evaluation is to examine the outcomes of corps program on partners. The primary outcome-related goal is to determine, through a matched, quasi-experimental design, whether there is evidence that host partners demonstrate higher levels of engagement, efficiency, and environmental stewardship than similar, non-hosting affiliates. The primary research questions of this evaluation are: Using partner interviews and surveys, this evaluation will address the following research questions: Does hosting a conservation corps program increase public land agency partners’ capacity to: Engage youth and communities? Manage organizational resources more efficiently? More effectively manage public lands for conservation and visitor recreation?

Sponsor Name: Montana Conservation Corps
PI(s) Name: Michael Edwards and Erin Seekamp, Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management
Budget: $194,836

Insect Bite-proof Textiles For Military Uniforms

Current garments for military personnel protection from vector-borne diseases rely on insecticide-treated textiles. While effective, these materials have the drawback of losing function upon laundry and weather, poor wearing comfort, insect resistance and other environmental consequences. More importantly, military personnel are concerned that long-time exposure to chemical treatments has adverse effects on their health. The proposed work will use the most recent advance in textile technology to build a novel bite-proof textile system that can provide effective protection against vector-borne diseases, maximize wearing comfort, minimize the adverse effect to human health and mitigate the occurrence of vector resistance to insecticides. The mechanism of such materials could be solely as a physical barrier or its hybridization with chemical treatment. Due to the unique textile structure to be studied in this work, the chemical treatment is prevented from direct skin touch to significantly reduce the risk of exposure. The ultimate goal is to use these novel physical and hybrid bite-proof textiles for both military uniforms and recreational clothes for soldiers not on service at the deployed site. Garment prototypes will be assembled for field test. Such textiles are expected to have great potential for commercial applications as well.

Sponsor Name: Armed Forces Pest Management Board; US Department of Defense (DOD)
PI(s) Name: Marian McCord, College of Natural Resources
Budget: $150,000

Genetic Resource Conservation of Threatened and Endangered Tree Species in the Eastern United States

The eastern United States is home to some of the most biologically diverse temperate forests in the world that provide a number of ecosystem services including clean air and water, carbon storage, recreational opportunities, and wood and fiber to feed a growing population’s need for solid wood and paper products. These critical forest ecosystems are anchored by more than 140 tree species, many of which are threatened by natural and human-caused disturbances including native and exotic insects, diseases, invasive plants, tropical weather systems, wildland fire, development, fragmentation, and climate change (per Forest Tree Genetic Risk Assessment System, Potter and Crane, 2010). As tree populations begin to decline, dynamic approaches to ex situ genetic resource conservation are necessary to secure seed resources for long-term preservation and the eventual restoration of the species and ecosystems. The knowledge gained and materials produced through this agreement will further the mission of the U.S. Forest Service R8 National Forest System Genetic Resource Management Program. It will help to further support the ecosystem health, diversity, sustainability, and productivity philosophy espoused by the U.S. Forest Service. And further, will contribute seed for the restoration of disturbed or degraded forests throughout the eastern United States. The Cooperator will benefit through the strengthening of its genetic resource conservation program, the production of new scientific knowledge, the generation of technical and peer-reviewed publications, and training and education opportunities for students. The objectives accomplished through this agreement will demonstrate that the U.S. Forest Service and Camcore/N.C. State University are leaders in the field of genetic resource conservation of threatened and endangered tree species.

Sponsor Name: US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
PI(s) Name: Robert Jetton and Gary Hodge, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Budget: $81,000

Target-tree Release to Improve the Sustainability of Eastern Hemlock in the Southern Appalachian Mountains

This project will develop and validate a silvicultural tool that improves the health and sustainability of eastern hemlock, an ecologically keystone species in the southern Appalachians threatened by the invasive hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA). Individual or small clusters of “target” trees (i.e., suppressed or intermediate eastern hemlocks with moderate to good crown health) will be released by removing or girdling other stems competing for sunlight directly above and adjacent to the target trees. Increased sunlight is expected to improve hemlock crown health via improved carbon balance, enhanced foliage production, and reduced HWA settlement rates relative to unreleased trees. Treatments will be replicated at a number southern Appalachian sites and will evaluate release by girdling vs. felling and variations on the size of the resulting canopy gap. Operationally, the tool is expected to prolong hemlock health and survival and increase the efficacy of existing HWA management tools (e.g. biological and chemical control) when integrated with them.

Sponsor Name: US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
PI(s) Name: Robert Jetton and Gary Hodge, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Budget: $44,316

Forest Health Monitoring, Assessment, and Analysis

The Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) Program is a long term, national research and monitoring effort focusing on forest ecosystems. This is an interagency program that is designed to assist resource managers and policy makers in managing forest resources in the United States, allocating funds for research and development, and evaluating the effectiveness of environmental policies. FHM national reporting efforts include an annual technical report that presents analysis and synthesis of technical information at national and multi-state levels as well as other publications that provide information about national forest health conditions and management priorities. Through the work in this agreement, the principal investigators and other research personnel will provide the Forest Health Monitoring Research Team of the USFS Southern Research Station’s Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center (EFETAC) with data analyses, natural resource assessments, and technical writing skills in support of the national Forest Health Monitoring Program’s annual technical report, and other research, analysis, and reporting tasks. The principal investigators and other personnel will also provide support to the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program in documentation development and updates for field procedures and the FIA public database.

Sponsor Name: US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
PI(s) Name: Barbara Conkling, Fred Cubbage and Kevin Potter, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Budget: $15,000

Improving Models for Forecasting Suppression Expenditures by Federal Land Management Agencies

The additional funding for this joint venture agreement will allow us to continue to prepare suppression expenditure evaluations for an additional year. These evaluations eventually lead to the suppression expenditure forecast reports that are required by congress 4 times annually. We continue to explore causal factors, and particularly, factors that are forecastable, such as the Nino34 forecasts made by NOAA that have recently been found to influence the flow of expenditures throughout the year. In addition, we are seeking to understand how changes in land cover influence the sustainability of forests and local communities that rely on those forests, as these are important inputs into the management of forest lands to sustain productivity resulting from a changing climate. This work will jointly benefit NCSU and the SRS—SRS will obtain expertise in benefits transfer and input/output modeling from NCSU, and SRS will obtain expertise in wildfire and expenditures from SRS.

Sponsor Name: US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
PI(s) Name: Erin Sills, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Budget: $28,500

Simulating Emerging Urban Spatial Patterns for Assessing Future Water-Use Scenarios

The goal of this proposal is to provide past and current land cover data, project scenarios of urban growth, and evaluate projected scenarios to enhance our understanding of extent, patterns, and trends of future land cover change. This information will be critical input to groundwater and surface-water models being developed by the US Geological Survey as part of a National Water Census Focus Area Study in the Coastal Carolinas.

Sponsor Name: US Department of Interior (DOI), US Geological Survey (USGS)
PI(s) Name: Ross Meentemeyer, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Budget: $10,855

Water, Climate, and Food in the Anthropocene

The overarching goal of this work is to use multisensor fusion techniques to generate improved maps of cropland extent, crop type, and cultivation intensity from remotely sensed imagery, and use these data in a simulation system to reveal the independent, and combined, effects of cultivation and climate changes on inland surface water resources.

Sponsor Name: National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA)
PI(s) Name: Joshua Gray, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Budget: $91,417

Collaborative Proposal: Combining NEON and remotely sensed habitats to determine climate impacts on community dynamics

This project will create biodiversity models for the abundance of organisms using data from the NEON system and the GJAM statistical models developed by colleagues at Duke University. We will focus on mammal and insect systems expected to be driven by variation in seed mast by trees. We will combine existing NEON data on plants, insects, and small mammals with new data on seed production and medium-large mammals.

Sponsor Name: National Science Foundation (NSF)
PI(s) Name: Roland Kays, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Budget: $240,000

Lake Tahoe West Expanded LANDIS Modeling

This program of work describes anticipated accomplishments and deliverables for initial phase of the third Sierra Nevada Public Lands Management Agency (SNPLMA) Lake Tahoe project for North Carolina State University. This project extends previous LANDIS-II modeling work done in the Lake Tahoe Basin to include new modeling scenarios, make explicit linkages to the science team, improve fire modeling under climate change, and tightly integrate hydrology.

Sponsor Name: US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
PI(s) Name: Robert Scheller, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Budget: $14,999

Assessing the Transferability of a Historic Resources Decision Support Model for Optimized Budget Allocation and Adaptation Planning

This research project is a collaborative study with the National Park Service, including staff of the South Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative (SALCC), to communicate and expand decision guidance for budget optimization and adaptation planning. The study will synthesize existing data sources from two separate projects at Cape Lookout National Seashore and determine the transferability of a decision support tool to a minimum of one other National Park Service site with vulnerable coastal cultural resources.

Sponsor Name: US National Park Service, US Department of Interior
PI(s) Name: Erin Seekamp, Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management
Budget: $44,912

Doctoral Dissertation Research: Evaluation of a Subcanopy Solar Radiation Model Under Real-Sky Conditions with Field Validation Measurements

Solar radiation is the main source of heat to headwater streams, but has remained challenging to estimate because headwater streams are small, numerous, spatially and temporally variable, often concealed by riparian vegetation, and traverse long distances through variable topography, landcover, and atmospheric conditions. Recent advances in remote sensing techniques and computational power provide an opportunity to include atmospheric and vegetative shading effects in spatially explicit and extensive high resolution models of solar radiation which could improve estimation of the amount solar radiation reaching headwater streams. This study will include both atmospheric and forest canopy conditions by parameterizing real-sky atmospheric conditions in a recently developed high resolution subcanopy solar radiation modeling method and evaluate the accuracy of the estimates with direct measurements of subcanopy solar radiation in a montane, forested, headwater basin. This will be done by computing atmospheric attenuation parameters from satellite remote sensing data for inclusion in the implemention the Subcanopy Solar Radiation Model, a recently developed method that incorporates solar radiation attenuation through forest canopies by adding a light penetration index derived from airborne LiDAR data to an established GIS solar radiation model. Two components of atmospheric attenuation of solar radiation will be characterized, using existing methods and publicly available data for the study area, to parameterize the model; the Linke Turbidity value, a measure of atmospheric absorption, reflection, and scattering by aerosols and water vapor (not including clouds), and the clear-sky index, a measure of cloudiness, needed to parameterize the effects of real sky conditions of the total amount and relative proportions of direct and diffuse solar radiation passing reaching the canopy surface. Estimates will be evaluated with an existing dataset of high-accuracy pyranometer measurements of solar radiation collected during summer in a forested headwater basin in the Southern Appalachian Mountains at sites representing a range of canopy types and sky conditions. It is expected that using real-sky atmospheric conditions in the model will improve the accuracy of the estimates in comparison to parameterization with climatological monthly mean values and assumptions of completely clear sky conditions.

Sponsor Name: National Science Foundation (NSF)
PI(s) Name: Stacy Nelson and Laura Belica, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Budget: $14,001

Assessment of non-wood Fibers for Hygiene Tissue Manufacturing

Feasibility study regarding the feedstock delivery and technology approach to pulping cost-advantaged non-wood fibers as a partial substitute for bleached kraft hardwood pulps in tissue, towel, and napkin.

Sponsor Name: US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
PI(s) Name: Ronalds Gonzalez, Forest Biomaterials
Budget: $44,400

A Multi-Scale Satellite-Based Indicator of Climate Change Impacts on Land Surface Phenology

Our climate indicator will communicate concise, intuitive, and quantitative metrics of climate change impacts on land surface phenology (LSP) at multiple assessmentrelevant spatial scales. National-scale maps of LSP normals and interannual anomalies will be produced by applying state-of-the-art algorithms to MODIS and VIIRS image time series. These maps, in combination with statistical summaries of LSP patterns and trends, will provide accessible, intuitive and climate assessment relevant remotely sensed LSP metrics. Further, by developing strategies to seamlessly integrate time series of LSP metrics from MODIS and VIIRS, our e↵ort will lay the foundation for long-term monitoring of LSP in the years to come. To maximize its utility for the National Climate Assessment (NCA), our climate indicator will provide data sets that synthesize LSP results at spatial scales and for geographic units that are of specific relevance to NCA Regions and Sectors, and will provide data visualization, exploration, and download tools that link remotely-sensed LSP metrics to ground observations. In doing so, our LSP climate indicator will provide robust metrics of particular significance to the Sectors, Regions, and Cross-Cutting Topics National Climate Assessment teams. Specifically, we will provide long-term normal and annual anomaly LSP metrics, and long-term trends in these metrics over time, for the nation, NCA Regions, and individual states. These spatial units are selected to provide LSP metrics in units that are both intuitive and that address National Climate Assessment priorities. A key feature of our proposed climate indicator is that it is designed to be flexible in terms of the geographical units to which is applied, and hence, more focused and specific LSP climate indicators can be produced that are tailored to specific end-user needs. To demonstrate this capability, we will collaborate with scientists at the USGS, the NPN, and the National Park Service to produce LSP climate indicators for National Park lands that will allow park managers to monitor, quantify, and develop strategies in response to climate change impacts on these critical national resources. By working directly with end-users at the NPS and USGS, we will refine the indicators and the way they are delivered to maximize their decision-support value

Sponsor Name: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
PI(s) Name: Joshua Gray, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Budget: $136,087

National Firewood Workshop, Michigan 2018

This subcontract covers the work by Harry W. Watt, Wood Products Specialist at North Carolina State University to take a leading role in the development of the 2018 National Firewood Workshop under the leadership of the host, Michigan State University. This grant will also provide follow up activities after the workshop.

Sponsor Name: Michigan University
PI(s) Name: Phil Mitchell and Harry Watt, Forest Biomaterials
Budget: $15,000

National Priorities: Transdisciplinary Research into Detecting and Controlling Lead in Drinking Water

The EPA lead and copper rule shares responsibility for reducing water lead hazards between water utilities and consumers. The first incarnation of this rule appropriately emphasized utility-centric frameworks with corrosion control, pipe replacement in some circumstances and public education. Over-confidence in the effectiveness of corrosion control and pressures on utilities and regulators to cut corners to support the utility centric framework have resulted in several water crisis in which consumers were falsely informed that their water is safe to drink when it was not. Revelations from the Flint water crisis and its aftermath has undermined consumer trust in government at all levels, the U.S. EPA, water utilities, and potable water quality, in general. The obvious failure of the utility-centric model has caused many consumers to abandon potable water for cooking and drinking, which has serious financial impacts on consumers, negative implications for the environmental and fiscal sustainability of cities, and has fueled environmental justice concerns in Flint and elsewhere. This research proposes a bottom-up consumer-centric framework to complement and balance the existing top-down utility-centric approach.

Research goals are to 1) help consumers to first understand their personal responsibility to protect themselves from water lead risks dependent on their particular circumstance (e.g., responsible party for corrosion control, responsible party for lead-bearing plumbing, source water chemistry), 2) develop quantitative models and resources that help consumers predict their relative risk for elevated lead in water as a function of their water supply, neighborhood and existing plumbing materials, 3) examine low cost sampling test methodologies and approaches that can help consumers verify the model predicted risk, 4) evaluate the costs and benefits of potential interventions, and 5) help restore trust and the water utilities role as an honest broker.

Three in-depth case studies will be executed to gather data to inform the quantitative models and the consumer-centric bottom-up framework, which represent extremes of responsibility currently placed on consumers including: 1) private well owners who have 100% responsibility for controlling water lead risks, 2) State of MI residents served by public water supplies who will be protected by the most rigorous lead and copper rule in the nation effective 2018, and 3) residents of small rural potable systems whose are supposedly protected by the existing LCR but who live in circumstances that historically have made compliance difficult to achieve. These case studies will demonstrate that the level of responsibility that is placed on the consumer, ultimately determine the framework and quantitative models that they will need to follow, in order to appropriately share their responsibility.

Sponsor Name: US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech)
PI(s) Name: Caren Cooper, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Budget: $540,000

Long-Distance Dispersal and Disease Outbreaks: Effects of Initial Prevalence, Basic Reproduction Number, and Control Tactics

Empirical data and modeling studies will be used to: 1) Determine effects of initial disease prevalence, spatial pattern of initial disease prevalence, and basic infection number on disease spread; 2) Compare the efficacy of reactive ring culling, reactive ring vaccination or chemotherapeutic applications, timing and extent of reactive ring treatments, and broad-scale population protection for disease control; and 3) Determine the influence of initial disease prevalence and basic infection number on the efficacy of these control tactics against pathogens exhibiting long-distance dispersal. Modeling studies of wheat stripe rust, foot-and-mouth disease, sudden oak death, and arboviruses will be conducted. Extensive comparative modeling will be conducted through factorial combinations of models and input data among the different diseases. Generalized theory and models will be developed to predict rules-of-thumb for the control of diseases caused by pathogens with long-distance dispersal. Data from natural experiments with sudden oak death and foot-and-mouth disease, and manipulative experiments with wheat stripe rust, will be used for model validation/verification. The project will determine the importance of initial disease prevalence, the spatial pattern of initial disease prevalence, and the basic reproduction number on the spread of diseases caused by pathogens with “fat-tailed” dispersal kernels, and the interaction of these biological variables with control practices such as reactive culling, reactive vaccination or chemotherapeutic applications, and broad-scale protective strategies. The work is fundamental to our understanding of disease spread, and is crucial to predicting the spread of epidemic invasions and designing disease control strategies. The work is potentially transformative as it will provide a rare opportunity to test such hypotheses in natural and manipulative field experiments, and because the applicability of a broad diversity of plant, animal, and human pathogens with fat-tailed dispersal kernels will be rigorously evaluated via the interdisciplinary modeling efforts. Conclusions should apply over a very wide range of spatial scale due to the nature of dispersal kernels of pathogens that have the potential for long-distance dispersal.

PI(s): Ross Meentemeyer, Center for Geospatial Analytics
Sponsor(s): Oregon State University, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) – National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)
Amount Awarded: $131,764.00

USGS NCCWSC Program: Southeast Climate Science Center (Recompetition)

PI(s): Nils Peterson, Forestry and Environmental Resources; Erin Seekamp, Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management; Lara Pacifici, Forestry and Environmental Resources; Ryan Emanuel, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Sponsor(s): US Geological Survey (USGS)
Amount Awarded: $897,618.00

Unearthing the interacting nontuberculous mycobacterial, environmental, and host determinants of lung disease in the islands of Hawai’i

The main objectives of this proposal are to fill current gaps in knowledge of nontuberculous mycobacteria ecology and disease transmission using the Hawaiian Islands as a model to understand the critical factors that influence how NTM inhabiting water and soil environments become infectious agents responsible for a recalcitrant lung disease. The specific aims of this proposal are to 1) conduct island-wide environmental sampling and use genomic profiling, soil and water analyses, and climate data to survey the environmental and epidemiological factors associated with the frequency and diversity of NTM in Hawai’i; 2) conduct a comprehensive comparative analysis of matched Hawaiian environmental and clinical NTM isolates to identify species of NTM and to link environmental influences and patient behavior with prevalence of NTM infection; and 3) build a predictive model of NTM transmission to understand disease dynamics in the Hawaiian Islands. This model may then be used to study these bacteria and associated lung disease with results that are likely generalizable to other areas of the world.

PI(s): Jamian Pacifici, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Sponsor(s): University of Colorado – Denver, National Science Foundation (NSF)
Amount Awarded: $20,183.00

Proving Cross Laminated Timber Panels for Residential Homes

Proposed development of CLT panel systems in the US has focused on large lumber gluing and layup systems, presses and CNC machining centers that require high equipment and facility costs approaching $30 million. The result of such high investment requirements is that few US CLT operations exist and none are currently in operation in the US South. This project will develop an alternative strategy able to produce 80% of the output of a large size CLT panel plant at 2% of the investment cost. It is possible to quickly develop a forest products industry niche for CLT panels using existing equipment resources once used by the casegoods furniture industry by using a small size batch process format. These presses are capable of manufacturing 4’x8’ panels for residential homes, pressing multiple CLT panels per batch press cycle. These Residential CLT panels (RCLT) can be used for walls, floors, and roof decking for use by general contractors with the support of knowledgeable architects and organizations like the APA. The National Forest System has excess low-quality materials that need to be removed to improve forest health, reduce fire danger and assist the local economy. These lower grade materials are plentiful and are suitable for residential CLTs. Material for RCLTs could include Southern yellow pine and the mixed hardwood species that can also be processed into veneers for hardwood plywood. An objective of this project is to evaluate suitable species for lumber and plywood RCLT for use in building residential homes. This project will demonstrate a manufacturing system by making samples of RCLTs in several existing furniture cold presses, pressing a stack of several RCLTs in batches. The project includes the development of joinery types to connect the panels for assembly. The goal is to successfully manufacture RCLT panels that pass the APA PRG 320 Standard using the two lumber grades approved by the APA (#2 yellow pine for faces and #3 for the core and cross bands) and hardwood veneers using this low capital approach.

PI(s): Philip Mitchell, Forest Biomaterials; Harry Wade Watt, Forest Biomaterials
Sponsor(s): US Department of Agriculture (USDA) – Forest Service
Amount Awarded: $249,758.00

CNH-L: Visualizing forest futures under climate uncertainty: integrating indigenous knowledge into decision support tools for collaborative decision making.

Scope of Work NC State University Robert Scheller, Professor at North Carolina State University will be responsible for providing oversight of the LANDIS-II modeling component. In addition, Dr. Scheller will conduct model optimization as needed, particularly for the new forest succession (NECN-H) extension and interfacing LANDIS-II with the visualization tool. He will facilitate running the model simulations on high-speed servers. He will also assist with stakeholder workshop preparation and facilitation. Finally, he will assist in the preparation of all related manuscripts.

PI(s): Robert Scheller, Forest Biomaterials
Sponsor(s): Pennsylvania State University
Amount Awarded: $68,669.00

Standard: Establishing Ethical Norms of Data Integrity and Management in Citizen

“Citizen science” refers to a broad spectrum of ways in which scientists and members of the public collaborate in scientific discovery, and scientists and practitioners engaged in the use of citizen science is a rapidly growing part of the scientific community. However, because citizen science can be initiated and funded outside of traditional institutions and conventional regulatory oversight mechanisms, and creates new circumstances overlooked by regulatory oversight, the field has an ethics gap. The gap presents an opportunity to create and disseminate new frameworks, building an ethical culture at the outset of an emerging field to proactively address issues as they emerge. We focus on the common denominator to nearly all citizen science projects: volunteer data collection and use. We propose to survey current and ideal practices and the use of human-centered design to create ethical culture in collaboration with the Citizen Science Association (CSA) with the goals of: (1) Identifying and guiding responsible research by practitioners in the emerging field of citizen science, and (2) building CSA’s capacity to establish and maintain ethical norms in a burgeoning field.

PI(s): Caren Cooper, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Sponsor(s): National Science Foundation (NSF)
Amount Awarded: $400,000.00

From Sidewalks to Pixels, Using Google Street View and Computer Vision to Create a National Sidewalk Inventory

The contractor will conduct a literature review and write a white paper that explores the feasibility of automating audits of Google Street View images for the identification of sidewalks. The white paper will include, but not be limited to, answers to four questions: 1. What are the computing and programming requirements to detect sidewalks in Street View photographs with existing computer vision technology? 2. How can computer vision techniques be automated to process large volumes of Google Street View images? 3. What are the potential scope and performance capabilities of an automated sidewalk surveillance tool prototype? 4. Are there other current or emerging technologies or image sources that should be considered in future work?

PI(s): James A. Hipp, Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management
Sponsor(s): McKing Consulting Corporation, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
Amount Awarded: $29,933.00

Interactive Analytics for Natural and Cultural Resource Management at Congaree National Park

This project will improve access to and leverage the full benefits of the extensive—though arguably underutilized—research archive at Congaree National Park. NC State will compile and document geospatial information on research sites (sampling locations, plots, transects, etc.) at Congaree National Park (CONG) that can be associated with derivative research publications. The derivative products will provide staff, researchers, and partners at Congaree National Park with the ability to both locate research sites associated with specific research publications and identify publications related to research sites throughout the park. Improved access to research locations and findings will improve the following: (1) resource management decisions affecting specific locations in the park, (2) resource management decisions affecting specific habitat types, (3) identification of potentially understudied areas in the park; and (4) capacity for future research proposals and permits to leverage pre-existing data in site selection and data analysis. Improving access to geographic data and science research results throughout the park will also improve compliance and field activities for all areas of park operations including visitor and resource protection, interpretation, and trail management. These products will facilitate research access and maximize utilization by NPS staff, researchers, and partners. An analysis of geographic and temporal biases in the distribution of sampling sites can help prioritize future research locations or sampling sites and form recommendations for data management.

PI(s): Jelena Vukomanovic, Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management; Justin Shedd, Center for Geospatial Analytics
Sponsor(s): US National Park Service, US Department of Interior
Amount Awarded: $31,872.00

Developing Standards-Based Educational Modules for Green Buildings and Sustainable Materials

The overall goal of the project is to develop a systematic framework and reusable education modules to teach undergraduate and graduate students about various standards and standards-based analytical tools related to green buildings and sustainable materials. Modules will be integrated into existing courses in the College of Natural Resources and the College of Design at NCSU. We will focus on maximizing the replicability of those modules in both traditional classroom environments as well as online learning so that they can be adapted by universities nation-wide. Webinars and workshops in conferences will be offered to broaden the impacts and promote the modules. Real-world case studies will be critical parts of the modules and developed through the PI(s)’s research projects and support from project collaborators.

PI(s): Yuan Yao, Forest Biomaterials; Stephen Kelley, Forest Biomaterials
Sponsor(s): National Institute of Standards & Technology
Amount Awarded: $75,000.00

Insect Bite-proof Textiles For Military Uniforms

Current garments for military personnel’s protection from vector-borne diseases rely on insecticide-treated textiles. While effective, these materials have the drawback of losing function upon laundry and weather, poor wearing comfort, insect resistance and other environmental consequences. More importantly, military personnel are concerned that long-time exposure to chemical treatments has adverse effects on their health. The proposed work will use the most recent advance in textile technology to build a novel bite-proof textile system that can provide effective protection against vector-borne diseases, maximize wearing comfort, minimize the adverse effect to human health and mitigate the occurrence of vector resistance to insecticides. The mechanism of such materials could be solely as a physical barrier or its hybridization with chemical treatment. Due to the unique textile structure to be studied in this work, the chemical treatment is prevented from direct skin touch to significantly reduce the risk of exposure. The ultimate goal is to use these novel physical and hybrid bite-proof textiles for both military uniforms and recreational clothes for soldiers not on service at the deployed site. Garment prototypes will be assembled for field test. Such textiles are expected to have great potential for commercial applications as well.

PI(s): Marian McCord, Forest Biomaterials
Sponsor(s): Armed Forces Pest Management Board, US Department of Defense (DOD)
Amount Awarded: $126,222.00

Determining Use, Economic Impacts and Value of Game Lands in North Carolina

We will: 1. Assess Game Land use in NC by estimating user days for key groups including: a. White-tailed deer hunters b. Black bear hunters c. Turkey hunters d. Small game hunters e. Hikers/walkers f. Birders g. Other recreationists (e.g., boaters, bicyclists) 2. Determine the economic contribution of Game Lands to the counties where they are located and to North Carolina, by: a. Assessing the economic impact of recreational activity that can be attributed to Game Lands b. Assessing the economic impact of recreational activity attributed to specific amenities on Game Lands including shooting ranges and field trials areas 3. Determine the non-market value of Game Lands in NC for beneficiaries in the counties where they are located by estimating: a. Willingness to pay by users and by local residents (as reflected in property values) b. The fiscal impact of Game Lands on local governments, by examining trade-offs between the amount and value of taxable land

PI(s): Nils Peterson, Fisheries and Wildlife; Yu-Fai Leung, Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management; Erin Sills, Forestry and Environmental Resources; Jamian Pacifici, Fisheries and Wildlife
Sponsor(s): NC Wildlife Resources Commission and US Department of Interior
Amount Awarded: $30,000.00

Geo-IDEAs: Geo-Innovation, Developing Analytic Solutions for Wake County

This project will establish a partnership between the Center for Geospatial Analytics at NC State University and the Wake County Innovation Lab to form a team to develop geospatial visualizations and analytics solutions for internal and external Wake County government stakeholders. This effort will support projects for the Wake County Innovation Center / GeoLab that require specialized computational skillsets. Overall, the objective of the project is to develop solutions in emerging geospatial technologies, to contributing high-level geospatial science and computational skills, to the advancement of Wake County Innovation Lab application development and delivery, and to increase the geospatial analytical capabilities that the Innovation Lab provides to departments and stakeholders. The research group will focus on geospatial analytics and the development of visualizations and applications to model spatial solutions for county operations and engagement with citizens. Pilot projects may include augmented reality, BIM (Building Information Modeling) and the incorporation of sensor data streams. This project is intended to enhance the potential for Wake County Innovation Lab staff to make tangible progress on enhancing the geovisualization and geoanalytics in application development and delivery.

PI(s): Perver Korca Baran, Center for Geospatial Analytics; Laura Tateosian, Center for Geospatial Analytics
Sponsor(s): Wake County
Amount Awarded: $20,000.00

EMN-15-F-S-02 Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Peracetic Acid Application in the Pulp and Paper Industry

Bleaching is a critical step to whiten the pulp in the pulp and paper production. In 2012, worldwide bleached chemical pulp production reached ~94 million tonnes, in which 93% are produced by Elemental Chlorine-Free technology using chlorine dioxide as the principle bleaching agent[1]. Other technologies use oxygen, ozone, hydrogen peroxide, and other peroxygens[2]. Compared to traditional bleaching agents, peracetic acid (PAA) does not produce toxic by-products and shows high selectivity for lignin, preserving the cellulose. Although PAA has been considered as an environmentally-benign bleaching agent, the environmental benefits of PAA application in the pulp and paper industry have not been quantified yet.In this project, a cradle-to-grave Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) will be conducted to evaluate the environmental impacts of PAA compared to the bleaching agents used in present pulp and paper industry (e.g., chlorine compounds and ozone).

PI(s): Yao Yuan, Forest Biomaterials (FB-CNR); Venditti Richard A, Forest Biomaterials (FB-CNR); Jameel, Hasan, Forest Biomaterials (FB-CNR)
Sponsor(s): Eastman Chemical Company
Amount Awarded: $3,901.00

Forest to Classroom: STEM for Elementary Educators

The Forest to Classroom: STEM for Elementary Educators program will utilize the Project Learning Tree (PLT) resources as the basis of the program. As an environmental education program, PLT emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach to learning and incorporates real-world lessons that help students make connections between school, community, and the natural world. In addition, PLT teaches students how to think about complex issues, employing a problem-solving orientation that helps them design solutions. Working with current elementary education specialists that are trained in, and support the use of, the PLT curriculum, Extension Forestry will design and host a residential F2C program that will provide educators will clear links to STEM education using the format we have from past F2C programs. Programming will include guided exploration of forests and associated biotic and abiotic communities, panel discussions and activities will introduce resource specialists to introduce career and advanced education information to the teachers, and teachers will work individually and in groups to create implementation plans for their classrooms. Webinars by grand band will be utilized for post-program follow-up.

PI(s): Bardon Robert, Forestry and Environmental Resources (FER-CNR); Strnad Renee L Forestry and Environmental Resources (FER-CNR)
Sponsor(s): NC Sustainable Forestry Initiative State Implementation Committee
Amount Requested: $6,300.00

Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Woody Biomass to Biofuels/Biochemicals

Woody biomass is one of the most abundant organic sources on earth, and it has a large potential to produce bioenergy and bio-based products to replace fossil-based counterparts. Understanding the environmental impacts of bioenergy and biochemicals derived from woody biomass is critical for stakeholders (e.g., policymakers, landowners, energy and chemical companies) to make decisions related to policy and technology development. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a standardized method to evaluate the environmental impacts of a product’s life-cycle, and has been widely used to understand the environmental benefits/trade-offs of different biomass applications. The use of woody biomass to product bioenergy and biochemicals creates an opportunity economic and regional advantages, but adds significant complexity to the LCA. In particular, the growth rate of the woody biomass, the decay of residues not used for a product or fuel, and the large variations in the quality and performance of the woody biomass in a conversion process all add complexity. Both regrown and decay can take place of decades makes the sequencing of the analysis critical. Biomass supply chains also have many uncertainties and system variations (e.g., biomass transportation, site preparation, etc.) that will have significant impacts on the LCA results. The goal of the project is to understand the LCA attributes around different woody biomass production systems and quantify the impacts of uncertainty on the LCA results.

PI(s): Yao Yuan, Forest Biomaterials (FB-CNR); Park Sunkyu, Forest Biomaterials (FB-CNR); Kelley Stephen S, Forest Biomaterials (FB-CNR)
Sponsor(s): Argonne National Laboratory, US Department of Energy (DOE) – Energy Efficienty & Renewable Energy (EERE)
Amount Awarded: $74,810.00

Christmas Tree Field Research

The purpose of this project is to extend and complete current areas of Christmas tree research to address growers’ needs for treatment recommendations and optimum practice and to provide new and innovative information at NCCTA meetings and farm tours as well as county extension Christmas tree programs. Christmas tree field research has identified optimum cultural practices, led to cost savings for growers, and provided the foundation of extension recommendations to growers. Often, a small amount of additional funding could supply enough momentum to bring closure to a research topic. Current NCCTA projects in the areas of cone control, suppression of glyphosate resistant weeds, and postharvest quality are in later stages of research but still have additional questions to address. Container Fraser fir studies need additional funds to follow treatments to the field. These funds will be used to implement field research as needed across these different areas. This research will be presented at state and county Christmas tree meetings and farm tours.

Pl(s): Owen Jeffrey, Forestry and Environmental Resources (FER-CNR)
Sponsor(s): NC Christmas Tree Association
Amount Requested: $5,000.00

Improving Containerized Fraser Fir Seedling Production

The production of Fraser fir Christmas tree seedlings and transplants in NC is in an expansion phase to meet current demand. Unlike previous cycles of bareroot production, current expansion includes container production in greenhouses and outdoors. Container production is being adopted primarily as a disease management strategy to reduce Phytophthora root rot. This proposal will continue container research efforts initiated in a previous NCCTA grant, Improving Greenhouse Fraser Fir Production. The objectives for this proposed project include further evaluation of container production components and production schedules and development of a containerized seedling production tour and meeting. Studies will be conducted that include media, containers, fertilizers, pH, weed control practices, and/or irrigation schedules as variables. Both greenhouse and outdoor sites will be selected. A combination of experiments and case studies will be used to evaluate factors such as annual production schedules, cold acclimation, and overwintering. Case studies will be used to contrast different production schedules used by cooperating growers. Different sowing dates, targeted number of flushes, and timings of cold acclimation will be compared. An educational meeting and nursery tour of containerized Christmas tree seedlings will be planned for the 2019 season. The meeting will include project results, invited speakers, and facilitated grower discussions. Research planned for this project will build on current work and past results reported in scientific literature. This project will help growers to produce containerized seedlings and transplants more effectively.

PI(s): Owen Jeffrey, FER Extension (FER-CNR)
Sponsor(s): NC Christmas Tree Association
Amount Awarded: $5,000.00

EMN-18-F-E Life Cycle Inventories of Pulp

This project will generate LCI data for different pulping processes and evaluate the impacts of LCA methodology and wood sources on the LCA results.

PI(s): Yao Yuan, Forest Biomaterials (FB-CNR); Venditti Richard A, Forest Biomaterials (FB-CNR)
Sponsor(s): Eastman Chemical Company
Amount Awarded: $134,901.00

Early stage assessment on the production of sugar building blocks from cotton residues

Evaluate the economics of producing sugar building blocks from cotton residues and compare versus commercial alternatives.

PI(s): Gonzalez Ronalds, Forest Biomaterials; Jameel Hasan, Forest Biomaterials; Pal Lokendra, Forest Biomaterials; Phillips Richard, Forest Biomaterials
Sponsor(s): Cotton, Inc.
Amount Awarded: $9,500

Developing Expertise in Risk Analysis and Risk Management for the Bioeconomy

Led by the Department of Forest Biomaterials in collaboration with the Departments of Forestry, Business Management and Science Education at NC State University; this proposal will develop an educational program for a new generation of technology-to-commercialization researchers who will graduate with the expertise to perform risk analysis and develop risk management strategies across the value chain of biomass supply, biobased materials, and biofuels manufacturing to meet current and future national needs that will ultimately advance the nascent bioeconomy of the United States. Previous studies indicate that a limited number of companies in the forest product industry perform risk analysis for their decision-making process. We do believe that this small adoption rate is due to lack of awareness of the importance of risk analysis and risk management for effective/efficient R&D planning and investment and lack of expertise (people trained) to perform risk analysis across the whole supply chain. This proposal supports TESA in “Agricultural Management and Economics”, in the discipline of Environmental Sciences/Management. Three Ph.D. students will be trained to analyze and propose mitigation strategies for current and future risks inherent to the bioeconomy. To considerably amplify the effect of this proposal, prospective fellows and project directors will deliver educational workshops in risk analysis and management targeting the biobased community across the U.S., while the proposal is expected to be completed in three years, project director expects to keep the program as a permanent teaching/research program. This proposed program supports USDA-NIFA Goal “Catalyze exemplary and relevant research, education and extension programs.”

PI(s): Gonzalez Ronalds, Forest Biomaterials; Kelley Stephen, Forest Biomaterials; Abt Robert, Forestry and Environmental Resources; Lucia Lucian, Forest Biomaterials; Jameel Hasan, Forest Biomaterials
Sponsor(s): US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) – National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Amount Awarded: $238,500

Functional Papers and Films for Electronics Printing (was: Functional Papers for Flexible Hybrid-Printed Electronics)

This project will systematically investigate novel approaches to paper and coating chemistry to develop functional papers and films for flexible hybrid-printed electronics. Through the development of these papers, knowledge relevant to high value papers will also be acquired. For example, technology for high transparency, smoothness, dimensionally, and thermally stable papers and films will be acquired.

PI(s): Pal Lokendra, Forest Biomaterials
Sponsor(s); Domtar Inc
Amount Awarded: $25,000

Interdisciplinary Doctoral Education Program in Animal Production from Renewable Forest Resources

The objective of this proposal is to develop an education program for a new generation of researchers who understand the entire spectrum of biomass oligosaccharide production, animal production, and its analysis through a life cycle approach. Faculty members from two departments are proposing to create joint doctoral education program to address this Targeted Expertise Shortage Area (Animal Production) with Relevant Disciplines of (A) Animal Science, (B) Biotechnology, and (C) Renewable Natural Resources.Five focus areas are (1) Biomass oligosaccharide production; (2) Purification of xylose oligosaccharide; (3) Manufacturing and processing of animal feed; (4) Animal feeding and management; and (5) Life cycle Analysis. This program incorporates cross-disciplinary teamwork/advising, coursework in multiple disciplines, Preparing Future Leaders program, internship at a commercial farm, and exposure to biotechnology experts in industry.

PI(s): Park Sunkyu, Forest Biomaterials; Venditti Richard, Forest Biomaterials; Yao Yuan, Forest Biomaterials
Sponsor(s): US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) – National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Amount Awarded: $238,500

Towards Adelgid-Tolerant Christmas Trees

Fraser fir Christmas trees are one of North Carolina’s most important specialty crops. The Camcore and Christmas Tree Genetics programs in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources at North Carolina State University will evaluate and select Fraser fir clones with increased tolerance to the balsam woolly adelgid to mitigate the impact of this pest and reduce overall pesticide usage for North Carolina’s Christmas tree industry. The results will inform decisions on seed usage from existing Fraser fir seed orchards and breeding designs for developing additional sources of adelgid tolerance. Outcomes will be reported to stakeholders through presentations at the North Carolina Christmas Tree Growers Association (NCCTGA) and an article in Limbs and Needles, the official trade magazine of the NCCTGA.

PI(s): Jetton, Robert Central America & Mexico Coniferous Coop; Frampton Lewis, Forestry and Environmental Resources; Tilotta David, Forest Biomaterials
Sponsor(s): NC Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, USDA Agricultural Marketing Service
Amount Awarded: $75,000

Fiber Modification to Improve Tissue Sheet Properties

This project will innovate fiber products by engineered chemical and mechanical modification of eucalyptus hardwood pulp furnish. Through appropriate manipulation of chemistry and mechanical refinement, the following objectives will be targeted: 1) The surface of tissue fibers will be endowed with a bulkier and softer hand feel; 2) Concurrently, the chemistry and/or mechanical refinement will lead to minimal strength loss; 3) Bound water removal will also be enhanced to expedite drainage and machine efficiency.

PI(s): Pal Lokendra, Forest Biomaterials; Jameel Hasan, Forest Biomaterials; Lucia Lucian, Forest Biomaterials; Gonzalez Ronalds, Forest Biomaterials
Sponsor(s): Kemira Chemicals
Amount Awarded: $110,000

CRISPR-Based Genome Editing in Christmas Trees

The project aims to develop CRISPR-based genome editing using somatic embryogenesis (SE) to enable the strategic engineering of superior clonal Fraser fir Christmas trees. Fraser fir is one of North Carolina’s most important specialty crops. Developing novel genomic tools and genome editing technologies for Fraser fir will have a transformative impact on the North Carolina Christmas tree industry. We propose four major objectives to develop the CRISPR-based SE system: (1) Streamline SE platform: we will improve the final steps of the Fraser fir SE process to establish a complete platform from cryostorage to whole tree regeneration; (2) Identify superior SE clonal lines: we will produce 30 independent Fraser fir clonal lines and select the top three lines for genome editing; (3) Assemble CRISPR-ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes: we will assemble and test the mutagenic function of up to ten CRISPR-RNP complexes in vitro for Fraser fir genome editing; (4) In vivo validation of CRISPR-based genome editing: We will deliver the CRISPR-RNP complexes into Fraser fir protoplasts and embryogenic cell masses for transgene-free genome editing. Subsequent to the funding period, the CRISPR-based SE system will be used for engineering superior clonal seedlings for field trials in the North Carolina Mountains.

PI(s): Wang Jack, Forest Biotechnology Program; Frampton Lewis, Forestry and Environmental Resources
Sponsor(s): NC Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, USDA Agricultural Marketing Service
Amount Awarded: $129,558

GCE Phase III: Optimization and Deployment: Nutrient-Rich Biodegradable Matrix for Crop Protection

Smallholder farming practices in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) include land-raised seed (piece) use, continuous cultivation (often monoculture) with limited inputs, and virtually non-existent seed (piece) treatment techniques. Yam (Dioscorea spp.) is the primary example of this cropping system and is an extremely important and valuable crop for smallholder farmers in SSA. These practices result in nutrient-depleted soils, nematode infestation, and ultimately low crop yields. Reducing the nematode population in crop soil will dramatically increase crop yield and quality. In many cases, smallholder farmers in SSA lose greater than 50% of their crop to plant-parasitic nematodes, primarily due to lack of available and affordable control options. For this BMG GCE Phase III proposal, we will build upon our promising results from Phase II trials, including increased yields and higher tuber quality and storability for both yam and potato, and use our expertise and connections for pulping banana fiber to validate and prepare for commercialization a developing-world transferable product platform enabling a field deployable paper-like seed (piece) treatment to combat plant pathogenic nematodes. In addition, this platform will be amenable to delivering other crop production moieties, including natural products and oils, necessary minerals and nutrients, or insecticides and fungicides, with its application. Our laboratories’ expertise in nematology and lignocellulosic fibrous materials enables us to target the delivery of beneficial small molecules during seed (piece) germination and plant establishment. Importantly the incorporation of active ingredients into a lignocellulose matrix, such as banana tissue paper, allows for widespread distribution of crop protection agents without interfering in smallholder farming practices. The shelf-stable light-weight banana tissue paper can be applied at the point of seed (piece) planting where farmers can use the concept of “wrap and plant” with their own seeds/pieces. Our ‘wrap and plant’ product will be an “active” paper sheet pretreated with ultralow concentrations of active nematicidal ingredient to simply wrap and protect the seed (piece) at planting. The localization of active ingredients carried directly within the paper targets specific plant pathogenic nematodes versus beneficial organisms. Nematodes are primarily a seedling disease, so protection early is critical to the success of the crop, although post harvest losses do occur in yam due to the yam nematode (Scutellonema bradys). Reduction in nematode populations by deploying the ‘wrap and plant’ product protects yam from significant infections that may lead to these post-harvest losses. Our ultimate goal is to validate the ‘wrap and plant’ product in Phase III and to translate the product manufacture to a regional African company for commercialization and distribution.

PI(s): Opperman Charles, Entomology and Plant Pathology (CALS); Khan Saad, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (COE); Pal Lokendra, Forest Biomaterials (FB-CNR); Davis Eric Lee, Entomology and Plant Pathology (CALS); Sit Timmy L, Entomology and Plant Pathology (CALS)
Sponsor(s): Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Amount Awarded: $2,467,316.00

Investigating the Energy and Environmental Implications of Artificial Intelligence Applications in the Chemical Manufacturing Industry

The chemical industry is one of the most energy-intensive manufacturing industry and major sources of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The increasing demand for energy and more severe environmental problems are promoting the development and adoption of emerging technologies in the chemical industry to reduce energy consumption and adverse environmental impacts. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the emerging technology that shows great potential in further reduce the energy consumption and environmental footprints for the chemical industry, especially for those energy intensive commodity chemicals such as ammonia, ethylene, propylene, methanol, etc. However, the lack of credible performance analysis data and baseline information for emerging technologies can deter policymakers and early adopters, whose investments are crucial for accelerating deployment (Martin et al., 2000). Addressing these data and analysis gaps is critical for improving emerging technology adoption such as AI during the coming wave of capital investment. This project aims to address these gaps by developing a metric-based framework to quantify energy and environmental implications of AI applications in the chemical industry, especially for those energy-intensive commodity chemicals.

PI(s): Yao Yuan, Forest Biomaterials (FB-CNR)
Sponsor(s): Environmental Law Institute
Amount Awarded: $35,000.00

Technology Development for Production of Concentrated Biosugar for Industrial Fermentation

PI(s): Park Sunkyu, Forest Biomaterials (FB-CNR)
Sponsor(s): Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology
Amount Awarded: $80,356.00

Lake Tahoe West Expanded LANDIS Modeling

PI(s): Scheller Robert, Forestry and Environmental Resources (FER-CNR)
Sponsor(s): US Forest Service
Amount Awarded: $40,000.00

Tags: