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Research Awards and Grants (November 2023)

December 1, 2023

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 in November 2023.

Membership in Consortium on Sustainable and Alternative Fibers Initiative (SAFI), Full Member

  • PI: Gonzalez, Ronalds
  • Direct Sponsor Name: Armstrong World Industries, Inc.
  • Awarded Amount: $66,000
  • Abstract:  The purpose of the Consortium on Sustainable and Alternative Fibers Initiative (SAFI) is to develop fundamental and applied research on the use of alternative and sustainable fibers for the manufacturing of market pulp, hygiene products and nonwovens. The idea for SAFI has grown out of societal needs for alternative yet sustainable materials. SAFI will study the potential of alternative fibers based on technical (performance), sustainable and economic principles.

An Assessment of Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) Criteria and Indicators: Enhancing Information for Criterion 7; Legal, Institutional, and Economic Indicators

  • PI: Cubbage, Frederick
  • Direct Sponsor Name: US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
  • Awarded Amount: $28,000
  • Abstract:  “The research will develop a general conceptual model of the legal, institutional, and economic factors that are required to translate broad international and national policy goals to use forests to store carbon and mitigate climate change into practical on-the-ground approaches that will be required for public policies, public agencies, and public and private landowners to change their land management practices to participate in the programs.  Next, we will gauge the amount of land area, funding, technical capacity and personnel, financial incentives, and costs and returns for landowners, and similar components to assess program needs and challenges. 

We will review the assessments and analyses carried out for our 2020 Criterion 7 Report, including Indicators 45 (Legislation and Policies), Indicator 47 (Taxation and Other Economic Strategies), and Indicator 50 (Programs, Services, and Other Resources), which will support the problem analysis of the subject and will be used to information detailed subsequent”

The Long View: Development of a 500-year Climate Adaptation Planning Framework with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians

  • PI: Vukomanovic, Jelena
  • Direct Sponsor Name: US Geological Survey (USGS)
  • Amount Awarded: $497,083
  • Abstract: “Archeological evidence substantiates the sustained presence of Cherokee in the southern Appalachians over the past 12,000 years, with a peak population estimated at 250,000 and inhabiting approximately 32 million hectares across Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, and the Carolinas. Early interactions with European settlers resulted in significant population declines (largely through disease transmission), the ceding of land, and removal of a large proportion of the remaining population to western reservations (i.e., the a??Trail of Tearsa??). Today, a population of 16,000 tribal citizens comprises the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), which maintains in trust approximately 24,000 hectares (a purchase of land by the EBCI referred to as the Qualla Boundary) managed as sovereign tribal lands. The EBCI hold a distinct perspective informed by a multi-generational connection to place and to their collective past. This worldview imparts a tribal ethos of managing natural resources.”

Does chilling explain the divergent response of spring phenology to urban heat islands? (Xiaojie Gao)

  • PI: Gray, Josh
  • Direct Sponsor Name: National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA)
  • Awarded Amount: $45,000
  • Abstract: Urbanization is known to have direct impacts on plant phenology. Understanding these effects is important to biodiversity dynamics, ecosystem structure, carbon cycles, and human health. Temperature increases from the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect are thought to be the main driver of plant phenological changes around cities. However, trends in plants start of growing season (SOS) dates around urban areas, compared to their surrounding countryside, have diverged across the globe: some advance, and some delay. Divergent SOS trends have been observed in field measurements as well as satellite remotely sensed terrestrial vegetation seasonality land surface phenology (LSP). However, the reasons for this phenomenon remain unclear. We hypothesize that divergent SOS trends can be explained by the interaction between UHI-induced seasonal temperature changes and variable plant chilling requirements the need of plants to be exposed to sufficiently low temperatures… 

Membership in Consortium on Sustainable and Alternative Fibers Initiative (SAFI), Associate Member

  • PI: Gonzalez, Ronalds
  • Direct Sponsor Name: Red Leaf Pulp
  • Awarded Amount: $22,000
  • Abstract:   The purpose of the Consortium on Sustainable and Alternative Fibers Initiative (SAFI) is to develop fundamental and applied research on the use of alternative and sustainable fibers for the manufacturing of market pulp, hygiene products and nonwovens. The idea for SAFI has grown out of societal needs for alternative yet sustainable materials. SAFI will study the potential of alternative fibers based on technical (performance), sustainable and economic principles.

The trade impact of the EU’s climate plans & deforestation rules

  • PI: Baker, Justin
  • Direct Sponsor Name: US Dept. of Agriculture – Economic Research Service
  • Amount Awarded: $40,000
  • Abstract: This project aims to bring together the strengths of the Global Trade Analysis (GTAP) model and the Global Biosphere Management Model (GLOBIOM) models to assess the likely impact of EUDR on trade flows and the U.S. agricultural sector. In particular, it should enable U.S. farmers and stakeholders to better understand both the threats to their operations and possible opportunities to expand their operations/market shares.

Rapid Development of Resistant Fraser fir

  • PI: Whitehill, Justin
  • Direct Sponsor Name: Agricultural Marketing Service – USDA
  • Awarded Amount: $199,996
  • Abstract: We seek to examine the individual and interactive effects of priority stressors including climate and land changes on nest site selection and success, and hatchling sex ratio and survival in the Spotted Turtle in a Cumulative Risk Assessment framework (e.g., Simmons et al., 2021; Tyack et al., 2022). To do this, we will (1) deploy microclimate sensors across the potential nesting habitat of Spotted Turtles to develop a Thermal Landscape Model (TLM) across different climates and land cover types (2) assess nest site selection of Spotted Turtles and study nest success and hatchling sex and vitality across different microclimate conditions.

Production of Cellulose Nanofibrils from Soybean Hulls for Packaging Application

  • PI: Lavoine, Nathalie
  • Direct Sponsor Name: Indiana Soybean Alliance
  • Awarded Amount: $2,128
  • Abstract: This project aims to produce cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) from two pulps made from soybean hulls.  CNFs will be produced through two mechanical routes and fully characterize with respect to their dimensions, solids content, and mechanical performance. The CNF suspensions will be delivered to the sponsor for further application as packaging substrates.

AmeriFlux Management Project Core Site – North Carolina Loblolly/Alligator

  • PI: King, John
  • Direct Sponsor Name: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory – University of California – Berkeley
  • Awarded Amount: $27,911
  • Abstract: A cluster of research sites will be maintained according to the Ameriflux Management Program Statement of Work. The sites include a mid-rotation loblolly pine plantation (site code US-NC2 in the Ameriflux and FLUXNET databases, operational since November 2004), and companion sites in young, recently disturbed loblolly pine plantations (US-NC3 starting 2013) and a natural bottomland forested wetland (US-AR/NC4 starting 2009). All sites are located on the lower coastal plain in North Carolina and represent a historically established land use gradient. With current common management practices and areal coverage of commercial plantations in different edaphic and climatic regions in the SE-US, the two loblolly plantations are representative of a broader area. The core research at the individual sites and across the cluster focuses on the following topic areas: (1) the magnitude, regulation and variability of carbon and water cycles, (2) the tradeoffs of different management objectives… 

Membership in Southern Forest Resource Assessment Consortium (SOFAC), Forestry association level

  • PI: Baker, Justin
  • Direct Sponsor Name: National Council for Air & Stream Improvement, Inc.
  • Awarded Amount: $15,000
  • Abstract: “The Southern Forest Resource Assessment Consortium (SOFAC) will develop forest sector market models for application to forest resource assessments in the South, U.S., and the World. SOFAC will integrate currently available forest resource data from the USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program and economic theory to model timber supply and demand in the South by local area. SOFAC economic models will allow use of exogenous or endogenous inputs about supply, demand, land use change, and landowner behavior in the analysis of timber and forest land markets and management. SOFAC modelers and members will be able to use the SOFAC suite of models and research to simultaneously project timber inventory, supply, and prices for a variety of regions and a variety of timber products across the South, the U.S., and the World. SOFAC will foster discussion among modelers and members about the appropriate inputs and assumptions in forest projection models and employ these in building timber”

Cultural landscapes climate change vulnerability assessments at Mid-Atlantic battlefield park units – CESU

  • PI: Vukomanovic, Jelena
  • Direct Sponsor Name: US Dept. of the Interior (DOI)
  • Awarded Amount: $500,000
  • Abstract: This project supports vulnerability assessment and climate adaptation planning for cultural landscapes for mid-Atlantic battlefield parks. It will develop methods for cultural landscape climate change vulnerability assessments (CCVA) that address the needs of multiple parks covering a similar mid-Atlantic geography, with similar climate stressors and exposures. Products include CCVAs for two pilot parks; a landscape scale CCVA for mid-Atlantic parks and methods guidance; a visualization tool and operational manual to maintain the tool; presentations to the park and public. Project beneficiaries include park resource managers, surrounding mid-Atlantic communities, citizens of Tribal Nations with ancestral ties to park units, academic researchers in cultural heritage adaptation, and current and future park visitors.