Research Awards and Grants (June 2024)

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 June 2024.

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

• PI: Gonzalez, Ronalds
• Direct Sponsor Name: Andritz, 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.

SC FY24 Invasive Species Videos 5.0439.0

• PI: Oten, Kelly
• Direct Sponsor Name: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
• Awarded Amount: $6,449 
• Abstract:  Working with collaborators at Clemson and Ohio State University, we will create educational videos about invasive forest pests.

Playgrounds for health – evaluation of playground renewal in Rocky Mount (NC) & application preparation

• PI: Hipp, Aaron
• Direct Sponsor Name: KOMPAN, Inc.
• Amount Awarded: $36,089 
• Abstract: Play is essential to developing physical and cognitive health for children. Children’s free play appears to be motivated by play environments, such as playgrounds and outdoor recreational settings. Understanding behaviors in play spaces (e.g., where; how using specific spaces and equipment; duration; and variations across groups) will improve design, layout, programming, and management to encourage diversity of play and hopefully a lifelong love and enjoyment of play and the outdoors across our diverse communities.
  
  It is currently challenging to analyze play patterns as children’s free play is spontaneous, creative, interactive, and changes over time and across spaces. Traditionally, play episodes were observed and annotated through behavior mapping based on activity types and start and end times of entering a designated play area (Luchs & Fikus, 2013; Sumiya & Nonaka, 2021). This approach is labor-intensive, records activities in play areas designated by researchers, and is often limited to one observation.

Forest Health Monitoring and Assessment

• PI: Conkling, Barbara
• Direct Sponsor Name: US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
• Awarded Amount: $442,000 
• Abstract: The Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) Program is a long-term, national research and monitoring 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 includes an annual technical report that provides analysis and synthesis of technical information at the national level, and other special 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 Stations 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…

Advancing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in Outdoor Recreation and Conservation by Cultivating Partnerships with State Wildlife Management Agencies 

• PI: Larson, Lincoln
• Direct Sponsor Name: Minority Outdoor Alliance
• Awarded Amount: $49,968 
• Abstract: Outdoor recreation has the potential to generate a variety of health, social, economic, and environmental benefits across diverse communities, but these activities are typically dominated by wealthy, white individuals who are often males. Concerns about diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in outdoor recreation are therefore growing. Although many efforts to recruit, retain, and/or reactivate historically underrepresented populations (often referred to as ???R3???) have been introduced, these initiatives have not been able to successfully combat this challenge and inequities persist. Despite ambitious intentions, R3 efforts are often small in scope and struggle to sustain change across larger scales. This is due, in part, to the lack of resources and limited capacity of smaller organizations who are often leading the R3 charge. It also stems from the challenge of addressing larger systemic barriers, including structural and cultural constraints that fuel perceptions of discrimination and… 

Strive for Access

• PI: Larson, Lincoln
• Direct Sponsor Name: NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
• Amount Awarded: $409,243 
• Abstract: The purpose of this research effort is to explore access to outdoor recreation opportunities (and parks specifically) across North Carolina. Despite North Carolina having extensive outdoor recreation resources and being known as the Great Trails State, many of its residents have limited access to outdoor recreation opportunities. The NC Division of Parks and Recreations Strive for Access is an initiative to identify current gaps in recreational opportunities and strive to fill these unmet demands. This research will advance Strive for Access by creating a comprehensive map and spatial database of outdoor recreation opportunities in the state, conducting gap analyses to identify recreation deserts, and developing recommendations for collaborative data collection procedures and management to achieve broader goals.

Eeval 4.0: Supporting A Culture Of And Capacity For Culturally Responsive And Equitable Ee Evaluation

• PI: Stevenson, Kathryn
• Direct Sponsor Name: Pisces Foundation
• Awarded Amount: $300,000 
• Abstract: We will continue to journey with current partners from our current Pisces-funded work. We will 1) develop and pilot an eeVAL-informed workshop at the 2024 NAAEE Conference, 2) Develop and Implement an online eeVAL Guided Journey with a minimum of 25 people, and 3) Co-author, curate, and share lessons learned and supporting resources through the NAAEE website and beyond.

Recruiting, Developing, and Empowering a Diverse Workforce in Wildland Fire Sciences

• PI: Richmond-Bryant, Jennifer
• Direct Sponsor Name: US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
• Awarded Amount: $80,000 
• Abstract: We propose a scalable program to provide specialized training and development in fire sciences closely related to forest management among current undergraduate students, selected directly from partner-Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and participating HBCU students interested in graduate studies in fire-related disciplines. We propose a Summer Research and Training Fellowship (SRTF) at the undergraduate level that is tied directly to USFS Research and Development (R&D) Southern Research Station (SRS) work units. The program will be designed and implemented through a partnership among the USFS SRS, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NC A&T), Southern University (SU), and North Carolina State University (NCSU).
  
  We will hold the eight-week SRTF program for 10 rising seniors from undergraduate programs in fields such as Forestry, Natural Resources, and Environmental Sciences to gain specialized training in wildfire-specific forest management, with a special focus o

Deep Eutectic Solvent Pulping Technology to Reduce Carbon Emission in Pulp and Paper Industry

• PI: Park, Sunkyu
• Direct Sponsor Name: US Dept. of Energy (DOE) – Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE)
• Awarded Amount: $-1,065,714
• Abstract: We propose to advance the high-kappa (high-lignin) softwood containerboard pulping process to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by replacing the traditional kraft process using a low-GHG emission Deep Eutectic Solvent (DES) pulping process. The process contains (1) low-severity DES solvent pulping, (2) low-energy pulp mechanical refining, (3) lignin recovery for aviation fuel production, and (4) solvent recovery by new anti-solvents, membrane ultrafiltration, and/or process steam with mechanical vapor recompression. By applying the DES system in pulping, we will reduce CO2 emissions by eliminating the recovery boiler and lime kiln, which are energy intensive processes in the current kraft process. DES will also produce a lignin product, which can be converted to aviation fuel and biobased polymer for further CO2 reduction.

Improving Pasture Management with Remotely Sensed Imagery

• PI: Gray, Josh
• Direct Sponsor Name: IntelinAir
• Awarded Amount: $50,000 
• Abstract: NC State will work with IntelinAir to improve pasture management with remotely sensed imagery. In particular, NC State will assess the value of heterogeneous remotely sensed imagery in producing field-scale intelligence around two important topics: 1) pasture biomass estimates, and 2) harvest alerts related to phenological progress in hay fields. Dr. Gray will lead NC State’s research in these endeavors with the goal to deliver models and/or algorithms that translate one or more sources of remotely sensed imagery into biomass estimates and harvest alerts for growers.

Regional Synthesis of Threats to Forest Carbon and Water Cycling Across the US Southeast

• PI: King, John
• Direct Sponsor Name: US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
• Awarded Amount: $35,000 
• Abstract: The southern US is host to ~130 million hectares of forestland distributed (approximately) as 37 % upland hardwoods, 15 % bottomland hardwoods, 14 % mixed oak-pine, 18 % natural pine and 15 % intensively managed pine.  In recent decades, this forest estate has becoming increasingly vulnerable to an array of threats.  As the pace of climate change increases and the South becomes increasingly urbanized, the extent to which forest ecosystem services provisioning is compromised remains poorly quantified. Yet through existing networks of forest monitoring programs, process-based ecosystem and landscape models, and remote sensing resources, we have the capacity to develop synthetic understanding of current regional forest conditions across the South.  The proposed project will perform a region-wide synthesis of existing data on forest carbon (C) and water cycling using data from the USDA Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program to quantify current forest C storage of the major forest types distributed across the… 

Toward Improved Ecological Drought Indices for Forest Ecosystems Across the South

• PI: Scheller, Robert
• Direct Sponsor Name: US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
• Awarded Amount: $84,956 
• Abstract: We will build on prior efforts to develop a spatiotemporal statistical model for the 2011 Texas drought that relates forest conditions measured from FIA data to the SPEI or a similar drought measure. The model will account for trends in drought and mortality over time and space, as well as variations in drought effects based on forest species composition, drought tolerance of tree species, soil moisture, and other climatic, biophysical, and environmental correlates.

GIS Database Development for Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail

• PI: Smith, Charlynne
• Direct Sponsor Name: US National Park Service
• Awarded Amount: $18,000 
• Abstract: This project is for the 8th phase in a continuing relationship between the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail (OVNHT) and North Carolina State University. The work will 1) focus on updating physical trail data to ensure accuracy of location and assigned attributes; 2) collaborate with NPS and trail partners to expand resource data where applicable to trail management and promotion; 3) refine web-based mapping tools for NPS staff to review and modify data for inclusion in the spatial database.