Research Awards and Grants (July 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 July 2024.
Advancing KEEN Mission at NC State University – KEEN Rising Star Award
- PI: Lavoine, Nathalie
- Direct Sponsor Name: Kern Family Foundation
- Awarded Amount: $10,000
- Abstract: These fundings will be used to advance KEEN’s mission in educating the next generation of engineering students with an entrepreneurial mindset (EM).
The funds can be used towards supplemental salary or stipend support, at the discretion of the PI.
For this project, I am planning on using the funds towards the elaboration of a few projects:
1- Creation of an educational platform for faculty to help them design and create, and share in-class activities on sustainability with EML
2- Organization of a summit gathering KEEN partner universities in North Carolina to disseminate our university’s mission and work, and create a local network of educators
3- Participation at the 2025 ASEE Annual Conference in Montreal – if no other funds will be used to this end – to disseminate this project.
Silviculture and Adelgid Resistance in Carolina Hemlock: Understanding Potential Tools for Restoring an Imperiled Species
- PI: Jetton, Robert
- Direct Sponsor Name: US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
- Amount Awarded: $32,223
- Abstract: Carolina hemlock (Tsuga caroliniana) is a rare conifer endemic to the Southern Appalachians that is experiencing widespread mortality from hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae) infestation. It is among the most imperiled tree species in the South and the United States more broadly. The conservation and restoration of this species may depend on whether genetic resistance to HWA exists within the species, and/or whether infested stands can be managed to improve hemlock survival.
Multiscale Approaches And Scalability Within Climate Change–heritage Risk Assessments
- PI: Seekamp, Erin
- Direct Sponsor Name: National Science Foundation (NSF)
- Awarded Amount: $161,526
- Abstract: SASCHA proposes operationalization (a method to provide measurable observation for abstract concepts) for transferable risk assessment and a value-based decision support tool. Supported by this approach, the overarching aim of SASCHA is therefore to develop innovative methods for understanding risks of climate change for heritage that allow for multiscale analysis and scalable approaches, bridging the gaps between local knowledge and global data, and from local vulnerability to global risks. To this end, SASCHA will: a) develop a set of operationalized indicators/metrics for relevant determinants of climate change; b) develop a locally adaptable protocol for stakeholders’ engagement in the identification of relevant determinants of climate impacts that acknowledge and celebrate diversity in cultural contexts; c) develop a climate adaptation decision support tool to evaluate relevance of assessment approaches for different spatial scales; d) explore the challenges and opportunities of an operationalization app…
Federal Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Policy Modeling
- PI: Baker, Justin
- Direct Sponsor Name: Platform for Agriculture + Climate Transformation
- Awarded Amount: $96,072
- Abstract: For this project, we will further develop and apply a nested modeling approach that includes bottom-up techno-economic cost information regarding climate smart and conservation practices on U.S. agricultural lands, resource allocation optimization modeling to prioritize abatement strategies under different program objectives, and market modeling to explore potential economic opportunity costs of selected policy options outlined in the RFP. Additionally, we propose to use the Forestry and Agriculture Sectors Optimization Model with Greenhouse Gases (FASOMGHG), a highly detailed, partial equilibrium model of the US land use sector to develop optimal practice adoption portfolios for different policy scenarios that efficiently allocate funding under the FARM Bill to maximize net consumer and producer surplus as well as payments for greenhouse gas reduction activities.
Evaluating the Fraser Fir Ecosystem: Assessing Current Status, Mortality Patterns, and Underlying Causes
- PI: Jetton, Robert
- Direct Sponsor Name: US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
- Awarded Amount: $14,131
- Abstract: During the mid 1950s, nearly 70% of mature Fraser fir in natural stands was lost due to impacts of the invasive insect balsam woolly adelgid. Since the 1980s, there has been substantial regeneration and recovery in most Fraser fir stands across its native range. Recently, a new wave of mortality has been noted in several of these stands. The purpose of the proposed research is to document the extent of new Fraser fir mortality across its range, determine what age cohort (mature versus regenerated) is being affected, and identify potential factors underlying the observed mortality.
Integrating Silvicultural, Biological and Chemical Control of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid
- PI: Jetton, Robert
- Direct Sponsor Name: US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
- Awarded Amount: $32,990
- Abstract: Previous and ongoing research shows that cutting gaps around individual or small groups of hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) infested eastern hemlocks to increase the level of sunlight exposure to the crown reduces HWA densities and improves the growth and carbon balance of the tree. How to apply and combine such release strategies with other HWA management tools remains unclear. This project will develop and validate a silvicultural thinning tool that will be integrated with existing HWA chemical and biological control strategies to improve the health and long-term sustainability of eastern hemlock in the southern Appalachians.
Sargassum and Hurricane Waste Biomass for Aviation Fuel and Graphite (SWAG)
- PI: Park, Sunkyu
- Direct Sponsor Name: US Dept. of Energy (DOE) – Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE)
- Awarded Amount: $17,723
- Abstract: This project will merge NREL highly robust biomass fractionation and fermentation technology and NCSU highly robust graphitization technology to convert two waste streams that are increasingly problematic in the southeastern US and Caribbean states (hurricane-damaged wood waste and Sargassum seaweed) into Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and graphite for lithium-ion batteries (LIB), as shown in Figure 1. NREL has developed fractionation technology for biomass and algae that solubilizes carbohydrates and proteins of varying composition into fermentable hydrolysates. Hydrolysates from woody biomass contain abundant carbohydrates but are typically nutrient poor for fermentation and require added nutrients, such as nitrogen. Algae (both micro- and macroalgae) hydrolysates are also rich in carbohydrates but are often over-rich in nutrients.
Effects Of Household Concrete Floors On Child Health
- PI: Ercumen, Ayse
- Direct Sponsor Name: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- Awarded Amount: $52,208
- Abstract: Enteric infections and diarrhea are responsible for a large burden of morbidity and mortality among children under 5 years and are associated with increased growth faltering, anemia, impaired child development, and mortality. The primary public health interventions to prevent enteric infections are household water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) interventions. However, recent WASH intervention trials found only modest impacts on enteric infection prevalence in children. Observational studies have found that children in households with concrete floors have lower prevalence of diarrhea, soil-transmitted helminth infection, and Giardia infection than those in households with soil floors. However, these findings may be strongly confounded by household wealth. We propose a randomized trial in rural Bangladesh to measure whether installing concrete floors in households with soil floors reduces child enteric infection.
A Life Cycle Assessment of the Wood Pellets Supply Chain in the Southern United States
- PI: Parajuli, Rajan
- Direct Sponsor Name: US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
- Awarded Amount: $90,680
- Abstract: The proposed project aims to conduct detailed life cycle assessment (LCA) of the wood pellets supply chain from the feedstock collection through overseas product shipments. The LCA will mainly focus on assessing the global warming impacts and hence the term carbon footprint analysis can be found interchangeably. We will evaluate the carbon balance and emissions in each stage of the pellet manufacturing process using various woody feedstock including logging residues, mill residues, and roundwood pulpwood of both pine and hardwood species.
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)
- Awarded Amount: $125,203
- 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 Trail of Tears). 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 holds a distinct perspective informed by a multi-generational connection to place and to their collective past.
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