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Research Awards and Grants (August 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 August 2024.

A Gift Seed: Accelerated Genetic Improvement Of Fir Through Sequencing, Economics, Extension, & Diagnostics

  • PI: Whitehill, Justin
  • Direct Sponsor Name: USDA – National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)
  • Amount Awarded: $7,417,335 
  • Abstract: Fir (Abies spp.) account for 66%+ of the annual $2.5 billion US Christmas tree industry. The environmental impact of real versus artificial trees show a locally grown Christmas tree is the more sustainable choice as it can sequester carbon from the atmosphere. Optimization of Christmas tree farms as greenhouse gas sinks has potential to become a net-positive climate activity through incentivization of carbon offset programs. Planting genetically improved fir Christmas trees holds significant promise for the US Christmas tree industry to combat climate change and provide added value to farmers. Across the US, Christmas tree planting stock is derived from germplasm of unknown genetic origin. Therefore, the genetic value of extant planted materials cannot be determined. To address this concern, North Carolina has established a state funded breeding program dedicated to genetic improvement of Fraser fir…

Characterizing prescribed fire trends and their relationship with forest conditions across the South

  • PI: Vukomanovic, Jelena
  • Direct Sponsor Name: US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
  • Awarded Amount: $250,000 
  • Abstract: Prescribed fire is important for managing, conserving, and maintaining forests in the South. The South leads the nation in applying prescribed fire, and prescribed burning affects more acres in the South than all large wildfires across the conterminous U.S. Therefore, understanding the recent prescribed fire history of forests is important for assessing the current and potential future condition of the South forests. While the FIA database includes information on disturbance and management events, prescribed burns and other low severity fires are not recorded by FIA, and we lack other comprehensive, spatially consistent records of prescribed fire and its effects on forests across broad regions and multiple ownerships in the South. Yet, a number of relatively new remote sensing-derived products capture low-severity fires, and thus have potential to characterize recent prescribed fire trends across broad extents…

Assessment of economic and ecological costs and benefits of urban tree planting and mortality in socially vulnerable neighborhoods in Durham, North Carolina

  • PI: Martin, Meredith
  • Direct Sponsor Name: US Geological Survey (USGS)
  • Awarded Amount: $399,096 
  • Abstract: This project partners with the environmental justice NGO, TreesDurham, to analyze urban tree mortality in underserved communities and to model the economic and ecological opportunity costs associated with urban tree planting and mortality in order to generate specific and actionable recommendations for future urban tree planting and maintenance efforts in the Piedmont region.

Multiscale Approaches And Scalability Within Climate Change–heritage Risk Assessments

  • PI: Seekamp, Erin
  • Direct Sponsor Name: National Science Foundation (NSF)
  • Awarded Amount: $126,939 
  • 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..

Collaborative Research: Priority Effects and Persistent State Shifts Following Wildfire and Disease Disturbance Interactions

  • PI: Meentemeyer, Ross
  • Direct Sponsor Name: National Science Foundation (NSF)
  • Awarded Amount: $273,043 
  • Abstract: Novel disturbance interactions can cause rapid transitions in the structure and composition of plant communities; however, it is often unclear whether these abrupt changes reflect transient departures from the prior state, or whether they signal persistent transitions to alternative, self-replacing states. Although multiple stable states have been invoked in a variety of ecosystems, evidence has largely been limited to theoretical investigations or experiments involving species with shorter generation times. Our research objectives integrate experimental, observational, and theoretical approaches into an MSS framework to assess the permanence of abrupt transitions in a slow-growing system, impacted by interactions between wildfire and an emerging infectious disease. We propose work that leverages a 20-year observational study, novel manipulative field and shade house experiments, and population-level and region-wide models to examine whether repeated wildfires and biotic, disease-related disturbance causes…

Tools To Address Market And Policy Challenges To Successful Timber Harvests, Thinning, And Fuel Treatments For The Wildfire Crisis Strategy

  • PI: Tateosian, Laura
  • Direct Sponsor Name: US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
  • Awarded Amount: $426,500 
  • Abstract: The USDA Forest Service conducts timber sales on National Forests for economic and environmental benefits, such as decreasing fire hazard through removal of biomass, as well as increasing income to the agency. No-bids, or unsold timber offerings, can cause planned management activities to be delayed, deferred, or require additional time and cost to rework and re-advertise. Geospatial analytics and geovisualization can deliver valuable insights for assessing the suitability of potential harvest sites early in the decision-making process.  This work will 1) Develop a National-scale mapping dashboard tool for the benefit of National Forest System (NFS) employees who manage timber sale packages. 2) Integrate economic modeling of landowner behavior to improve management of public lands.

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: $719,377 
  • Abstract: This project will merge NREL highly robust biomass fractionation and fermentation technology and NCS 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. Thus, combining these two waste stream hydrolysates in an appropriate ratio will maximize fermentation productivity of SAF precursor (ethanol) while keeping wood waste …

CESU Research and Development in Geographic Information Systems for the National Park Service, Interior Region One

  • PI: Meentemeyer, Ross
  • Direct Sponsor Name: US Dept. of the Interior (DOI)
  • Awarded Amount: $99,920 
  • Abstract: Develop GIS for Interior Region One of the National Park Service.

Forestry Course Integration in NC Public Schools

  • PI: Leggett, Zakiya
  • Direct Sponsor Name: US Forest Service
  • Awarded Amount: $39,999 
  • Abstract: The goals of this project will largely include integrating a forestry course into NC Public School Curriculum and assessing teachers and students. We will work with curriculum developers to identify areas of focus for assessments/focus groups and attend and possibly complete assessments/focus groups with teachers that will participate in training to test course. Additionally, we will develop initial survey of teachers and students that will participate in pilot project to test course in order to identify gaps and areas of improvement and conduct pre- and post-focus group(s) with teachers that will participate in pilot project to test course. There will also be follow-up class discussions, focus groups, and/or surveys to gauge the overall impact of course implementation. Finally, a final report will be developed based to include key learnings, gaps, and suggested improvements for future course implementation along with possibly developing a manuscript for publication.