Research Awards and Grants (April 2025)

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 April 2025.

Evaluating the Longevity and Success of Young Forest Restoration in Golden-winged Warbler Management Areas in the Southern Appalachians

• PI: Forrester, Jodi
• Direct Sponsor Name: USDA – Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
• Awarded Amount: $300,000 
• Abstract:  Forest species composition, stand age distribution, and vegetation structure have gradually become simplified as disturbance regimes have been disrupted or modified. Species such as the golden-winged warbler and young forest associates that depend on recently disturbed areas have declined across the eastern deciduous forests, including the Appalachian Mountain region. The GWW and associated species have become priorities for conservation programs such as the Working Lands for Wildlife. We propose a project that will include a field effort to assess occupancy and vegetation outcomes paired with a landscape assessment. We will inventory a large number of sites, primarily belonging to private landowners participating in the WLFW program. The recovery rate of vegetation following harvest is rapid in southern Appalachian forests, potentially making additional silvicultural efforts (e.g., prescribed burning or herbicide application) more necessary than optional as in other portions of the GWW breeding range…

South Asian Smallholder Forests and other Tree-based Systems: Synthesizing LCLUC Data and Approaches to Foster a Natural Climate Solution that Improves Livelihoods

• PI: Gray, Josh
• Direct Sponsor Name: National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA)
• Awarded Amount: $116,674 
• Abstract:  This proposed SARI synthesis project for South Asia is focused on understanding LCLUC patterns and processes related to agricultural landscapes of smallholder tree-based systems (also known as trees outside of forests, TOF) and their potential as natural climate solutions. The synthesis shall provide an observation-based evaluation of the degree to which these landscapes are increasing cover and biomass, and contribute to a greatly improved understanding of the drivers of tree cover change in agricultural landscape. The outcome of the synthesis shall be a quantitative assessment of the importance of these landscapes as sinks for carbon (mitigation), both now and in the future, along with a drivers-based understanding of appropriate measures for interventions with high social and economic benefits (adaptation). We shall also evaluate their importance compared to forests landscapes both inside and outside of the national recorded forest area (RFA)…

Quantifying the ephemeral: integrating satellite observations with physical models to map daily inundation and capture short-term methane emissions (Jenna Abrahamson)

• PI: Gray, Josh
• Direct Sponsor Name: National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA)
• Amount Awarded: $100,000 
• Abstract: Biogeochemical processes are strongly influenced by hydrology, particularly in low-lying coastal wetlands where drastic changes in inundated and hydrologically connected areas occur over short time scales. Wetlands are known to be hotspots of methane (CH4) emissions and were a primary driver in the sharp uptick in global CH4 emissions observed in 2020. Inundation acts as an on/off switch for CH4 production in wetland ecosystems. When soils are saturated, oxygen becomes limited and turns on the switch for methanogenesis to occur as organic matter decomposes and releases CH4 into the atmosphere. Small, often forested, wetlands (<1 hectare) account for a large portion of this type of CH4 production; however, the inability to map these small-scale inundation dynamics has led to discrepancies in total emission estimates. As sea levels rise and storm surge events increase in frequency and severity across the globe, coastal wetlands will be at the forefront of these climate change impacts…

Long-Term Changes and Variability in Global Ecosystem Phenology From MODIS

• PI: Gray, Josh
• Direct Sponsor Name: National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA)
• Awarded Amount: $19,050 
• Abstract: We will be using the long-term land surface phenology products we’ve generated to explore the climatological drivers of phenological change, trends in land surface phenology, and carbon/water consequences of these changes…

Changes in Exposures to PFAS, Metals, Dioxins, and Furans following Cessation of Open Burning of Munitions Wastes at a Hazardous Waste Thermal Treatment Facility

• PI: Richmond-Bryant, Jennifer
• Direct Sponsor Name: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
• Awarded Amount: $187,904 
• Abstract:   Several rural communities across the U.S. are burdened by hazardous explosive waste disposal sites, including many active and retired military bases on the National Priorities List. Colfax, LA (2021 pop. 2,010, 71% Black, 26% White, med. income $16,687) currently hosts the only commercially-operating open burn/open detonation (OBOD) hazardous waste thermal treatment (TT) facility in the nation and treats contaminated soils from Superfund sites, spent military munitions, and other explosives. Fine and ultrafine particulate matter (PM) is emitted during TT of Superfund hazardous wastes and military munitions. Colfax residents living immediately south of the TT facility solicited our assistance after enduring health impacts including chloracne, cancers, and thyroid, respiratory, and cardiovascular diseases. During our 2022-23 community-based sampling campaign in Colfax, we detected EPFRs, metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, dioxins, and furans in fine and coarse PM samples and collected urine, nail, …

Evaluating Optimal Placement and Timing of Fuel Treatments Across Dynamic Southern California Landscapes

• PI: Scheller, Robert
• Direct Sponsor Name: Bureau of Land Management
• Amount Awarded: $19,948 
• Abstract: Adding LANDIS functionality to include fire-cued germination for chaparral
  shrubs. In year 2, a postdoctoral scholar will code new functionality into the LANDIS-II model that allows for a broader suite of fire-cued germination options. Currently, LANDIS-II supports several types of reproduction: ordinary seeding, resprouting, serotine, and planting. However, seed-banking and fire-cued germination are currently absent from the model, despite their importance to post-fire vegetation dynamics. Specifically, we propose to create a species-specific establishment multiplier in non-disturbance years and a dormant, long-lived seedbank. To simulate fire-cued germination, the multiplier is needed to set germination to zero in non-disturbance years. Seeds can accumulate in a long-lived seedbank that will germinate after a fire disturbance. By keeping track of the size and age of the seedbank, we can scale recruitment according to the number of seeds and their age-related viability…

Quantifying the Contribution of Small and Highly Dynamic Water Bodies to Methane Emissions

• PI: Tulbure, Mirela
• Direct Sponsor Name: National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA)
• Awarded Amount: $195,596 
• Abstract: Methane (CH4) is a potent greenhouse gas with a global warming potential 28 times higher than carbon dioxide over a 100-year time horizon. The importance of CH4 on a global scale is illustrated by the recent Global Methane Pledge, signed by 103 countries during COP26. Atmospheric concentrations of CH4 have been increasing in recent years. The mechanisms driving recent increases are unclear and could include: increased anthropogenic emissions from natural gas extraction, increased natural emissions and decreased atmospheric oxidative capacity, or a combination of all three. Inland aquatic ecosystems are important sources of methane and could be driving part of increased natural emissions. Emissions from inland waters have been identified as a key gap in understanding the global CH budget.