Each month, College of Natural Resources faculty members receive awards and grants from various federal, state and nongovernmental agencies in support of their research. This report recognizes the faculty members who received funding in November 2025.

Increasing Prescribed Fire Capacity, Training, and Use Across the Southern Region

• PI: Bardon, Robert
• Direct Sponsor Name: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
• Awarded Amount: $3,097,193 
• Abstract: To meet the current and anticipated future demand for longleaf establishment, we will provide avenues for collaboration, education, and training to increase prescribed burning capacity, while also providing opportunities to collect important modeling data and to implement prescribed burns in NC and across the Southeast region. Prescribed fire is essential for the restoration, maintenance, and improvement of longleaf pine ecosystems, so by working to increase regional prescribed burning capacity and implementation, this project will support the longleaf goals and strategies of key stakeholders, including partnerships such as SERPPAS and America Longleaf.

Phenological Responses of Two Regulated Pests

• PI: Bookwalter, Jamie
• Direct Sponsor Name: Agricultural Marketing Service – USDA
• Awarded Amount: $171,463
• Abstract: Develop and validate a predictive degree day model for forecasting the timing of seasonal emergence of two Diaspididae armored scales: Aspidiotus cryptomeriae and Fiorinia externa (Diaspididae). We will also extend the model to determine best timing for pesticide application and/or future sex hormone disruption compounds. These deliverables will be met by: 1. Determining low temperature developmental threshold for Aspidiotus cryptomeria and Fiorinia externa. Identifying the low temperature developmental threshold will allow for the identification of a more exact biofix. 2: Determining generational time of Aspidiotus cryptomeriae and Fiorinia externa in laboratory setting. Identifying the generational time will allow for the better life cycle. 3. Identifying peak crawler period of Aspidiotus cryptomeriae and Fiorinia externa in field and associate nearby temperature data. Comparing field and laboratory data will be critical for model validation.

Collaborative Research: The Undergraduate Participatory Science Initiative (UPSI) in Data Analytics and Interdisciplinary StudY(DAISY)

• PI: Leggett, Zakiya
• Direct Sponsor Name: National Science Foundation (NSF)
• Amount Awarded: $373,307 
• Abstract: Recent research has demonstrated the positive impact that undergraduate experiences with research can have on students understanding of scientific knowledge and practices, identities, and persistence (Lin et al., 2015). This IUSE ICT Level 1 proposal seeks to build upon and expand the major activities completed as part of the project team ICT Capacity Building project which spanned October 2019 to December 2023.  The goal of the original project was to build our capacity to enhance undergraduate STEM education by linking students to the community through engagement and citizen science. We have built capacity in relation to 1) interest and awareness in citizen science and experiential learning, 2) knowledge, training, and relationships, and 3) information technology infrastructure. Now we propose the establishment of the Applied Community Engaged Research center (ACER), which will provide STEM majors from NC A&T SU and NCSU that leverages approaches to participatory sciences to scaffold student development as a public scientist. Through a new sequence within the honors program at each institution, first- and second-year students pursue honors credits through citizen science modules linked to their general education requirements, and third- and fourth-year students pursue community engaged research experiences through Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) and non-course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (UREs) opportunities with our partners on  campuses, in the Triad (Greensboro, High Point, Winston-Salem), Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill), and other regions of North Carolina. The research experiences provided to undergraduate students will be structured in the form of a curricular sequence that culminates in students ability and earn undergraduate certificates in Participatory Science Ambassador (PSA) and Applied Community Engaged Research (ACER).

Improving Tracking Technology for Box Turtles

• PI: Mali, Ivana
• Direct Sponsor Name: Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute
• Awarded Amount: $9,000
• Abstract: Jointly with the Engineering Program Senior Design Project improve tracking technology for box turtles.

Estimating Changes in Wood Product Demand Due To Coastal Flooding and Storm Surge

• PI: Parajuli, Rajan
• Direct Sponsor Name: US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
• Amount Awarded: $22,382 
• Abstract: Coastal flooding and storm surge can have a direct and significant impact on domestic wood product markets, by driving increased demand for lumber and timber construction. This can come in the form of replacing destroyed properties near coastal areas, as well as driving populations to relocate from areas impacted by such flooding and storm surge, putting increased pressure on residential construction. When there is an increase in residential construction starts, there is typically a corresponding increase in the demand for dimensional lumber, plywood, engineered wood products, and other building materials made from wood. In addition, a sudden increase in demand for wood products driven by a spike in residential construction can lead to price volatility in the wood product markets, as well as important ripple effects through the domestic and global supply chain due to the interconnected nature of wood product markets around the world. This project aims 1) to develop a statistically valid econometrics model to estimate changes in wood product demand as a function of coastal flooding and storm surge related to sea level rise by country, globally, as well as for the United States, and (2) use the estimated model to project new demand for wood products in U.S. and globally under alternate sea level rise scenarios.

Evaluating the Impacts of the Forest Legacy Program on the Conservation of Economically Important Working Forests in the United States

• PI: Parajuli, Rajan
• Direct Sponsor Name: US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
• Awarded Amount: $299,940 
• Abstract: We intend to use national, regional, and statewide data to estimate economic impacts related to timber production, recreation, non-timber forest product production, and ecosystem services. Further, engagements with state agencies and relevant stakeholders to evaluate the changes in the project type offered through the IRA funds could offer useful insights for program evaluation. In this study we also aim to document perceived challenges and opportunities in implementing the new FLP project types supported by the IRA investment.

Title: Global Centers: CIRCLE: Center for Innovative Recycling and Circular Economy

• PI: Park, Sunkyu
• Direct Sponsor Name: National Science Foundation (NSF)
• Awarded Amount: $148,705 
• Abstract: This is multi country proposal.  US funding agency is NSF.  In US, we will address plastic upcycling.  We will develop feed agnostic chemical conversion followed by biological process to produce high value products.

An Improved Understanding of the Interplay Between Bedrock Properties and Forest Resilience in the Rocky Mountains

• PI: Sprenger, Matthias
• Direct Sponsor Name: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory – University of California – Berkeley
• Awarded Amount: $5,000 
• Abstract: The Watershed Function SFA at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory aims to understand how ecosystems adapt to meteorological and environmental stressors based on their inherent traits, thereby simplifying the complexity of mountainous landscapes into key principles that guide ecosystem responses to disturbance. There remains a critical knowledge gap as to how disturbance-induced trait redistribution, following drought, insect infestation, or forest management, impacts ecosystem structure, hydrology and biogeochemical cycling. Research Focus Area 1 (RFA1) of the project aims to understand how ongoing temperature-driven changes in water-energy balance across elevations impact watershed hydrological, ecological, and biogeochemical functions. RFA1 seeks to identify mechanisms and trait-to-function relationships that explain functional responses and resilience to recent past disturbances. One focus is on the interplay between bedrock properties and forest resilience (RFA 1.2), which uses a combination of tree core sampling, remote sensing and biogeochemical and microbial sampling to understand spatial and temporal variation of forest health in response to drought.