The National Science Foundation (NSF) has provided continued funding for year three of a Northern Forest research project on ecosystem resilience conducted by researchers at ̽̽ (̽̽) and other northeastern institutions. The September 2021 award includes $600,000 in new supplemental funding for a partnership with (AAMU), a (HBCU). The ̽̽ Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources facilitated the partnership.
“This supplemental award connects Alabama A&M University to our forest research and training efforts here in the Northeast,” said Tony D’Amato, forest researcher at the Rubenstein School and ̽̽’s project lead. “It’s a great opportunity to connect with a minority serving institution as we tackle challenges related to sustaining forest ecosystems into the future.”
Undergraduate students at AAMU majoring in Forestry and other majors in its Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences will benefit from new paid research opportunities during the summer and regular semesters. Students will gain valuable experience in the use of advanced instrumentation and sensors deployed in the diverse forests of the South, in the use and analysis of Big Data generated by the sensors, and by interaction with researchers and graduate students involved in the project.
The NSF EPSCoR (Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) project, (Leveraging Intelligent Informatics and Smart Data for Improved Understanding of Northern Forest Ecosystem Resiliency), is a multi-jurisdictional effort across Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Led by the Center for Research on Sustainable Forests (CRSF) at the University of Maine, INSPIRES encompasses over 60 participants and spans a range of disciplines that include data science, forest ecology, STEM education, electrical and computer engineering, and communications from the University of Maine, University of Vermont, University of New Hampshire, and Dartmouth College.
INSPIRES researchers use a Big Data approach that integrates forest information from understudied regions of Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire. Information on land ownership, management units, and underlying ecology informs large-scale model simulations of alternative futures that vary in climate, pollution, land use, regulatory policies, and disturbance intensity. Model projections help to better understand how forests might change in the future in this critical portion of the Northern Forest.
A parallel and highly related scientific complement to the project is understanding the transitional forest response to stressors when species are primarily at the southern extent of their biological ranges, rather than the northern extent—an integral part of the original INSPIRES research. The team is now building a strategic partnership to focus on southern range limits by collaborating with AAMU. This partnership will add a diversified perspective as well as specific scientific expertise and talent to the multi-university, multi-state endeavor.
Former AAMU faculty member Luben Dimov, now a senior lecturer in the Forestry Program of the ̽̽ Rubenstein School, facilitated the partnership. This new collaboration will mutually benefit both AAMU and the original INSPIRES partners and create research collaboration opportunities, student exchange experiences, and hands-on learning opportunities across two transitional forest ecosystems.
“This partnership was catalyzed by the NSF’s recognition of the importance of supporting institutions that have been historically underfunded by granting agencies and whose students come from primarily underserved populations,” said Dimov. “But it was also spurred by the desire of the original INSPIRES team to collaborate with faculty at minority serving institutions and establish links that not only benefit the scholarship of the researchers and students, but also improve our understanding of how various forest types would function at a time of rapid climate change and growing pressures from native and novel invasive species.”
AAMU has strong expertise and experience in the areas specifically related to INSPIRES, particularly forest ecology, ecological modeling, geoinformatics, and biometrics. It is also home to long-term ecological research sites that will provide invaluable data and insight on species spatial distribution in a diverse temperate forest; on the recruitment, survival, and mortality of trees over time; on the impacts of climate change and non-native invasive pathogens; and on implications for sustainable forest management and conservation for the next century. It is also the only Society of American Foresters-accredited forestry program at an HBCU in the United States.
“We are excited by the opportunities that this collaboration brings to our students and potential integration of our research with northern forests,” said Dawn Lemke, AAMU’s project lead. “Through this program, our students will spend time in very different ecosystems and environments and have exposure to broad areas of education and research beyond their foundational experiences at AAMU.”
INSPIRES participants have been successful in developing strategies to enhance team building and support research collaboration (details of years 1 and 2 available at ). Team members will continue to refine mentoring and student participation at both high school and college levels. Project leaders will engage stakeholders and partners to gain input and feedback on research objectives, identify opportunities for leveraging existing long-term data collections, and develop collaborative partnerships around the INSPIRES themes.
"Despite all the challenges created by the ongoing global pandemic, the INSPIRES team has remained dedicated to the cause and found very creative ways to continue collaboration,” said INSPIRES lead Aaron Weiskittel of the University of Maine CRSF. “The project largely remains on schedule with many exciting outcomes planned in the coming months, such as continued interactions with high school science teachers and students from across the region.”
Learn more about INSPIRES on the University of Maine’s CRSF website: