Forest ThreatNet

The 2024 Scientific Achievement Award (SAA) of the International Union of Forest Research Organization (IUFRO) has been awarded to Center Director Ge Sun. At each World Congress every 5 years, IUFRO recognizes outstanding achievements of up to ten scientists for research that clearly demonstrates the importance of scientific or technical achievement to the advancement of regional or world forestry or forest research. Congratulations Ge!

RPA award

A research article co-authored by Center scientist Lars Pomara received the 2024 Brina C. Kessel Award from the American Ornithological Society. The Kessel Award recognizes the most outstanding article published in the journal Ornithology (formerly The Auk) over the preceding two-year period. The article 'Winter range shifts and their associations with species traits are heterogeneous in eastern North American birds' was led by Andrew Laughlin, a collaborator at the University of North Carolina-Asheville. Congratulations Andrew and Lars!

The USDA Forest Service's 2024 Jim Sedell Research Achievement Award (Team Award) recipients are Peter Caldwell, Ning Liu, Rebecca Dobbs, Chelcy Miniat, Ge Sun, Kai Duan, Stacy Nelson, Paul Bolstad, and Chris Carlson. The award recognizes this Southern Research Station research team for their decade-long collaborative work showing how forests provide drinking water supplies in the contiguous U.S. and Puerto Rico. The team of Forest Service and external partners developed research and communication tools relevant to land management on National Forests and beyond, such as planning restoration treatments funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, prioritizing watersheds for fuels reduction in support of the Wildfire Crisis Strategy or protecting forests in water supply areas vulnerable to land use change.

The research team receiving the Jim Sedell award (see above) was also recognized with the 2023 Southern Research Station Director's Science Delivery Award, for their research linking water supplies on forested land to water utilities across the contiguous U.S., and for the creation of “turn-key” datasets, reports, online maps, and tools that inform management decisions as well as educate partners and the public. Congratulations to all of the award's recipients, including Threat Center scientists Ge Sun and Ning Liu.