Forest ThreatNet

EFETAC’s Southern Global Change Program biological scientist Johnny Boggs participated in the second annual RiskFest 2008 in Raleigh, NC, in April. The event, themed "Helping Urban and Rural America to Be Future-Ready," is designed, organized, and facilitated by the USDA Risk Management Agency. RiskFest’s purpose is to involve a broad range of students, teachers, parents, and private and public professionals in dialogue and strategies to conserve both urban and rural environmental communities.

Above: SGCP scientist Johnny Boggs explains river flow patterns in the 17 North Carolina river basins during RiskFest 2008.

"RiskFest is an excellent opportunity to expose diverse students to the various risks associated with agriculture, the environment, and energy," says Boggs, whose research focuses on the impacts of nitrogen deposition on nutrient cycling and forest productivity in eastern U.S. forests. "It’s important that students recognize the real-world effects of these issues, which includes climate change, and how they can take action and make a difference."

Boggs and other professionals interacted with over 300 6th – 8th grade students at Centennial Campus Middle School. He shared forest management activities to help protect water quality in the North Carolina Piedmont, including the importance of streamside buffer zones, which play a significant role in ecosystem management by reducing sediment and nutrients and providing food, shelter, nesting habitat, and other benefits for land and aquatic animals. Boggs also discussed various threats and risk management factors in North Carolina, including the state’s most recent drought.

Boggs Reaches Out to MANRRS

Johnny Boggs is the Southern Research Station’s representative to the Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences (MANRRS). Boggs’ participation in this year’s Denver-based March conference, appropriately themed "Cultivating Minds for Tomorrow’s Leadership," helped interest diverse students from colleges and universities across the country in Forest Service career opportunities.

For more information about MANRRS, visit http://www.manrrs.org.