Forest ThreatNet

The Eastern Threat Center welcomed several new and returning staff members and Research Fellows during the past year, adding significant expertise to the team. 

Kevin Potter,  long affiliated with the Threat Center through his previous university faculty position, accepted a new Research Scientist position with the Center. Kevin is a landscape ecologist and population geneticist who applies evolutionary ecology tools and concepts to better understand the response of tree species and communities to forest health threats. He previously held a Research Professor position in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources at North Carolina State University, serving as a joint venture cooperator with the Threat Center. 

Bill Christie, a long-time member of the Threat Center's Asheville team, accepted a new Remote Sensing Analyst position. Bill joined the Threat Center in August 2010 as a GIS/Remote Sensing Analyst with over 20 years of experience applied to natural resource management and conservation in the Southern US. He will continue as lead developer and co-manager for the High-resolution Forest Mapping (HiForm) workflow, admin and revision development manager for the Water Supply Stress Index (WaSSI) application, and additional analytical and technical remote sensing and GIS support.

Danika Mosher arrived at the Threat Center in 2023, accepting a position as a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) specialist. Danika holds an MS in Geosciences concentrating in Geospatial Analysis from East Tennessee State University. She most recently was part of the USGS North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center helping with scenario planning and simulation modeling for the National Park Service Climate Change Response Program, and also taught remote sensing at Front Range Community College. 

New Research Fellows affiliated through the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE):

Zihao Bian joined the Threat Center as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow. His research interests include biogeochemical and hydrological cycles, water quality, ecosystem modeling, and global change. Zihao’s research with EFETAC investigates impacts of extreme weather (including hurricanes) on carbon and nutrient pools and fluxes, and the benefits of forests for water quality.

Henrique Duarte joined EFETAC through the University of New Hampshire/Earth Systems Research Center as a Postdoctoral Research Associate. His research focuses on land-atmosphere interactions, terrestrial biosphere modeling, micrometeorology, and boundary-layer meteorology. Henrique's research with EFETAC investigates the impact of ongoing and projected climate change on eastern US forest ecosystem structure and functions. 

Alyson East joined the Threat Center as a Post-Master’s Research Fellow. Her Threat Center research involves developing and evaluating the new Sentinel 3 satellite-based ForWarn disturbance maps, and assessing the representativeness of the existing Experimental Forest Network through network analysis. 

Carlos Topete Pozas is an ORISE Postdoctoral Research Fellow. His Threat Center research focuses on hurricane long-term effects along an urban-to-natural forest gradient across the Coastal Plain of the Eastern US. Carlos has research interests in urban sustainability, resilience, land cover change, landscape ecology, urban planning, natured based solutions, remote sensing, GIS, and climate change.

Yulong Zhang joined the Threat Center as a Research Fellow under the category of Established Scientist. Yulong has research interests in the roles of forest ecosystems in regulating global and regional carbon and water dynamics based on multi-source remote sensing, ground observations, eco-hydrological models, advanced statistics, and machine learning. He is particularly interested in monitoring and assessing the response and recovery of forest structure and functions under anthropogenic and natural disturbances at different spatial scales, shedding light on the role of forests in maintaining key ecosystem services (e.g., carbon sequestration and water yield regulation). 

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