Forest ThreatNet

Frank Koch joined EFETAC as a research ecologist, focusing on forest pest invasion research with an emphasis on developing methods for mapping pest invasion risk based on species’ biology and behavior.

Serra Hoagland joined EFETAC as a biological scientist. She was recently chosen as a participant in the highly competitive 2012 Wildlife Society Leadership Institute, designed to groom emerging young professionals to become exceptional leaders.

Rabin Bhattarai is a post-doctoral fellow studying the impacts of global change on hydrology and ecosystems under the Earth System Modeling Project, a National Science Foundation-funded project that will offer new assessment tools for climate change research and management agencies.

LeeAnna Young Chapman is studying reduction of climate prediction uncertainties. She also works with EFETAC’s Water Supply Stress Index – Carbon and Biodiversity (WaSSI-CB) model as part of the Earth System Modeling Project.

John Cobb is currently developing ArcGIS tools to derive soil moisture parameters for the WaSSI model.

Lisa Jennings is a NCSU research assistant and content manager for EFETAC’s Template for Assessing Climate Change Impacts and Management Options.

Wen Lin is working on a special USDA Food Research Initiative project involving research, education, and climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Jie Zhou is focusing on water and carbon fluxes between the atmosphere and forest ecosystems for a poplar plantation in northern China.

EFETAC scientist Kurt Riitters was recently elected to a two-year term as president of the US Regional Association of the International Association for Landscape Ecology (US-IALE; www.usiale.org). US-IALE is the largest of 25 regional associations that make up the international organization (www.landscape-ecology.org). Riitters’ research over two decades has helped to advance the interdisciplinary field of landscape ecology while contributing directly to achieving EFETAC and Forest Service goals related to landscape analysis and assessment.

He served previously as councilor-at-large of US-IALE, and is a member of the editorial board of the international flagship journal Landscape Ecology. According to Riitters, "This is a special honor because I have always considered US-IALE to be my natural home in the science world – the community is eclectic, rigorous, and grounded in the real world."