2019 Accomplishment Highlights

Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians begin plant gathering in Great Smoky Mountains National Park based on traditional ecological knowledge

Improving hurricane damage assessments with new satellite technology and outreach

Assessing the vulnerability of tree species to insect and disease threats

Determining water use by common trees across North Carolina can help develop planting guidelines

Converting hardwood stands to loblolly pine reduces streamflow in the Piedmont of North Carolina

Special issue highlights cutting-edge research in landscape ecology

Searching for persistent landscape patterns and associated wood harvest activity in the southeastern US

Tree diversity regulates nonnative pest invasions in forest ecosystems

Wildland fires impact water yields in the United States

New urban forest research sheds light on the risk of pest invasions

Predicting Southern Pine Beetle outbreaks

Forest Service helps emerging scientists assess drought impacts in urban forests

The state of the nation's forests assessed in new report

Harmonizing global forest fragmentation analysis

Urbanization dries the atmosphere: the urban dry island effect

Southern region inventory, monitoring, and assessment census: streamlining science-based decision making

Working together to build resilience to hurricanes on working lands

 International Activities

• Research Biologist Michelle Baumflek served as the Deputy Coordinator for the International Union of Forest Research Organizations Working Party for Non-wood Forest Products Culture. 
  
• Research Ecologist Frank Koch served as Communications Officer for the International Pest Risk Research Group (IPRRG).
• Koch also lead on an MOU between the USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station and the Canadian Forest Service’s Great Lakes Forestry Centre, in the area of forest pest and forest health research.
• Research Ecologist William Hargrove served as an Organizing Program Committee Member for the 8th Workshop on Data Mining in Earth System Science (DMESS 2018), Singapore.
• Research Ecologist Kurt Riitters assisted the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) in fulfillment of requests from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Forest Europe. Riitters advised JRC scientists on how to measure and monitor forest fragmentation and other landscape patterns at Europe scale (Forest Europe project) and at global scale (FAO project). Both FAO and Forest Europe adopted assessment procedures consistent with those used in US National assessments of forest fragmentation in the RPA Assessment Process and the Sustainability Assessment Process (aka the Montreal Process).
• Hydrologist Dennis Hallema co-organized the workshop, “Writing about Science”, for the Terrestrial Ecosystems and Agricultural and Forest Meteorology Symposium, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, People’s Republic of China.

• Research hydrologist Ge Sun Sun hosted visiting Scientist Dr. Cheng Li from Guangdong Institute of Eco-Environmental Science and Technology, China; including a field tour of Coweeta Hydrological Lab. 

• Sun also delivered an invited presentation, “Advances in Forest Hydrology Research in the United States” at Hohai University, Nanjing, China.
  

• Numerous scientists contributed presentations to international meetings, conferences, and workshops, including: the International Union of Forest Research Organizations World Congress; the International Urban Forestry Congress; the 5th International Conference on Forests and Water in a Changing Environment, International Union of Forest Research Organizations; the 8th Workshop on Data Mining in Earth System Science; the General Assembly 2019 of the European Geosciences Union; the 9th Biennial Conference of the International Biogeography Society; the International Pest Risk Research Group 12th and 13th Annual Meetings; the Natural Resources Canada Webinar Series; the World Conference on Natural Resource Modeling; the Terrestrial Ecosystems and Agricultural and Forest Meteorology Symposium (Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology); and the 10th International Symposium on Modern Ecology.

Awards and Honors

• Research Ecologist Kurt Riitters was named the 2019 Distinguished Landscape Ecologist by the North American Regional Association of the International Association for Landscape Ecology (IALE-NA). The society fosters landscape ecology in North America and promotes interdisciplinary research and communication among scientists, planners, and other professionals concerned with landscape ecology. The Distinguished Landscape Ecologist award recognizes individuals whose thinking and writing have helped to shape the field of landscape ecology and is the society’s highest award.

• Research Ecologist Qinfeng Guo received the 2018/19 Southern Research Station Director’s Distinguished Scientist Award “For exceptional, sustained research productivity and leadership in invasive species research including the development and application of a species trait database and a practical restoration guide for invasive species management in changing environments.”

• The Threat Center’s High-resolution Forest Mapping (HiForm) Team received the 2018/19 Southern Research Station Director’s Science Delivery Award “In recognition of cutting-edge and innovative delivery of very high resolution hurricane and tornado impact maps to affected state and federal agencies.” The team consists of Research Ecologists Steve Norman and William Hargrove, Biological Scientist William Christie, and collaborators at the University of North Carolina-Asheville’s National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center (NEMAC).
• Research Biologist Michelle Baumflek, along with SRS scientists John Schelhas and Jim Chamberlain, received the 2018/19 Southern Research Station Director’s Partnership Award “For innovative efforts in establishing a partnership with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, which resulted in improved and integrated management of culturally important forest products for the Eastern Band.”
• Administrative Support Assistant Valerie Cooper received the 2018/19 Southern Research Station Director’s Business Operations Support Award, “For exceptional, efficient, and responsive efforts in support of business operations at the Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center and on national incident assignments.”