University of California, Berkeley Forestry Research / EFIMED J. Keith Gilless, Dean College of Natural Resources Greg S. Biging, Dept. of Environmental Science, Policy & Management September 4, 2013
Forest Research in California Forest Research in California has transformed from disciplinary research (economics, silviculture, ecology, mensuration, wildlife ) to: research that crosses both disciplinary and regional / national boundaries. Forest research today spans: global biology, (plant and animal) ecology and health; economics, social science, culture; earth system science, earth remote sensing and modeling. Some thematic areas of research for UC Berkeley: Climate Change Biology Wildland Fire Management Landscape Ecology Remote sensing and modeling
2020 2085 California initiatives: Global change We study the effect of climate change and land use change on forest and wildlife species. Building resilience in California s forests: Adapting to global change (Battles and Stephens). Impact of global warming on California s urban forests (Mc Bride). Genetic and genomic divergence in tree populations and the effect of reproductive systems on the response to climate change (Dodd). Understanding the influence of a century of climate and land use change on the birds and small mammals of California (Beissinger) Environmental justice and climate change (Morello-Frosch)
Biodiversity We have tremendous capacity for research on arthropod biodiversity and environmental genomics, as well as invasive species and ecology of emerging diseases. The same is true for wildlife conservation, behavioral and population ecology and global decline of biodiversity. Assessing impacts of human land-use on grassland wildlife communities in California (Brashares). Protecting biodiversity in Madagascar (Kremen) Quantifying the relationship between land use and biodiveristy (Merenlender) Multipurpose landscape Optimal management of coupled human-natural systems: sustaining multi-use forest ecosystems and eradicating vector-borne diseases in cities (Potts) Ecosystem management strategy for Sierran mixed conifer forests (O Hara) Forest vegetation treatments to prevent wildfire, and promote wildlife,forest health and water Sierra Nevada Adaptive Management Project (Battles and Stephens) Extreme value analysis of high impact climate and weather events on forests and agriculture (Gilless, Castillo, Werhner) Fire management in the wildland urban interface (WUI) (Castillo and Gilless)
Water We also face challenges to the quality and quantity of water running off the forested watersheds that form the backbone of California's water supply system. Silvicultural treatments to increase water yield (Stewart,Battles, O hara)
FORESTERRA UC Berkeley The research interests of Foresterra and Berkeley have high correspondence, particularly on global change and biodiversity. Given funding through NSF or USDA for joint research between our groups, UC Berkeley faculty response would be quite strong.
Resources for engagement at UCB New Chancellor specializing in interdisiplinary research in S. Asia New Global Engagement office Additional exchange opportunities: Miller Research Fellows Berkeley-France program Ciracy-Wantrop PostDocs --------------------------------- Fulbright Program for Non-U.S. Scholars