2015 NSRC Awards Announced

April 9, 2015 News & Events

NSRC LogoFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Northeastern States Research Cooperative Announces 2015 Research Awards

 

The Northeastern States Research Cooperative (NSRC), a competitive grant program supported by the USDA Forest Service and serving the states of Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont announces its 2015 research awards to advance cross-disciplinary, collaborative research in the Northern Forest region. Since its inception in 2001, NSRC has awarded $23 million in research funding across the Northern Forest.

NSRC recently awarded approximately $925,000 to 11 research projects that will be conducted over the next 1-3 years and also included a nearly equivalent level of matching funding.  This total resource of nearly $2 million to the Northern Forest region will fund research on a range of topics in four core areas of critical importance to Northern Forest communities: society and economics, forest ecology, wood products, and forest biodiversity.

A total of 95 pre-proposals and 41 proposals were rigorously evaluated by four, disciplinary peer review panels.  Based on these recommendations, the NSRC leadership team selected the final awards deemed to meet the highest needs for the Northern Forest and its stakeholders, .

U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, a longtime supporter of the program, stated, “The Northeastern States Research Cooperative has consistently funded projects that bring substantial and long-lasting benefits for Northern States’ communities and economies.  Through the Northeastern States Research Cooperative, the U.S. Forest Service has been particularly successful in helping the people of the region benefit from a better understanding and more sustainable use of our area’s forested landscape.  The work of NSRC grows more important each year as the region faces new challenges, including climate change and shifting land-use and population patterns.”

The 2015 research awards and Project Leaders are:

Classifying and Evaluating Partial Harvests and Their Effect on Stand Dynamics in Northern Maine

Project Leader: Christian Kuehne at the University of Maine

Cracking the Code of a Northern Forest Carbon Cycle: An Integrated Analysis Using Data, Models and Assessment of Uncertainties

Project Leader: Scott Ollinger at the University of New Hampshire

Determining Sources of Mercury Contamination within Terrestrial Habitats in the Adirondack Park of New York State

Project Leader: David Evers at the Biodiversity Research Institute in Maine

Learning from the Past to Predict the Future – Validation of the Spruce Budworm Disturbance Model in Northwestern Maine

Project Leader: Brian Sturtevant at the USDA Forest Service

Productivity, Regeneration Patterns, and Precommercial Treatment Options of Two Ecologically Based Silvicultural Systems:20-year Results from the Acadian Forest Ecosystem Research Project (AFERP) Study

Project Leader: Robert Seymour at the University of Maine

Quantifying Mercury in Forest Biomass

Project Leader: Ruth Yanai at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Respite from a Rogue: Northern Hardwood Forests as a Refuge for Giant Silk Moths Threatened by Non-Target Biological Control

Project Leader: Dylan Parry at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Tracking Parcelization Over Time: Updating the Vermont Database to Inform Planning and Policy

Project Leader: Jamey Fidel at the Vermont Natural Resources Council

Understanding Adoption of Sustainable Forest-Based Heating Alternatives for Northern Forest Homes and Communities

Project Leader: Joe Short at the Northern Forest Center in New Hampshire

Understanding the Impacts of Climate Change on Obligate Spruce-fir Birds

Project Leader: David King at the USDA Forest Service

Using Multiple Long-term Data Sets to Evaluate Dynamics and Characteristics of Managed Uneven-aged Northern Forest Stands

Project Leader: Ralph Nyland at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry

The NSRC will announce its next call for proposals in August 2015. More information can be found at the Northeastern States Research Cooperative website, http://www.nsrcforest.org.