Forests are at the center of attention as a natural climate solution, recognized as a meaningful wedge in the portfolio of actions we need to fight climate change. Land managers are actively exploring ways to promote climate mitigation through forest protection, expansion or management, but they need help framing the solutions, quantifying their potential, and identifying priorities. This talk will introduce a suite of methods, datasets, visualizations, and communications that our team has developed to help fill this gap.
By combining forest inventory data, satellite remote sensing of biomass and land cover, and carbon cycle computational modeling, we have developed a national-scale forest carbon monitoring and assessment system (NFCMS). This system serves as a baseline inventory for greenhouse gas reporting and as a tool for assessing local to regional climate change mitigation opportunities in the forest sector. We have applied this capability to examine state-level trends in forest carbon stocks and fluxes, expected future carbon sequestration, and the role of harvest removals across New England plus New York. Also, we have assessed the potential climate benefits of avoided deforestation, reforestation, and sustained forest growth and utilization across the region. Examples of this work will be presented along with discussion of the challenges that remain in preparing the scientific basis for informed decision making about the climate benefits that can be reliably achieved with forests.
Professor Christopher A. Williams earned a B.A. in Biology / Environmental Studies at Bucknell University, an M.S. in Watershed Science at Colorado State University, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Science at Duke University. He joined the faculty in the Graduate School of Geography in Fall 2008. Prior to his arrival at Clark University he was a Research Scientist at Colorado State University's Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, followed by Assistant Research Scientist with the Goddard Earth Sciences and Technology Center of the University of Maryland Baltimore County and based in the Biospheric Sciences Branch of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
Trained as a land surface hydrologist and terrestrial ecosystem ecologist, Chris investigates how earth's biosphere responds to natural and human perturbations such as severe drought events, bark beetle outbreaks, fires, harvesting, and land cover changes. His approach combines field, lab, and remote sensing data with process-based modeling aimed at understanding how terrestrial biophysical and biogeochemical processes are influenced by hydroclimatic variability and disturbance. His research spans leaf to global scales, with regional foci on Africa and North America.
For more information, contact: Anji Seth at anji.seth@uconn.edu
