SEFS in the News: February, 2024

Written by

Browse recent mentions of SEFS researchers in the news. Have news to share? Send your updates to sefscomm@uw.edu.

Partnership Highlight: Washington Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit

Written by

Together with the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, SEFS hosts the Washington Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit (WACFWRU), part of a national network of research cooperatives founded to bring federal resources to bear on state wildlife management issues. WACFWRU was founded as a fisheries research unit in 1967 and became a combined fish and wildlife research unit in 1989. The Coop Unit is a unique resource for bringing federal, state, and university partners together to address complex wildlife issues across the state of Washington, the Pacific Northwest, and beyond.

grassy slope in front of mountainsCurrently, there are 42 Cooperative Research Units in 40 states, each consisting of a partnership between the U.S. Geological Survey, a host university, one or more state agencies, and the Wildlife Management Institute. In addition to the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, WACFWRU cooperators include the University of Washington, Washington State University, Washington Department of Ecology, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington Department of Natural Resources, and the Wildlife Management Institute.

The Unit Leader of the Coop Unit is Sarah Converse, a UW Associate Professor with appointments in SEFS and the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences (SAFS). She and two Assistant Unit Leaders – SEFS Assistant Professor Alex McInturff and SAFS Associate Professor Mark Scheuerell – are U.S. Geological Survey research scientists as well as UW faculty. They guide the Coop Unit in the three components of the Coop Unit’s mission. “Our mission includes training the next generation of leaders in fish and wildlife science and management, conducting research that helps agencies make decisions about fish and wildlife, and providing technical assistance to meet our state partners’ needs through activities such as providing training and participating on advisory boards,” said Converse.

With the ability to direct federal and state funds to university researchers and students and bring together cooperative partners throughout the state, region, and country, WACFWRU is a valuable resource for advancing fish and wildlife decision-making.

“This tight integration between our faculty, our students, and agency cooperators positions SEFS in the center of wildlife management and policy in the State of Washington. We are at the heart of many of the decisions that federal and state agencies are making, and I think that’s thanks to the close relationships between our faculty and students, and the agency scientists and policymakers,” said McInturff.

Graduate students within the Coop Unit are able to connect with agency scientists and conduct research that directly impacts fish and wildlife management decisions. “It’s really important to be able to be part of those conversations, to provide the best available science, and to see our work get put into action on some of the biggest issues facing the state, the region, and the country,” said McInturff.

WACFWRU has a rich history of partnership and collaboration with the cooperating agencies that have shared research interests across Washington’s diverse ecosystems. The WACFWRU also has a long history of working beyond Washington’s borders, in the Pacific Northwest, throughout the US, and internationally. 

“I believe WACFWRU is a valuable asset to state agencies such as the Washington Department of Natural Resources. It is rare to have a combination of highly productive and intelligent scientists who are also down-to-earth and have a strong interest in conducting highly relevant research for managers,“ said Josh Halofsky, a cooperator with the Washington Department of Natural Resources.

Many SEFS faculty members work through the Coop Unit to produce research that addresses wildlife management needs in the state, including L. Monika Moskal, Aaron Wirsing, Beth Gardner, Josh Lawler, Brian Harvey, Laura Prugh, and Dave Butman. The projects that SEFS faculty pursue through the WACFWRU are diverse, from investigating the vulnerability of wetland habitats to climate change, to helping agencies understand how emerging infectious diseases will affect public perceptions of wildlife. 

This summer, the Washington Coop Unit will introduce some new policies that will make it easier for state agencies to contract with faculty members. “We’ve been working hard on ways to streamline the contracting between the university and state agencies, and we’re looking forward to rolling out some new approaches that will improve that process,” said Converse. “We encourage agency employees and university researchers to reach out if they want to learn more about working with us.” 

There are several opportunities to learn more about WACFWRU, including the bi-weekly Fish and Wildlife Ecology Seminar and the Annual Graduate Student Symposium hosted in October. You can learn more at https://depts.washington.edu/wacfwru/.

SEFS researchers awarded grant through NSF Convergence Accelerator Program

Written by

SEFS Professor L. Monika Moskal and researcher Meghan Halabisky were among 15 multidisciplinary teams awarded funding through the National Science Foundation (NSF) Convergence Accelerator program. Their project, Mapping the Nation’s Wetlands for Equitable Water Quality, Monitoring, Conservation, and Policy Development, is part of an NSF effort to develop innovative technologies and solutions to improve U.S. freshwater systems totaling $9.8M of funding. The project, led by Moskal, will integrate advances in wetland science, computing, remote sensing, and geospatial tool development to predict where wetlands are and the services they provide, and accelerate the development of a national-scale wetlands decision support tool for the United States.

Professor Moskal was also awarded the 2023 Estes Memorial Teaching at Geo Week 2024, highlighting achievements in lidar, geospatial, and photogrammetry work.

NSF banner for advancing water - resources for everyone - NSF convergence accelerator awards 15 teams to develop innovation water solutions with a picutre of a scientist sampling water
Credit: U.S. National Science Foundation

Employee Spotlight: Olivia Price, UW Botanic Gardens Adult Education Programs Supervisor

Written by

Get to know SEFS staff! This series provides an opportunity to find out more about SEFS staff members — what they do in their daily job and how they spend their time outside the office.

What is your role at SEFS?

I am the Adult Education Programs Supervisor at UW Botanic Gardens. Most of my day is spent planning and carrying out classes for the public and horticulture professionals, as well as a few annual symposia. I also manage our work on the City of Seattle’s Trees for Neighborhoods program and UWBG’s general communications.

Tell us about your road to SEFS

It’s been a winding one! After college I spent 7 years working in finance at a global health non-profit based here in Seattle, including spending three months supporting a project in our Malawi office. I decided to go back to school for my MPA and started that program in 2020. By spring quarter I was really feeling the Zoom fatigue, and took a plant ID class at Edmonds College on a whim to get some more outside time. I immediately fell in love with learning more about plants, and quickly decided horticulture was a field I wanted to work in. My first job at UWBG was working on summer data collection for the Trees for Neighborhoods program and leading a project aimed at increasing accessibility of the program in Seattle’s higher-heat neighborhoods.

Tell us about your college experience

I started college thinking I wanted to become a doctor, but very quickly found out that chemistry was not my strong suit. After taking an introductory public health class, I really connected with its systems-level approach to problem solving, so I majored in public health with minors in global health and Spanish. There are SO many options available at UW, which certainly makes making a ‘pivot’ much easier. I also appreciated how most majors here have seminars that will delve into the wide array of careers available in that field. When thinking about grad school, UW was the school on my list. I’m very proud to call myself a Double Dawg!

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Ballard and am excited to be living in the neighborhood again after a decade in the U District/Capitol Hill. I love getting to take the bus to live shows or square dancing at the Tractor Tavern, and spend as much time as possible biking along Shilshole during the summer.

What are your favorite ways to spend time outside of work?

Cooking, trying new craft projects, gardening (counting the days until I can have a homegrown cherry tomato!), shopping for vintage clothes, and camping/hiking during our beautiful Seattle summers. I also manage a weekly gleaning program that donates excess produce from the Ballard Farmers Market to the Ballard Food Bank. We collected over 24,000 pounds of produce in 2023! My parents and sister have moved out of state, but most of my extended family still lives in Seattle and I’m so lucky to get to spend so much time with them.

What inspires you?

Connecting with nature. I love that I get to spend every day facilitating that connection for others, whether it is through forest bathing in the Arboretum or a botanical dyes class.

SEFS in the News: January, 2024

Written by

Browse recent mentions of SEFS researchers in the news. Have news to share? Send your updates to sefscomm@uw.edu.

Post-fire recovery is faster than expected in the forests of the western Cascades, SEFS-led study finds

Written by

Photo by: Sofia Kruszka

New research published by the SEFS Harvey Lab looks at how forests west of the Cascade crest in Washington and northern Oregon are recovering from recent large and severe fires. The answer? Surprisingly fast, when compared to many interior dry forests elsewhere in the western US. When it comes to recovery, the age of the forest prior to the fire had an impact, with old-growth forests showing more abundant and diverse tree seedlings establishing after the fire compared to forests that were younger and simpler in structure before the fire. 

In other forests of western North America, post-fire tree regeneration has slowed or potentially stopped altogether in some cases due to increases in fire size, severity, or frequency in combination with warmer and drier post-fire conditions. However, even after recent large and severe fires, the burned forests on the west side of the Cascades are exhibiting rapid natural post-fire tree regeneration and forest recovery. 82% of stands where the fire was severe and killed all the pre-fire trees had post-fire regeneration rates that exceeded Washington state forest practice minimum density thresholds by 3-5 years post-fire, suggesting that, overall, naturally occurring tree regeneration is sufficient for meeting management objectives of forest recovery. Seedling density increased in areas with cooler and wetter conditions and with proximity to surviving live trees; but, surprisingly, tree seedlings were abundant at distances up to 400 meters from the nearest live tree. As lead author and PhD student Madison Laughlin put it “Seeing abundant post-fire tree seedlings at such far distances from live mature trees suggests we may be underestimating seed availability following severe fire in these forests. Seeds might be dispersing farther than previously thought, or some cones on trees that were killed by fire might persist, if not burned, and provide an on-site seed source. These are hypotheses we are currently testing in our ongoing research.”

Lead author and SEFS PhD student Madison Laughlin. Photo by: Brian Harvey

This research highlights the importance of old-growth forests and suggests that the complexity in older forests promotes forest resilience to severe, stand-replacing wildfires. Because these areas burn infrequently relative to other drier forest ecosystems in the western US, little research has been conducted on post-fire regeneration in the region. As warming continues due to climate change and wildfire potential increases in northwestern Cascadia, it will be critical to understand how forests are re-establishing with trees after severe fire. “Post-fire recovery of forest ecosystems is something that can play out over very long time scales, especially in forests that are characterized in part by infrequent and severe fires. These findings are encouraging signs for forest resilience to these kinds of fires in the northwestern Cascades, and our future re-measurements of these plots will help us track long-term recovery”, mentioned SEFS Professor Brian Harvey, senior author on the study. “We’re also measuring multiple complementary response variables in coordinated studies so we can track things like the entire post-fire plant community as well as the post-fire fuel profiles and potential for subsequent reburns in these areas. This collectively is helping us build understanding of how fire affects a wide diversity of ecosystem components, and with our partners, co-develop strategies for managing that diversity pre- and post-fire.” 

The study was published in the journal Forest Ecology and Management, led by SEFS PhD student Madison Laughlin with coauthors Jenna Morris, Liliana Rangel-Parra, and Brian Harvey from Professor Brian Harvey’s lab in SEFS, and Drs Dan Donato and Joshua Halofsky at the Washington Department of Natural Resources. It uncovers a critical piece in our understanding of forest resilience and managing post-fire landscapes. The findings suggest a high capacity for recovery from large and severe fires that are characteristic in forests west of the Cascades in Washington and northern Oregon—particularly in areas with old-growth forests.

This research was supported by a grant from the United States Geological Survey Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center, the USDA Forest Service – PNW Research Station as part of the Westside Fire and Climate Adaptation Research Initiative, the Good Neighbor Authority between the USDA Forest Service and Washington Department of Natural Resources, the Jack Corkery and George Corkery Jr. Endowed Professorship in Forest Sciences, and support from Jerry Franklin.

SEFS Associate Professor featured in Seattle Times article about redwood forests in WA

Written by

SEFS Associate Professor Greg Ettl was featured in a Seattle Times article about redwood forests in the Pacific Northwest. As drier conditions, rising temperatures, and wildfire impact native tree species in the region, coast redwoods may become more common due to their decay-, fire- and disease-resistant nature. In UW’s Pack Forest, Ettl leads ongoing studies comparing the growth of coast redwoods and Douglas fir. He is working to understand how redwood seedlings fare in conditions that are less common on California’s coast, such as drought and under frost. He is also looking to survey the coast redwoods and Douglas firs growing alongside each other across the state to compare their growth rates under different conditions and soil types.

Washington Rare Plant Care and Conservation program highlighted on Cascade PBS Series

Written by

The Washington Rare Plant Care and Conservation program, featuring Rare Care Program Manager Wendy Gibble was highlighted in a series called Human Elements on Cascade PBS. The episode focused on the Miller Seed Vault and the impact of habitat loss, industrialization, invasive species and climate change on rare plants.

SEFS researchers contribute to publications on smoke hazards from prescribed burns in California

Written by

SEFS Research Associate Professor Ernesto Alvarado was a co-author on two recent publications that help forest managers assess risk from prescribed burns in California’s Central Sierra range. Co-author Joe Wilkins, Assistant Professor at Howard University, was a postdoc in Alvarado’s lab during the research. The team created a framework to help land managers assess the air quality implications of land management scenarios with varying levels of prescribed burning. Using models that estimate the smoke efforts on ecosystems and nearby communities, the researchers found that moderate amounts of burning would reduce overall smoke levels.

Their findings were published in Nature Sustainability and Environmental Research Letters in December 2023, and January 2024 respectively.

SEFS remembers College of Forest Resources faculty member, Fiorenzo Ugolini

Written by

We are saddened to share the news that a former College of Forest Resources faculty member, Fiorenzo Ugolini, passed away on November 22, 2023, at age 94. Fiorenzo is fondly remembered by students, colleagues, and friends for his passion, positive influence, and his extraordinary work on soil development in temperate, boreal, and arctic soils. Learn more in his obituary, shared below.

Florenzo Cesare Ugolini (January 16, 1929 – November 22, 2023)

Professor Fiorenzo Ugolini was born on snowy day in Florence, Italy in 1929. As a young boy, he dreamt of becoming an Arctic explorer. He moved to the United States in 1954 to pursue his doctorate in Pedology at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. In 1955, his dream became a reality when he went on his first polar expedition. In 1963, he moved to Columbus, Ohio where he was Associate Professor at Ohio State University for three years. In 1966, he moved to Seattle, Washington, where he was Professor at the University of Washington from 1966 to 1990. In 1990, he returned to his native city of Florence, where he became Professor Emeritus at the University of Florence. He is fondly remembered by his students for his dedication to giving them the best education possible. He went on to explore every cold region in the world from Spitsbergen to Siberia and from McMurdo Station to Scotts Camp. His major discovery was finding life under the many layers of ice in Antarctica. As a result, he was often consulted about whether there was life on the Moon or on Mars. He had published over 100 articles from his research.

He holds a Bachelor of Sciences in Agriculture from the University of Florence and PhD from Rutgers University in Soil Sciences. He won the the Duchaufour Medal for Distinguished Contributions to Soil Science in 2009. He received a Citation from Admiral Byrd for Bravery because he rescued a helicopter crew from a life-threatening fire in Antarctica. He has been on over 25 expeditions to the Polar Regions and even has a mountain in the Antarctic named after him, Ugolini Peak.

He is survived by his two daughters, Annalisa Ugolini Salazar and Ughetta Miller and his two grandchildren, Isabella and Johnathan Miller.