Department Message - Forest Scene, Fall 2024

December 11, 2024
Portrait of Kristen C. Nelson.
Kristen C. Nelson, Professor and Interim Head, Department of Forest Resources.

Field sessions and research opportunities are the foundation of our degree programs. This fall, new undergraduate students gathered once again at the Cloquet Forestry Center (CFC) to get to know one another by studying forest ecology, botany, and measurement at our Introductory Field Session. I heard they thought it was a great way to get to know one another and what they would be learning over the next four years!

Several of our students also join faculty labs as research assistants. In "Teamwork", read the stories of Basil Nadolski, who works in Marcella Windmuller-Campione's Silva Lab and joined John Zobel’s Leech Lake Tribe carbon market study; Reier Erickson, who joined Ingrid Schneider's lab to study participation in water-based leisure on the north shore; and graduate students Nick Parrott and Giovanni Delgado-Ortiz, who work with Silva Lab and Mae Davenport's Center for Changing Landscapes, respectively.

We’ve learned that lab and field experiences together with foundational classroom training contribute to success in our students' future careers. A good example of this is Sawyer Scherer, a forest ecologist at Blandin Paper Company ("Alumnus Spotlight: Sawyer Scherer"). He's a leader in Minnesota forestry and a great example for current students.

Forest Resources faculty continue major contributions to environmental sciences and forest management. In southern Sweden, Irene de Pellegrin Llorente focuses on forest management planning to reduce vulnerability, specifically to wind damage ("Reducing vulnerability to wind damage in forest management planning"). In Minnesota and the Great Lakes area, she will work on integrating multiple objectives into forest management planning (e.g., wildlife, carbon markets, and other forest ecosystem services) and incorporate uncertainty into the forest planning decision-making process. In addition, Mike Kilgore and Charlie Blinn add to our insights about winter weather harvesting challenges in northern Minnesota ("Are winter weather trends impacting northern Minnesota logging businesses?"). This semester, we've welcomed two new faculty members: Danielle Ignace, who focuses on forest ecology, ecophysiology, soil health, and Tribal forest management, and Adriana Uscanga, who is a specialist in social-ecological spatial analysis ("New Faculty"). At the same time, we celebrate Charlie Blinn’s tremendous contributions to Extension, research, teaching, and professional service for 40 years with the Department of Forest Resources ("Faculty Retirement: Charlie Blinn"). Thank you, Charlie, and enjoy retirement! 

We wish you all adventure and new learning in 2025! Thank you for the support you provide for current and future students. 

~ This article is part of the Fall 2024 Forest Scene newsletter (Issue 32). Access additional articles in the table of contents that follows the image description. 
 
Image description: A light-skinned woman with shoulder-length light-brown hair smiles in front of an interior brick wall. She's wearing dark-rimmed glasses and a black turtleneck sweater.
Cover of Forest Scene Issue 32, Fall 2024.

The Forest Scene newsletter is published biannually in the spring and fall, featuring stories, research briefs, and updates from the Department of Forest Resources. 

Click the following links to read articles from the Fall 2024 edition of Forest Scene (Issue 32):