News

The Spring 2023 edition of the Forest Scene newsletter is out, featuring stories, tips, and insights from our community of experts and students.

Lee Frelich was recently a guest on WCCO's Talking Points with Esme Murphy. The episode, which aired June 21, 2023, focuses on the health risks of smog caused by forest fires. As a forestry expert, Frelich provides context for why wildfires are getting bigger and more frequent as well as the role forest management can – and can't – play in wildfire prevention. 

Lee Frelich, director of the Center for Forest Ecology at the University of Minnesota, stopped by TPT's Almanac last Friday to discuss why the Canadian wildfires are so severe and Minnesota's risk of similar fires. 

Forest Resources Professor Ingrid Schneider is part of a multidisciplinary team awarded a 2023 Institute on the Environment Impact Goal grant to assess the potential for robotic monitoring of local water quality.

The Department of Forest Resources is recruiting for an Academic Program Coordinator (SS Pro 2-Multidiscipline, 8462MD). This position plays the primary role in administration of the academic programs for the Forest and Natural Resource Management (FNRM) undergraduate program, the Environmental Sciences, Policy, and Management (ESPM) undergraduate program, and the Natural Resources Science and Management (NR) graduate program.

Forest Resources faculty member Peter Reich was a coauthor of "The global contribution of soil mosses to ecosystem services," a new paper published in Nature Geoscience. Per the paper's abstract, the results of the team's research highlight "the contribution of mosses to soil life and functions and the need to conserve these important organisms to support healthy soils."

"Linked disturbance in the temperate forest: Earthworms, deer, and canopy gaps," a new paper co-authored by Department of Forest Resources Adjunct Professor and Center for Forest Ecology Director Lee Frelich, was published in Ecology. Per the paper, research shows that "earthworm invasion is linked to deer presence and gap-creating disturbances, which provides new insight in multiple disturbance theory, aboveground–belowground dynamics, and temperate forest management."

The University of Minnesota announced that it will receive a grant to lead a new National Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, called the AI Institute for Climate-Land Interactions, Mitigation, Adaptation, Tradeoffs and Economy (AI-CLIMATE), in an effort to develop climate-smart forestry and agricultural practices. 

University of Minnesota researchers, including Urban Forestry Outreach & Research (UFOR) manager Ryan Murphy, helped to plant about 80 disease-resistant American elms at a public event in Bloomington. The trees are part of the U of M's Elm Selection Program, which seeks to restore elms to the ecosystem following decades of loss due to Dutch elm disease. 

John Zobel was awarded the 2023 Richard C Newman Art of Teaching Award at the CFANS All-College Assembly and Honors and Awards presentation.