Forestry News

Magnified cross section of a droughted Douglas fir needle vein. The black dots are conduits that have collapsed (embolized) due to the stress of the drought, while the gray/white ones are still functional and contain water.

Scientists on the hunt for a tree’s tipping point

Sometimes things are fine—until they’re not. A boat capsizes. A bridge collapses. The stock market takes an extreme turn. These are examples of “catastrophe theory,” a tool in mathematics that can be used to describe a set of variables that combine, at a specific point, to completely change a…
Mike Kane stands outside the Warnell building

Growing public-private partnerships: Dr. Mike Kane

Mike Kane has been wearing a lot of hats over the years. Often, he’s worn them at the same time.  These dual experiences began early in his career as a graduate student, taking classes at North Carolina State University while working for the school’s Forest Fertilization Cooperative. The…
Jeff and Myla Jordan

Jeff and Myla Jordan: No matter your background, you’ll find a home

As high school graduation neared, Jeff Jordan (BSFR ’95, MFR ’97) figured he would follow in the footsteps of his father, who spent his career in the Marine Corps.  But then his dad sat him down and explained that if he had to do it all over again, he might not choose the same path.…
A family walks within a group of pine trees on their property.

A forest's fringe benefits

A number of public and private partnerships work to keep forests as forests—even if no trees are harvested hIn Southeast Georgia, the Warnell family’s lands stretch along the Canoochee River, unfolding into thousands of acres of planted and natural pine stands.. But ask Fred Warnell about one of…
Inventory sample plot scanned with a hand-held LiDaR unit. (Image: Cristian Montes)

Let the data point the way

Warnell’s award-winning researcher Cristian Montes uses machine learning to find trends in forest growth. There’s a lot of information embedded in a tree stand.   There’s elevation. Temperature changes. Rainfall. The age of the trees. At some point, insects might settle on one. A windstorm…

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