Assessing Secondary Succession in North Carolina –
A Partnership between PI Ryan Emanuel of North Carolina State University and SEEDS
The SEEDS Program of the Ecological Society of America partnered with the North Carolina State University professor, researcher and project PI, Dr. Ryan Emanuel on a NSF sponsored Research Initiative Grant to Broaden Participation to survey secondary successional patterns across the state of North Carolina. For Project Summary click here.
Over the course of a year and three months (May 2010 - August 2011) undergraduate students from four North Carolina institutions – Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU), Livingston College (LC), UNC Pembroke, and Western Carolina University (WCU) – were trained in LIDAR remote sensing, GIS, and field methods under the mentoring of Dr. Emanuel. Students also benefited from the presence of faculty advisers from each school, Joseph Fail (JCSU), Sashi Sabaratnam (LC), Leon Jernigan (UNC Pembroke) and Brian Kloeppel (WCU), who brought their rich ecological and forestry expertise to the project. Two of the campuses, JCSU and LC are designated Historically Black Colleges and Universities and are part of the Ecological Society of America’s (ESA) award-winning SEEDS program with active and flourishing SEEDS Campus Ecology Chapters.
Engaging in intensive research, the students learned how to work together across the four campuses with one vision, toward a common goal just as professional research teams do. Working with instruments such as Hypsometers, LAI (leaf area index) Optical Scanners and ArcMap, a GIS and Mapping Software the student participants got firsthand experience in what it’s like to participate in a long term research project. In addition to an introductory meeting, two week long summer institutes were held. The first was held at Appalachian State University in May 2010 and the second was held at North Carolina State University in May 2011). Students attended presentations, learned techniques, practiced using the equipment and met with professionals in the field. Webinars with guest speakers were held throughout the year to maintain team cohesion and to provide project updates and progress.
Upon completion of the project, four students representing each institution (Rolanda Sue (JCSU), Joey Johnson (LC), Zachary Barthel UNC Pembroke, and TJ Souther (WCU)) presented a poster on their research at the 96th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America in Austin TX. The students also participated in all the SEEDS activities during the ESA Annual Meeting.
Students, faculty and PI Ryan Emanuel are collaborating on a scientific article. More information will be posted when available.
Student Presentations can be found here:
• Johnson C. Smith University
• Livingston College
• UNC Pembroke
• Western Carolina University
