Current and Past Awarded Grants

Using early post-fire dynamics to improve predictions of forest recovery. PI: Derek Young, Ph.D., University of California, Davis

A modeling and scenario-planning platform to enhance California's resilience to wildfire and climate change. PI: Andrew Latimer, Ph.D., University of California, Davis

Carbon Dynamics Investigator for California: An open-source platform for tracking carbon uptake and storage across California’s forests. PI: Troy Magney Ph.D., University of California, Davis.

Improving predictions of fire impacts after mega drought: Lessons for carbon storage, defending the WUI, and improving resilience and recovery following the 2020 Creek Fire. PI: Van R. Kane Ph.D., University of Washington

Mitigating wildfire hazard in the redwoods: effectiveness and tradeoff of fuel treatments. PI: John-Pascal Berrill Ph.D., Humboldt State University

Understanding the costs and limits of vegetation management for wildfire mitigation in coastal California: a comprehensive ecological and economic study at the Soquel Demonstration State Forest. PI: Richard Cobb Ph.D., California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo

Assessing fuels treatment effectiveness: the influence of wildfire on treatment lifespan and aboveground carbon dynamics within 20-year-old treated units. PI: Kathryn Low, Graduate Student, University of California, Berkeley

Plant community response to increased fire frequency in northern California chaparral. PI: Ashley Grupenhoff, Graduate Student, University of California, Davis

Effects of wildfire on soil emissions of NO and N2O. PI: Elizah Stephens, Graduate Student, University of California, Riverside

Leveraging existing carbon incentive programs to increase utilization of woody biomass residues. PI: Micah Elias, Graduate Student, University of California, Berkeley

Applying New Science to Develop a Collaborative Decision Support System for Forest Management in the Southern Sierra Nevada. PI: Wayne Spencer Ph.D., Conservation Biology Institute

Forecasting the impacts of climate change, land use change, and management on wildfire risk and downstream impacts in Southern California's montane forests and surrounding shrublands. PI: Erin Conlisk, Ph.D., Point Blue Conservation Science

Assessing the utility of handheld LiDAR to quantify forest understory structure and evaluate change following disturbance. PI: Alanna Post, Sonoma State University

Indigenous burning, Prescribed Fire, and Goldspotted Oak Borer Management. PI: Joelene Tamm, University of California Riverside

Quantifying the Relationships among Stand Structure, Fire Behavior and Burn Severity from Prescribed Fire in California Foothill Oak Woodlands. PI: Kaili Brande, University of California Santa Barbara

Vegetation Trends and Cycles in the Fire-Prone Landscapes of Lake, Napa, and Sonoma Counties, PI: Tosha Comendant, Ph.D., Pepperwood Foundation

Implications of increasing the scale of managed wildfire on forest carbon stocks and pyrodiversity, PI: Scott Stephens, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley

Assessing smoke-plume injection height as a function of sub-canopy wind convergence of prescribed burns in the Central Sierra Nevada, PI: Stephen Drake, Ph.D., University of Nevada, Reno

Public health effects of increased prescribed burns for wildfire management, PI: Sumi Hoshiko, MPH, Sequoia Foundation

Evaluating forest resilience and carbon recovery using a chronosequence of co-located pre-, active-, and post-wildfire measurements in California mixed-conifer forests, PI: Jessica Miesel, Ph.D., Michigan State University

Effectiveness and optimization of forest fuels reductions for biodiversity conservation in a changing Sierra Nevada ecosystem, PI: M. Zachariah Peery, Ph.D., San Jose State University

Simulating the heterogeneous consequences of widespread forest health treatments for California mixed conifer forest resilience to climate change and wildfire, PI: Lara Kueppers, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley

Sierra Nevada-wide provenance trials to support climate-based seed zones and reforestation efforts, PI: Sarah Bisbing, Ph.D., University of Nevada, Reno

A physiological approach to assess the resilience of Sierra Nevada forest communities following prescribed burns, PI: Ryan Salladay, Graduate Student, University of California, Santa Cruz

Vulnerability in California’s carbon stocks: understanding post-fire regeneration in the state’s high elevation forests, PI: Emily Brodie, Graduate Student, University of California, Davis

Development of rapid-response post-wildfire water quality sampling guidelines to determine watershed and natural resource asset conditions and priorities for future recovery, PI: Michelle Newcomer, Ph.D., Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

Addressing common misconceptions about dry forest restoration and fuel treatments, PI: Susan Prichard, Ph.D., University of Washington

Measuring wildfire impacts and post-fire recovery of shrubland biomass under different climate conditions, PI: Emma Underwood, Ph.D., University of California, Davis

The Carbon Consequences of Catchment-Scale Prescribed Burning, PI: Matthew Hurteau, PhD, University of New Mexico

Keeping fire on the landscape: Consequences for carbon balance and forest resilience, PI: John Battles, PhD, University of California, Berkeley

Impacts of Wildfire and Climate on Ecosystem Services in Southern California: Tool Development and Data Needs, PI: Emma Underwood, PhD, University of California, Davis

Effects of dead tree removal on the resilience and successional trajectory of high-mortality forests, PI: Rebecca Wayman, University of California, Davis

Using UAV's and Big Data to Map Live Trees and Predict Postfire Regeneration, PI: Derek Young, PhD, University of California, Davis

Evaluating plot-level remote sensing tools to increase accuracy and efficiency of fuels management approaches, PI: Lisa Bentley, Ph.D., Sonoma State University

Decentralized biomass torrefaction to reduce cost and improve utilization of woody biomass, PI: Daniel Sanchez, Ph.D., University of California, ANR 

What’s the baseline? Carbon storage in a northern California mixed-conifer forest before fire suppression policies, PI: Clarke Knight, Graduate Student, University of California, Berkeley

Threats for Carbon Storage in High Montane Forests in the Sierra Nevada, PI: Sara Winsemius, Graduate Student, University of California, Davis

Tree recruitment and forest expansion following reforestation, PI: Tara Ursell, Graduate Student, University of California, Davis

Redwood Valley Sudden Oak Death Biomass Removal Project. PI: Yana Valachovic, University of Califorina, Agriculture and Natural Resources Cooperative Extension.

Do, Document and Disseminate Project for GHG Benefits of Fuels and Forest Health Treatments in California. PI: William Stewart, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley

Coast Range Dry Forest Restoration. PI: John-Pascal Berrill, Ph.D., California State University, Humboldt

Quantifying the Carbon Costs and Benefits of Maintaining Fuel Treatment Effectiveness. PI: Matthew Hurteau, Ph.D., University of New Mexico