2024 Spring Seminar Series - Gabriel de Oliveira
2024-04-03 11:00 - 12:30 (America/Chicago) | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment Building, Room 2217, 3301 SFWS BUILDING, Auburn University, AL, 36849-0001, United States
The 2024 Spring Seminar Series will feature Gabriel de Oliveira, assistant professor at the University of South Alabama Department of Earth Sciences. Dr. Oliveira will give a presentation titled “Deforestation, fire, and land cover changes in tropical/subtropical regions” on Wednesday, April 3, at 11 a.m. in Room 2217 of the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment Building located at 602 Duncan Drive, Auburn, AL.
Dr. Oliveira is hosted by Dr. Latif Kalin, Clinton-McClure Professor in the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment. Oliveira will discuss biosphere-atmosphere interactions using remote sensing and field observations in Amazonia, the world’s largest tropical rainforest and river basin.
Dr. Oliveira is a Fellow of the United States National Academy of Sciences and has researched the Amazon Rainforest for approximately 15 years. He focuses on orbital remote sensing and ground observation which reveal how deforestation, fire, and drought affect climate and plant processes. His research has been published in notable journals including Science and Nature.
Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available after the seminar. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, download the 2024 Spring Seminar Calendar or request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.
Contact the seminar host or Robert Gitzen at rag0012@auburn.edu if you would like to attend via Zoom or access a recorded version of the seminar.

2024 Spring Seminar Series - Ginger Deason
2024-04-10 11:00 - 12:30 | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment Building, Room 2217, 3301 SFWS BUILDING, Auburn University, AL, 36849-0001, United States
The 2024 Spring Seminar Series will feature Ginger Deason, program officer at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) Division of International Conservation. Dr. Deason will give a presentation titled “The path of the jaguar: Conservation in Central America in Three Acts” on Wednesday, April 10, at 11 a.m. in Room 2217 of the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment Building located at 602 Duncan Drive, Auburn, AL.
Dr. Deason is hosted by Dr. Allie McCreary, assistant professor of parks and recreation management in the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment. Deason will provide an overview of the FWS Division of International Conservation, discuss her studies in wildlife conservation in Central America, and her career track from Auburn University to Washington D.C.
Dr. Deason has worked with indigenous groups in southern Mexico while researching community-based adaptation planning. She also gathered data on tourists’ perceptions of climate change impacts and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala.
Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available after the seminar. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, download the 2024 Spring Seminar Calendar or request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.

2024 Spring Seminar Series - Nana Tian
2024-04-17 11:00 - 12:30 | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment Building, Room 2217, 3301 SFWS BUILDING, Auburn University, AL, 36849-0001, United States
The 2024 Spring Seminar Series will feature Nana Tian, associate professor in the College of Forestry, Agriculture, and Natural Resources at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. Dr. Tian will give a presentation titled “Developing and harnessing climate-smart commodities from hardwood restoration for small and underserved landowners in the Southern Bottomland Region” on Wednesday, April 17, at 11 a.m. in Room 2217 of the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment Building located at 602 Duncan Drive, Auburn, AL.
Dr. Tian is hosted by Dr. Daowei Zhang, associate dean of research and the Alumni and George W. Peake Professor of forest economics in the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment. Tian will explain her project supporting the practices of climate-smart processes and available incentives. She will focus on how producers, underserved landowners, and early adopters implement climate-smart practices — measuring and monitoring carbon and greenhouse gas (GHG) benefits.
Dr. Tian’s research focuses on human dimension and economic issues within natural resource management. Her current projects include econometric models of private landowners, invasive species, forest certification, ecosystem valuation, and sustainable economic development. She has served as the principal investigator (PI) on multiple grant-funded projects, securing more than $4 million in extramural funding. Tian has also produced more than 40 peer-reviewed journal articles.
Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available after the seminar. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, download the 2024 Spring Seminar Calendar or request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.
Contact the seminar host or Robert Gitzen at rag0012@auburn.edu if you would like to attend via Zoom or access a recorded version of the seminar.

2024 Spring Seminar Series - Matthew Capps
2024-04-24 11:00 - 12:30 | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment Building, Room 2217, 3301 SFWS BUILDING, Auburn University, AL, 36849-0001, United States
The 2024 Spring Seminar Series will feature Matthew Capps, deputy director of Alabama State Parks. Capps will give a presentation titled “Alabama State Parks: 2023 A Year At A Glance” on Wednesday, April 24, at 11 a.m. in Room 2217 of the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment Building located at 602 Duncan Drive, Auburn, AL.
Capps is an Auburn University alumnus and hosted by Dr. Wayde Morse, professor of conservation social sciences in the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment. He will provide his snapshot of the status of Alabama State Parks and the successes and challenges it faced in 2023. His presentation will also provide state park attendance data, information about new park reservation systems, and other capital improvement projects across the state.
Capps has more than twelve years of park operations and grounds maintenance which includes nonprofit, municipal, and private sectors. His current role has allowed him to spearhead the development of a complete capital improvement plan which aims to optimize operations for long-term financial stability of Alabama State Parks.
Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available after the seminar. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, download the 2024 Spring Seminar Calendar or request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.
Contact the seminar host or Robert Gitzen at rag0012@auburn.edu if you would like to attend via Zoom or access a recorded version of the seminar.

2024 Fall Seminar Series — Feng Zhang
2024-09-04 11:00 - 12:00 | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Room 1223
SPEAKER: Dr. Feng Zhang, Executive Director, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Gansu Province, China
TITLE: Impact of Agricultural Mulching on Crop Yields, Soil Carbon, and Greenhouse Gas Emission
ABSTRACT: In this presentation, the speaker will explore how agricultural mulching influences crop yields, soil carbon dynamics, and greenhouse gas emissions, drawing on findings from both field experiments and modeling studies. The insights will span from farmland-level analyses to regional assessments.
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY: Dr. Zhang Feng specializes in monitoring and modeling greenhouse gas emissions and ecosystem dynamics. His research utilizes eddy covariance and chamber approaches to measure atmospheric constituents like carbon dioxide methane nitrous oxide and water and he integrates these observations into ecosystem models. Dr. Zhang developed the Paralleled DeNitrification-DeComposition (PDNDC) model which simulates biogeochemical processes in agro-ecosystems focusing on greenhouse gas emissions and sequestration. His work also involves quantifying ecosystem services such as soil organic carbon yield and nitrogen leaching to improve field management practices across diverse climates and soils. By integrating remote sensing data meta-analyses and artificial intelligence Dr. Zhang’s research aims to understand the impacts of climate change and human activities on agricultural ecosystems.
EVENT DETAILS: Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available after the seminar. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, download the 2024 Fall Seminar Calendar or request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.
Contact the seminar host or Robert Gitzen at rag0012@auburn.edu if you would like to attend via Zoom or access a recorded version of the seminar.

2024 Fall Seminar Series — Wenwu Tang
2024-09-11 11:00 - 12:00 | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Room 1223
SPEAKER: Dr. Wenwu Tang, Executive Director, Center for Applied Geographic Information Sciences, and Professor, Department of Earth, Environmental, and Geographic Sciences, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
TITLE: Agent-based land change modeling: Considering the impact of landscape visibility
ABSTRACT: This study investigates the role of landscape visibility in agent-based modeling of land use and land cover change. The utility of cyberinfrastructure-enabled high-performance computing in addressing the big data-driven computational challenge is demonstrated.
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY: Wenwu Tang is the Executive Director of the Center for Applied Geographic Information Science (gis.charlotte.edu) and Professor at the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Geographical Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He holds a doctorate degree from the University of Iowa and was a post-doc and research scientist at the U.S. National Center for Supercomputing Applications and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Tang’s research interests include cyberinfrastructure and high-performance geocomputation, agent-based modeling, land change modeling, Web GIS, and their geospatial applications. He has over 100 peer-reviewed publications and three edited books. Tang’s research has been supported by federal and state funding agencies (about $6.76 million in total), including USDA Forest Services, U.S. CDC, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, NCDOT, NC Forest Service, and Electric Power Research Institute. Relevant courses that Tang has taught include CyberGIS and Big Data, Spatial Statistics, and Web GIS. He is the editorial board member of Landscape and Urban Planning and guest editor of three special issues (Sustainability, ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, Land).
EVENT DETAILS: Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available after the seminar. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, download the 2024 Fall Seminar Calendar or request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.
Contact the seminar host or Robert Gitzen at rag0012@auburn.edu if you would like to attend via Zoom or access a recorded version of the seminar.

2024 Fall Seminar Series — Brad Collett
2024-09-18 11:00 - 12:00 | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Room 1223
SPEAKER: Brad Collett, Director, Tennessee RiverLine, University of Tennessee
TITLE: The Tennessee RiverLine Recreation System
ABSTRACT: Born as a UT Landscape Architecture student’s concept in 2016, the Tennessee RiverLine initiative today serves 56 cities and counties in three states in the shared pursuit of transforming how we as individuals, communities, and a region experience and steward our treasured Tennessee River. During this talk, Brad will share insight to the initiative’s origins and the collaborative progress made to date toward realizing this transformational vision.
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY: Brad Collett is Director of Tennessee RiverLine. Under Brad’s leadership, a team of UT Extension professionals collaborates with a consortium of partners across the region to realize the vision for North America’s next great regional trail system and the economic development, public health, resource stewardship, and equitable access benefits it promises future generations. As a faculty member in the UT School of Landscape Architecture, his teaching, research and creative activity centered on regional water resource stewardship through landscape planning and high-performance landscape design. While on faculty, he published two books: Low Impact Development: Opportunities for the PlanET Region, and HydroLIT: Southeast Tennessee Water Quality Playbook. Brad is a graduate of the University of Tennessee and The Ohio State University, was a 2016 U.S. Fulbright Scholar to Slovenia, and is a licensed landscape architect in the state of Tennessee. He and his wife and two children live in Knoxville.
EVENT DETAILS: Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available after the seminar. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, download the 2024 Fall Seminar Calendar or request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.
Contact the seminar host or Robert Gitzen at rag0012@auburn.edu if you would like to attend via Zoom or access a recorded version of the seminar.

2024 Fall Seminar Series — Patricia Hartman
2024-09-25 11:00 - 12:00 | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Room 1223
SPEAKER: Patricia Hartman, Biology, Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, and Math Librarian, Auburn University Libraries
TITLE: Open access and data archiving mandates
ABSTRACT: Open access publications give scholars worldwide an opportunity to access cutting-edge research, while also benefiting the authors by making their work read more widely and cited more often. However, these benefits often come at a high price, with article processing charges regularly in excess of $2000. New policy mandates requiring all federally funded research be freely, immediately available to the public further complicate matters, and the logistics of how these policies will be implemented are still unclear. This presentation will focus on current models of open access publishing in the academic journal world, along with copyright options, open access policies for journals in relevant fields, and publisher agreements the Libraries has in place to support AU researchers.
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY: Patricia Hartman is an Associate Professor at Auburn University Libraries, where she has served as the Subject Librarian for the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment as well as the Departments of Biological Sciences and Mathematics since 2013. Additionally, she specializes in scholarly communications issues related to open access, scholarly identity and federal funding mandates. Patricia received master’s degrees in Forestry and Wildlife and in Library and Information Science from the University of Kentucky.
EVENT DETAILS: Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available after the seminar. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, download the 2024 Fall Seminar Calendar or request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.
Contact the seminar host or Robert Gitzen at rag0012@auburn.edu if you would like to attend via Zoom or access a recorded version of the seminar.

2024 Fall Seminar Series — Carlos Silva
2024-10-02 11:00 - 12:00 | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Room 1223
SPEAKER: Carlos Silva, School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatic Sciences, University of Florida
TITLE: AI and RS applications in forest disturbances and recovery
ABSTRACT: This talk will provide an overview of LiDAR technology in forestry applications, highlighting use of LiDAR and AI to monitor forest structure, disturbances, and recovery.
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY: Carlos Alberto Silva is an Assistant Professor of Quantitative Forest Science in the School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences at the University of Florida, where he directs the Forest Biometrics and Remote Sensing Lab (SilvaLab). His research focuses on understanding how forest ecosystems change over time due to natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Previously, Dr. Silva worked as a research scientist at the University of Maryland, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. His core research involves developing statistical frameworks and cutting-edge open-source tools, such as rGEDI, TreeTop, rLiDAR, ForestGapR, and ICESat2VegR, for remote sensing data processing and forest resource monitoring. He is particularly interested in utilizing LiDAR data from airborne (ALS), terrestrial (TLS), and satellite platforms (e.g., GEDI, ICESat-2), in combination with optical and SAR imagery, and AI, to address ecological questions related to forest ecosystem structure, function, and composition dynamics at various spatial scales.
EVENT DETAILS: Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available after the seminar. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, download the 2024 Fall Seminar Calendar or request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.
Contact the seminar host or Robert Gitzen at rag0012@auburn.edu if you would like to attend via Zoom or access a recorded version of the seminar.

2024 Fall Seminar Series — Susan Loeb
2024-10-09 11:00 - 12:00 | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Room 1223
SPEAKER: Susan Loeb, Southern Research Station, U.S. Forest Service, Clemson
TITLE: Challenges in Managing a Wide-Ranging “Endangered” Species in the Southeast
ABSTRACT: Tricolored bat populations in eastern North America have been greatly impacted by white-nose syndrome (WNS), a deadly fungal disease that infects bats when they are in their cold winter hibernacula. Consequently, this species is likely to be listed as threatened or endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. However, many parts of the Southeast are WNS-free. This talk will discuss research conducted by the Clemson Bat Lab to understand tricolored bats’ responses and potential responses to this disease throughout the Southeast and discuss possible management strategies.
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY: Susan Loeb has been a Research Ecologist with the US Forest Service, Southern Research Station and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation at Clemson University since 1988. She received her B.A. in Human Biology from Stanford University and her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Ecology at University of California, Davis. For the past 25 years she has been studying the ecology of Southeastern bats, focusing on TES species, effects of forest management and other disturbances on bats, responses of bats to white-nose syndrome, and developing and testing monitoring programs for bats, including the development of the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat).
EVENT DETAILS: Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available after the seminar. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, download the 2024 Fall Seminar Calendar or request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.
Contact the seminar host or Robert Gitzen at rag0012@auburn.edu if you would like to attend via Zoom or access a recorded version of the seminar.

2024 Fall Seminar Series — Chandra Wright and Susan Johnson
2024-10-16 11:00 - 12:00 | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Room 1223
SPEAKER: Chandra Wright and Susan Johnson, Gulf State Park, Gulf Shores, Alabama
TITLE: Weathering Disaster: The Sustainability and Resilience of Gulf State Park
ABSTRACT: Gulf State Park is one of Alabama’s most popular state parks, drawing more than 2 million annual visitors, and encompassing 6,150 acres of coastal ecosystems. This talk will cover diverse topics including the Gulf State Park Enhancement Project funded by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which resulted in the restoration of the dunes, expansion of the trail system, rebuilding of the Lodge, and building a new Interpretive Center and Learning Campus. The speakers will discuss how the park is serving as an international benchmark for environmental and economic sustainability and introduce the audience to current and future programs at the Learning Campus.
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY: Chandra Wright is the Director of Environmental & Educational Outreach for Gulf State Park. In this role, she serves as an advisor internally for the environmental and educational initiatives at the Lodge, Learning Campus and Interpretive Center. She also shares the unique stories of sustainable design and operations within Gulf State Park with a variety of audiences. Susan Johnson is the Meeting Manager for the Learning Campus. Susan serves as the first point of contact in assisting clients with the venue’s bookings and reservations, working to define clients’ needs for meeting spaces, programs, and lodging to create a natural immersive Learning Campus and Gulf State Park experience.
EVENT DETAILS: Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available after the seminar. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, download the 2024 Fall Seminar Calendar or request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.
Contact the seminar host or Robert Gitzen at rag0012@auburn.edu if you would like to attend via Zoom or access a recorded version of the seminar.

2024 Fall Seminar Series — Heidi Renninger
2024-10-23 11:00 - 12:00 | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Room 1223
SPEAKER: Heidi Renninger, College of Forest Resources, Mississippi State University
TITLE: Selecting Populus short rotation woody crops for future climates and ecosystem service provision
ABSTRACT: Populus species, specifically eastern cottonwood and its hybrids, are grown for a variety of products but most recently as feedstocks for bioenergy (including sustainable aviation fuels) and bioproducts. Dr. Renninger will discuss her research on the physiological functioning of selected Populus genotypes specifically as it relates to choosing genotypes with greater water stress and heat tolerance as well as measuring the ecosystem services provided by Populus plantations.
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY: Dr. Renninger grew up in Pennsylvania and did her undergraduate studies at Millersville University majoring in Biology. She then went to Oregon State University for her masters in the Wood Science and Engineering Department with a dual degree in Wood Science and Forest Science. She studied the hydraulic conductivity of Douglas-fir and western hemlock and factors that relate to conductivity. She then pursued a PhD at Boston University in the Geography Department. Her dissertation research used palm trees as a model organism to test the hydraulic limitation hypothesis, which is the idea that maximum tree height for a given species is limited by the increasing path length for water transport as trees get taller. She then did a post-doc at Rutgers University working in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey and studying forest responses to disturbance. Dr. Renninger started at Mississippi State University in 2014, where she does a variety of tree physiological research.
EVENT DETAILS: Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available after the seminar. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, download the 2024 Fall Seminar Calendar or request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.
Contact the seminar host or Robert Gitzen at rag0012@auburn.edu if you would like to attend via Zoom or access a recorded version of the seminar.

2024 Fall Seminar Series — Avni Malhotra
2024-10-30 11:00 - 12:00 | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Room 1223
SPEAKER: Avni Malhotra, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
TITLE: Getting to the Root of Climate Change in Wetlands
ABSTRACT: Wetlands play a central role in the global carbon cycle through soil carbon storage and greenhouse gas emissions. Wetland response to environmental change is expected to influence the global climate-carbon cycle feedback, but the magnitude and direction of this influence are unclear. One uncertainty lies at the plant-soil interface. The role of plants in mediating wetland carbon cycling is well understood aboveground, but belowground plant dynamics remain a black box. In this talk, I will focus on two broad research questions: how do wetland roots respond to environmental change and what are the implications of this change for soil carbon and ecosystem carbon fluxes? I will provide examples from field and lab research from a variety of wetland settings (peatlands, and experimental and coastal wetlands) and conclude with a forward-looking section on our predictive understanding of wetlands in a changing world.
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY: Avni Malhotra is an earth scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory focused on above- and below-ground carbon cycle responses of ecosystems to global change, with the overarching goal of improving predictive understanding of ecosystems. Avni specializes in carbon-rich ecosystems such as peatlands and wetlands, which are a globally significant but vulnerable sink of carbon, and key players in global greenhouse gas budgets. She employs a multi-scale approach where fine-scale process investigations in the lab and field are placed in a broader context using global data syntheses and model-data integration.
EVENT DETAILS: Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available after the seminar. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, download the 2024 Fall Seminar Calendar or request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.
Contact the seminar host or Robert Gitzen at rag0012@auburn.edu if you would like to attend via Zoom or access a recorded version of the seminar.

2024 Fall Seminar Series — Esteban Galeano
2024-11-06 11:00 - 12:00 | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Room 1223
SPEAKER: Esteban Galeano, Department of Forestry, Mississippi State University
TITLE: Future breeding of Populus deltoides clones: use of existing information of genetic parameters and diversity in the southern USA
ABSTRACT: TBA
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY: TBA
EVENT DETAILS: Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available after the seminar. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, download the 2024 Fall Seminar Calendar or request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.
Contact the seminar host or Robert Gitzen at rag0012@auburn.edu if you would like to attend via Zoom or access a recorded version of the seminar.

2024 Fall Seminar Series — Gary Machlis
2024-11-13 11:00 - 12:00 | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Room 1101
SPEAKER: Gary Machlis, College of Behavioral, Social, and Health Sciences, Clemson University
TITLE: Sustainability and social justice
ABSTRACT: Sustainability for the Forgotten is an incendiary book that confronts the history, policies, and practices of sustainability. With examples that range from the coffee lands of El Salvador to the coal country of American Appalachia, from the streets of Detroit to refugee camps in Greece and the upscale metro centers of the affluent, sustainability is examined with a critical eye and an emphasis on ensuring that the forgotten are heard.
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY: Gary E. Machlis is University Professor of Environmental Sustainability at Clemson University. He is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability and its Board on Environmental Change and Society. He has written widely on issues of conservation, science policy, and sustainability.
EVENT DETAILS: Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available after the seminar. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, download the 2024 Fall Seminar Calendar or request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.
Contact the seminar host or Robert Gitzen at rag0012@auburn.edu if you would like to attend via Zoom or access a recorded version of the seminar.

2024 Fall Seminar Series — Donald Rockwood
2024-11-20 11:00 - 12:00 | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Room 1223
SPEAKER: Dr. Donald L. Rockwood, Florida FGT LLC, Gainesville, and School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, University of Florida
TITLE: Eucalyptus for the Southeast
ABSTRACT: Dr. Rockwood’s seminar will review the potential of Eucalyptus grandis and E. amplifolia for the southeastern United States, with emphasis on genetic improvement, short rotation woody cropping systems, and prospective products. He will also assess potential collaborative research opportunities.
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY: Dr. Donald L. Rockwood, President of Florida FGT and professor emeritus at the University of Florida School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, has over 40 years of experience with the development and use of Eucalyptus amplifolia, E. grandis, and four other species in Florida and elsewhere. He is actively involved with the genetic improvement of several Short Rotation Woody Crop (SRWC) species, including the commercial release of five E. grandis cultivars, and with the development and utilization of SRWC systems using these species. He was assistant professor, associate professor, and professor, from 1972 until retiring at the end of February 2009, teaching forest mensuration and related subjects to two generations of forestry majors, advising undergraduates in forestry and natural resources, mentoring over 50 graduate students and post-doctoral researchers in forest tree improvement, SRWCs, and dendroremediation, and conducting research in the same fields. These activities were supported by over $3 million of extramural funding and have resulted in over 320 publications.
EVENT DETAILS: Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available after the seminar. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, download the 2024 Fall Seminar Calendar or request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.
Contact the seminar host or Robert Gitzen at rag0012@auburn.edu if you would like to attend via Zoom or access a recorded version of the seminar.

2024 Fall Seminar Series — Mark Smith
2024-12-04 11:00 - 12:00 | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Room 1223
SPEAKER: Mark Smith, Professor and Extension Specialist, Alabama Cooperative Extension System
TITLE: Role of Extension in the Land Grant University Mission
ABSTRACT: TBA
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY: TBA
EVENT DETAILS: Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available after the seminar. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, download the 2024 Fall Seminar Calendar or request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.
Contact the seminar host or Robert Gitzen at rag0012@auburn.edu if you would like to attend via Zoom or access a recorded version of the seminar.

2025 CFWE Seminar Series — Dengsheng Lu
2025-01-22 11:00 - 12:00 | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Room 2217
SPEAKER: Dr. Dengsheng Lu, Fujian Normal University, School of Geographical Sciences
TITLE: Remote sensing-based forest biomass estimation in tropical and subtropical regions
ABSTRACT: Dr. Dengsheng Lu will briefly discuss the problems in forest biomass estimation with optical sensor data such as Landsat. He will then focus on the biomass estimation research with Lidar data from different platforms such as handheld, airborne, and spaceborne platforms.
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY: Dengsheng Lu is currently a professor at School of Geographical Sciences, Fujian Normal University, China. He earned his Ph.D. from Indiana State University in 2001 and has held academic positions at Indiana University at Bloomington (2001–2006; 2008–2012), Auburn University (2007–2008), and Michigan State University (2012–2018). His research interests center on remote sensing technologies and applications in tropical and subtropical forest ecosystems. He has published 160+ articles with H-index of 69 and Google Scholar Citations of 30100+. He was the ELSEVIER “Most Cited Chinese Researchers” for the years 2019–2023. In the World’s Top 2% Scientists, he was also within the “career-long citation impact” list in 2020–2024 and “citation impact during the single calendar year” list in 2019–2023. He is an editorial board member in the journals such as International Journal of Digital Earth, Geo-Spatial Information Science, International Journal of Image and Data Fusion, and Remote Sensing.
EVENT DETAILS: Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.
Contact the seminar host Zutao Yang at zzy0066@auburn.edu or Robert Gitzen at rag0012@auburn.edu if you would like to request a recorded version of the seminar.

2025 CFWE Seminar Series — Leslie Cordie
2025-02-05 11:00 - 12:00 | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Room 2217
SPEAKER: Dr. Leslie Cordie, Auburn University, College of Education
TITLE: Transformative Adult Education
ABSTRACT: TBA
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY: TBA
EVENT DETAILS: Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.
Contact the seminar host John Kush at kushjoh@auburn.edu or Robert Gitzen at rag0012@auburn.edu if you would like to request a recorded version of the seminar.

2025 CFWE Seminar Series — Vic Adamowicz
2025-02-12 11:00 - 12:00 | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment Building, Room 1101
SPEAKER: Dr. Vic Adamowicz, University of Alberta, Distinguished University Professor Emeritus
TITLE: Measuring the impact of a wildlife disease on hunting behavior through recreational lottery applications: The case of Chronic Wasting Disease in Alberta, Canada
ABSTRACT: If an environmental quality change affects a resource allocated using a lottery-rationing system, activity levels (e.g. trips) may remain constant while applications vary. This presentation will describe our analysis using multiple reduced-form models to examine the impact of a wildlife disease on application behavior in a lottery rationed resource. We use hunting license application data for antlered mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in Alberta, Canada from 2001 to 2022 and examine the impact of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). CWD is a 100% fatal prion disease and has the potential to diminish cervid populations (i.e. deer, moose, elk, and caribou) and affect various segments of society including recreational hunters. Our findings show that increasing CWD prevalence reduces demand for hunting applications but the pattern of impact suggests a complex behavioral response to the disease. The presentation will also include a description of complementary analyses that are components of an interdisciplinary approach to addressing CWD in Alberta. Dr. Adamowicz will also discuss contemporary academic research issues in forestry, natural resources and the environment in Canada.
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY: Dr. Vic Adamowicz is a Distinguished University Professor Emeritus in the Department of Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology at the University of Alberta where he has made significant contributions to the fields of environmental economics and natural resource management. He obtained his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees from the University of Alberta (1981, 1983) and his doctorate from the University of Minnesota in 1988. Throughout his career, Dr. Adamowicz’s research has focused on the valuation of environmental goods and services, as well as the economic analysis of natural resource policies and choice behavior with applications to food demand, recreation, and environmental quality. His work has helped shape the understanding of how economic principles can be applied to sustainability and resource conservation. With numerous published studies and a long-standing commitment to academic excellence, Dr. Adamowicz has earned recognition as a leading figure in his field. His distinguished career includes not only impactful research, but also mentorship of graduate students and collaborative efforts with government agencies and industry partners to address pressing environmental challenges. Dr. Adamowicz is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Academy II – Social Sciences (awarded in 2007). He became a Fellow of the Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics in 2025.
EVENT DETAILS: Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.
Contact the seminar host Yaoqi Zhang at zhangy3@auburn.edu or Robert Gitzen at rag0012@auburn.edu if you would like to request a recorded version of the seminar.

2025 CFWE Seminar Series — Arun Agrawal
2025-02-18 11:00 - 12:00 | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Room 2217
SPEAKER: Dr. Arun Agrawal, The University of Notre Dame, Keough School of Global Affairs
TITLE: Transformative change and global sustainability
ABSTRACT: TBA
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY: TBA
EVENT DETAILS: Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.
Contact the seminar host Li An at anli@auburn.edu or Robert Gitzen at rag0012@auburn.edu if you would like to request a recorded version of the seminar.

2025 CFWE Seminar Series — Orou Gaoue
2025-02-26 11:00 - 12:00 | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Room 2217
SPEAKER: Dr. Orou Gaoue, University of Tennessee, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
TITLE: Quantitative ecology and conservation
ABSTRACT: TBA
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY: TBA
EVENT DETAILS: Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.
Contact the seminar host Christopher Lepczyk at cal0044@auburn.edu or Robert Gitzen at rag0012@auburn.edu if you would like to request a recorded version of the seminar.

2025 CFWE Seminar Series — Leslie Gahagan
2025-03-05 11:00 - 12:00 | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Room 2217
SPEAKER: Leslie Gahagan, City of Foley, Alabama
TITLE: Innovative programming and environmental management at the Graham Creek Nature Preserve in Foley, Alabama
ABSTRACT: TBA
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY: TBA
EVENT DETAILS: Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.
Contact the seminar host Chris Anderson at andercj@auburn.edu or Robert Gitzen at rag0012@auburn.edu if you would like to request a recorded version of the seminar.

2025 CFWE Seminar Series — Victoria Donovan
2025-03-26 11:00 - 12:00 | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Room 2217
SPEAKER: Dr. Victoria Donovan, University of Florida, School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatic Sciences
TITLE: Changing wildfire risk in the eastern United States
ABSTRACT: TBA
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY: TBA
EVENT DETAILS: Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.
Contact the seminar host Heather Alexander at hda0010@auburn.edu or Robert Gitzen at rag0012@auburn.edu if you would like to request a recorded version of the seminar.

2025 CFWE Seminar Series — Morgan Wehtje
2025-04-02 11:00 - 12:00 | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Room 2217
SPEAKER: Dr. Morgan Wehtje, National Park Service, Capitol Reef National Park
TITLE: Don’t fence me in: A One Health approach to grazing management at the wildlife livestock interface
ABSTRACT: TBA
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY: TBA
EVENT DETAILS: Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.
Contact the seminar host Aniruddha Belsare at avb0033@auburn.edu or Robert Gitzen at rag0012@auburn.edu if you would like to request a recorded version of the seminar.

2025 CFWE Seminar Series — Kevin Shaw
2025-04-09 11:00 - 12:00 | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Room 2217
SPEAKER: Dr. Kevin Shaw, University of Alabama, Department of Biological Sciences
TITLE: Disentangling species availability from observer memory in occupancy estimation
ABSTRACT: TBA
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY: TBA
EVENT DETAILS: Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.
Contact the seminar host Jonathon Valente at jjv0016@auburn.edu or Robert Gitzen at rag0012@auburn.edu if you would like to request a recorded version of the seminar.

2025 CFWE Seminar Series — David Harper
2025-04-16 11:00 - 12:00 | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Room 2217
SPEAKER: Dr. David Harper, University of Tennessee, Center for Renewable Carbon
TITLE: Synthesis and characterization of lignin carbon fiber and composites
ABSTRACT: TBA
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY: TBA
EVENT DETAILS: Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.
Contact the seminar host Soledad Peresin at soledad.peresin@auburn.edu or Robert Gitzen at rag0012@auburn.edu if you would like to request a recorded version of the seminar.

2025 CFWE Seminar Series — Greg Pate
2025-04-23 11:00 - 12:00 | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Room 2217
SPEAKER: Greg Pate, Auburn University, College of Agriculture / AAES
TITLE: Forests, fields, and farms: Overview of Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station lands
ABSTRACT: TBA
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY: TBA
EVENT DETAILS: Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.
Contact the seminar host John Kush at kushjoh@auburn.edu or Robert Gitzen at rag0012@auburn.edu if you would like to request a recorded version of the seminar.

2025 CFWE Seminar Series — Richard Hall
2025-09-04 15:30 - 16:30 | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment Building, Room 2217, 3301 SFWS BUILDING, Auburn University, AL, 36849-0001, United States
SPEAKER: Richard Hall, Buckhead Resources, CFWE Adjunct Professor
TITLE: Overview of Key Environmental Markets
ABSTRACT: TBA
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY: TBA
EVENT DETAILS: Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.

2025 CFWE Seminar Series — Stephanie Fuller
2025-09-11 15:30 - 16:30 | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment Building, Room 2217, 3301 SFWS BUILDING, Auburn University, AL, 36849-0001, United States
SPEAKER: Stephanie Fuller, The Forest Workforce Training Institute
TITLE: Alabama Forest Impact on the Economy
ABSTRACT: TBA
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY: TBA
EVENT DETAILS: Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required. Refreshments will be available. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.
Contact the seminar host Jo Daniel at mzd0060@auburn.edu if you would like to request a recorded version of the seminar.
