Post-doc Research Fellowship: Biomass and BioHubs Strategically Supporting Management of the Wildfire Crisis

Project summary: Using FIA data and the BioSum modeling framework, the research fellow will analyze the potential for implementation of fire resistance enhancement in priority investment firesheds selected under the wildfire crisis strategy to generate feedstock suitable for biohubs. They will also analyze the potential for such biohubs to expand treatable forest area and enhance landscape scale fire resistance by providing markets for the material removed in treatments that would otherwise impose sometimes insurmountable disposal costs and related challenges (e.g., smoke and escapes of controlled burns, both broadcast and piled). Findings from this inter-disciplinary effort, coordinated across multiple Federal Departments, will also support the DOE's next billion-ton report forecasting biomass availability for the nation. Learning objectives: The research fellow will develop a deep understanding of plans and potentials for modifying western forests in the highest priority areas identified under the wildfire crisis strategy to enhance their fire resistance, while maintaining compatibility with other forest objectives, and how these could play out in delivering wood residues to biomass utilization campuses. They’ll also gain experience in forest modeling with inventory data, gain broad perspectives on forest management through research co-production with managers and practitioners, and improve communication skills and experience by sharing information developed with management, professional and scientific communities via presentations and publishing findings in journals, reports and electronically delivered visualizations. The participant will engage with a diverse set of scientists in Forest Service Research and Oak Ridge National Lab, as well as managers in the priority landscapes selected for as focal areas for this analysis-- central Washington and northern Arizona.