The fellowships are open to currently enrolled Rutgers undergraduates and graduate students.

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1 USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station and Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey - Center for Resilient Landscapes Fellowship Application 2015 Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and the New Jersey Agricultural Research Station, through the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources, invites applications for summer research fellowships as part of the Center for Resilient Landscapes in collaboration with the USDA Forest Service (USDA-FS), beginning as soon as May Three fellowships will be offered to currently enrolled students interested in exploring research in collaboration with Forest Service scientists and local organizations. Fellows will be part of a developing team of faculty and USDA-FS scientists whose main objective is to study urban natural resources stewardship and the development of social-ecological system resilience, from short-term recovery, to longer-term restoration, to fundamental system re-organization. The fellows may be based in New Brunswick, NJ on the Rutgers Cook Campus, in Philadelphia, or in New York City depending on the project. The research and collaborative team is expected to have a regional focus and will develop programmatic linkages throughout (but not limited to) the Silas Little Experimental Forest; the USDA-FS Urban Field Station network; the Rutgers campuses in New Brunswick, Newark and Camden; and other regional university programs, as opportunity allows. Centrally located between the USDA-FS Urban Field Stations of Philadelphia and New York City, there will be opportunities to form collaborative relationships across and between locations. For this reason, fellows may be required to travel throughout the region. The specifics of different projects will addressed during the interview process. Applicants with a broad range of disciplinary backgrounds will be considered, including geography, computational sciences, entomology, ecology, plant pathology, forestry, horticulture, environmental sociology, planning, and natural resource management. The fellowship is a one year program but most of the work is expected to happen during the summer. Fellows are expected to work at the Field Stations for 12 weeks, though there is flexibility based on the awardees schedule and project. During the remainder of the year, students will continue any remaining data analysis or writing required to meet their goals (e.g. publication or poster presentation). For most of the projects, fellows will not be required to have a car but they will need to have a valid driver s license and be able to drive safely. The fellowships are open to currently enrolled Rutgers undergraduates and graduate students Fellowship Projects 1. Forest Creation In The City: Testing An Anthropogenic Forest Succession Strategy Primary Location: New York City Urban Field Station

2 Urban areas around the world are embarking on efforts to increase green space within city limits. Tree planting is one of the areas of focus for these efforts. Million Trees programs have been instituted in cities like New York, Los Angeles, London, and Shanghai. Other cities like Chicago have adopted a tree canopy cover goal. One of the challenges faced by urban land management agencies when trying to implement these programs is finding places to put the trees. One approach is to restore city property that has been taken over by exotic invasive plant species. Another approach is to reclaim areas that have been severely impacted by construction activities where the soil is primarily made up of fill material of varying quality. Tree species that are being used may be native to the local geographical area. In addition consideration is given to species that are tolerant of the harsh chemical and climatic conditions of the city where they are being planted. One of the goals of these afforestation efforts is to get the young trees established and to achieve canopy closure as quickly as possible in order to shade out exotic invasive plant species that have the potential to outcompete the native vegetation. In the fall of 2015 we will be planting a 5 acre site at Freshkills Park in Staten Island, NY using the following experimental design. We will replicate each block of 3 plots four times. Prior to planting we have the opportunity to fully characterize the soil carbon stocks which will allow us to determine the impact of these planting strategies on soil forming processes. We will intensively sample the site at multiple depths in order to map soil carbon stocks. The student will assist with all aspects of field work, soil sample preparation and organization. In addition, travel to the site on Staten Island will be required. 2. Pest and disease vulnerability of the municipal forests of Philadelphia and NYC Primary Location: Philadelphia Field Station The student will evaluate pest and disease vulnerability of the urban forest using a method first developed by UC Berkeley researchers: the Pest Vulnerability Matrix (PVM). This technique involves assessing a complete street tree inventory using local and regional pest and disease threat information, to understand risk of loss from various agents and optimal planting diversity for new plantings in the face of these threats. The method was first developed in the San Francisco area, and has since been

3 adapted across California, and for Boston area municipalities. Local customization involves soliciting expert opinion and documented cases of pests in a specific city and region. PVM could be applied to one or more of these complete inventories: University of Pennsylvania campus, City of Philadelphia street trees, and New York City street trees. The Penn data is already available, so the student could potentially do an initial customization for Philly using Penn campus data as a test case, with the expectation that it could be expanded to Philly and NYC as those data sets become available. 3. Social Scientist to perform assessment of stakeholder needs Preferred Location: New York City Urban Field Station working with the Strategic Foresight and Rapid Response Group Improving response to extreme events will not only help restore important services to affected stakeholders after an extreme event, but will also improve the relevance of forest research. This new collaborative research seeks to improve the response to extreme events by 1) performing rapid assessments of damage to trees, forests, and associated ecosystem services; 2) estimating long-term cumulative effects; 3) working with affected communities to develop restoration scenarios; and 4) performing research to improve future responses and enhance future resistance and resiliency of forests along the urban to rural gradient. The incidence and intensity of extreme events are expected to be significantly impacted by climate change. What information is needed by whom, and when? The value of lost timber and opportunities for salvage are of significant concern to the State Forestry organizations. Experience with response to hurricanes Hugo and Katrina revealed that poor quality salvaged timber flooded the market which, combined with the high cost of salvage, made the whole process commercially unfeasible. It is also clear that loss of wildlife habitat is often significant and of great public interest especially in sensitive coastal areas affected by recent hurricanes. In urban areas, key impacts include the loss of stormwater interception and infiltration resulting from downed trees, and the health impacts of an increase in local temperatures due to loss of canopy. This position is to conduct a literature review and survey of stakeholders, or organizations that represent stakeholders, who have been affected by recent extreme events so that we may determine the nature of information needed, by whom and when, to support response and restoration activities. Identification of stakeholders is tied to defining the scope of this program; therefore, a clear definition of the scope of this program will be essential to direct the assessment of stakeholder needs. 4. Meteorologist or ecologist to develop model of wind intensity and database of storm damage to trees Preferred Location: Philadelphia Urban Field Station and Newtown Square, PA working with the Strategic Foresight and Rapid response Group This research project seeks to improve the response to extreme events such as, hurricanes and other large wind events, ice storms, early bud break and frost, floods and storm surges, insect outbreaks, and wildfire. The incidence and intensity of most if not all of these are expected to be significantly impacted by climate change. Studies of past wind events have revealed that the impact of high winds follows a

4 complex pattern on the landscape, and combined with other site factors, results in a complex pattern of damage and mortality of trees. The purpose of this fellowship is to develop or adapt a model of wind speeds associated with different kinds of wind events, and compile a database of damage and tree mortality estimates from past wind events. This work involves review of published and unpublished studies of the impacts of extreme weather events, and development or adoption of a simple and rapidly deployable model to support rapid assessments of damage. It will likely be necessary to contact previous study investigators to obtain some of the original data that may not be reported in publications. Damage estimates from past events, such as percent mortality of different tree species associated with different wind speeds, can be used for making preliminary estimates of damage from a more recent event by knowing its location and severity and having ready access to baseline data. Preevent analysis requires a close link with the NOAA/National Weather Service to obtain access to GIS data about projected wind speeds and storm tracks. Application Requirements Applicants must be currently enrolled at Rutgers. Undergraduates and graduate students are welcome and encouraged to apply. Applicants need to submit: 1. A CV or resume, 2. Two letters of recommendation (one of which should be from a faculty member), 3. A statement of interest describing which project you would like to apply for, what you hope to learn from this fellowship, why you are interested in this topic, and how this fellowship fits into your professional or academic goals. 4. A brief description of how you will communicate your work to others (e.g., blog, twitter, presentation, poster, publication) and what kinds of outreach efforts could be applied to the project (e.g., work with high school teachers and students, present at a conference, present at public forum, create a web tool). Your application must be submitted by midnight on March 27th, 2015 by or by mail to: Dr. Jason Grabosky 14 College Farm Road New Brunswick, NJ grabosky@aesop.rutgers.edu The date will be extended if we have not received enough applications and the new date will be posted on the Center for Resilient Landscapes website. Expectations for Fellows Exploring Each fellow should expect to conduct and provide a literature review related to their project.

5 Researching - Develop your own research questions and project within the framework of an existing project. Fellows are expected to spend time at the preferred locations and to attend occasional field station team meetings. Contributing Each fellow is expected to spend some time working with their mentors on data collection. This may vary considerably for each project, but students should expect to commit up to 100 hours over the course of one year working with Forest Service scientists and partners. These interactions will serve as an opportunity for fellows to develop relationships with researchers and practitioners in their area of interest. Sharing Develop a poster presentation for use at conferences and Field Station programs. In addition, we expect each fellow to share the work that they have done either through a regularly maintained blog, twitter feed, webinar, PowerPoint presentation, or paper. We encourage students to try to publish their results and we will help support that if your results lend themselves to publication. What you can expect from USDA Forest Service and our partners? Funding - $5,000 Fellowship award (most of which to be dispersed between June and August of 2014 and 10% to be held until the completion of a poster). Mentoring - Mentorship from Forest Service scientists and help with project visibility and career development. Mentors will also help with developing research questions and communicating your experience and work to others. Linking - Access to local organizations, community groups, and practitioners