Rainforest Life: Food Versus Fear

Posted on December 20, 2013 by

An agouti ventures outside its burrow in Panama at night, when predators are out. Photo courtesy of Roland Kays.

For a rainforest animal like the agouti, life revolves around the tension between food and fear. While foraging for seeds from the black palm tree, the rabbit-sized rodent has to avoid hungry ocelots.

Living in an area where food is scarce greatly increases an agouti’s willingness to venture out of its burrow between sunset and sunrise, when the danger of being eaten by a nocturnal ocelot is four times greater, says Roland Kays, zoologist with NC State’s College of Natural Resources and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.

Tree Change – A Challenge for Planners and Policy makers

Posted on December 12, 2013 by

A view of Raleigh’s tree cover and skyline, taken from Jordan Hall on the NC State campus.

Is Raleigh, NC becoming more like Baltimore? According to a study published in the journal Ecosystems by researchers Kevin Bigsby, Melissa McHale and George Hess in NC State’s College of Natural Resources, planners and policy makers need to take steps to prevent the City of Oaks from looking like the home of “The Wire.”

Read “Tree Change: Is Raleigh Becoming More Like Baltimore” in The Abstract.

5 Questions with CNR Dean Mary Watzin

Posted on December 12, 2013 by

Our college’s vision is to be the go-to place for solutions to natural resource challenges. We don’t think it is enough to make a name for ourselves by describing problems. We want to develop solutions to those problems. This is an institution where solutions are part of our DNA!

Recently Dean Mary Watzin sat down with the The Bulletin to reflect on her first year as dean and talk about where the college goes from here.

Read “5 Questions with Dean Watzin”

Tropical Forest Foundation Elects Dr. Erin Sills to Its Board of Directors

Posted on November 21, 2013 by rwgonzal

Dr. Erin Sills

Washington, D.C. (November 12, 2013) – Dr. Erin Sills, professor and director of international programs, Department of Forestry & Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, has been elected to the Tropical Forest Foundation (TFF) Board of Directors for a term that begins January 1, 2014. Sills joins a group of new directors that demonstrate TFF’s founding tradition to provide a forum for industry, conservation, and academia to join forces to encourage the adoption of sustainable forestry practices in the tropical regions of the world.

“Erin understands and is committed to TFF’s mission of conserving the tropical forests by maintaining their economic value. As we improve the skills and knowledge of local forest communities, she will provide valuable counsel and relationships that can advance our work,” said Bob Johnston, TFF executive director. “Each new member of the Board of Directors was carefully selected for his or her innovative thinking and ability to contribute to TFF’s ongoing efforts of encouraging sustainable forest management. We look forward to utilizing their experiences and ideas to further enhance the practices and programs currently in place.”

Currently a professor of forest economics at North Carolina State University, Sills is well known in the environmental economics community. She began her teaching career at NCSU in 1998 when she earned her Ph.D. in natural resources and environmental economics at Duke University. Sills’ work has been recognized and published in several industry journals and books, and she was awarded the Outstanding Global Engagement Award for her international efforts at NCSU.

Additional new Board of Directors include:

Kerry Cesareo, Managing Director, Forests, World Wildlife Fund
Sara Gutterman, Co-Founder and CEO, Green Builder Media
Kenneth MacDicken, Senior Forestry Officer/Team Leader, Global Forest Resources Assessment, Food & Agricultural Organization of the United Nations
Hank Menke, Jr., President and CEO, OFS Brands, Inc.
Lenny Shibley, President, Inter-Continental Hardwoods, LLC
Kevin Thieneman, President, Caterpillar Forest Products

About the Tropical Forest Foundation

The Tropical Forest Foundation (TFF) is an international, non-profit, educational institution committed to advancing environmental stewardship, economic prosperity, and social responsibility through sustainable forest management (SFM). TFF regional programs in Asia Pacific, Africa and South America have become synonymous with the promotion and training of Reduced Impact Logging (RIL). For 20 years, TFF has fostered dialogue and alliances among industry, government, and academia, as well as the research and conservation communities to improve tropical forest management around the world and increase the economic value of these forests for those who depend upon its bounty for their livelihood. To learn more about the Tropical Forest Foundation, visit http://www.tropicalforestfoundation.org/.

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Just ask the animals!

Posted on October 17, 2013 by

Using animal tracking data to better predict animals’ use of natural movement corridors through urban lansdcapes.

Using GPS transmitters and cameras, Scott LaPoint documented the movements of fishers. Photo: © Roland Kays, NC State University

A new study, published this week by Dr. Roland Kays, a professor in CNR and director of the Biodiversity Lab at the NC Museum of Sciences with colleagues from Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, used small GPS devices to track the weasel-like fisher through suburban Albany, NY.

The study found that fishers will use movement corridors outside of their usual habitat preferences, and make use of culverts to cross roads.

The report, “Animal Behavior, Cost-based Corridor Models, and Real Corridors,” appeared in the October issue of Landscape Ecology – http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10980-013-9910-0

Learn more about what they discovered and see videos @ http://natsci.mu/78