PhD Assistantship--Carbon Cycle impacts of Using Forest Harvest Residues for Bioenergy
The University of Idaho is one of the few universities in the US that use energy generated logging residues to heat its campus (Science 2009, 323:1432-3). The presence of the UI Experimental Forest on nearby Moscow Mountain provides an opportunity to study the long-term effects of collecting the residual material that is usually left to decay or burned after forest harvest. We offer a Ph.D. assistantship that would address the practical, but scientifically compelling question of how greenhouse-gas emissions are affected by either a) burning residues on-site or b) collecting residues for fuel compared to unharvested controls. The student will be responsible for the measurement of forest carbon pools as well as the fluxes of carbon (CO2, CH4) and nitrous oxide from the soil after the various treatments. We would also encourage the parameterization of models that describe these fluxes and changes in forest productivity under the varied treatments. We encourage creativity and student initiative in designing the remainder of the dissertation. The PhD student will be part of the PhD program in the UI College of Natural Resources and will be primarily advised by Dr. John Marshall, with additional supervision by collaborators Dr. Alan Talhelm and Dr. Mark Coleman. Another related and concurrent forest bioenergy research project overseen by Dr. Coleman, which investigates impacts on tree growth, soil quality, wood decomposition, and diversity of fungi and invertebrates, provides clear opportunities for collaboration among a large group of investigators and a cohort of several new graduate students. For more information, contact John Marshall ([email protected]) or Alan Talhelm ([email protected]).
