Climate Change Continuing Education Webinar Series

This webinar series will run from January - May and feature monthly presentations geared to help land managers, consulting foresters, and private forest landowners stay informed on the latest science and tech transfer tools related to forest-based adaptation and mitigation of climate change. Each webinar is an hour long, including Q & A, although there will be an optional additional 15 minute Q & A period.

Webinars are free and open to all members of the forestry community. Each counts for 1 hour of SAF Continuing Ed for Certified Foresters. Questions? Contact Sarah Hines (610.557.4218)

Webinar Contact Information

There are no additional webinars planned at this time - but you can view any of the archived webinars below.

January 14, 2009

Interactions Between Carbon, Climate, and Forests

Presenter: Chris Swanston (Research Ecologist, Northern Research Station, USFS)

This presentation will set the stage for a broader discussion on climate change and forests by briefly examining interactions between climate change, carbon cycling, and forest sustainability. First, we’ll cover some key mechanisms and major trends in climate change, and then explore forecasts of future climate and associated uncertainty. Next, we’ll survey the global carbon cycle and the distribution of carbon in major forest ecosystems. We’ll then consider several general ecophysiological concepts and how projected changes in climate may interact with forest ecophysiology. Finally, we’ll discuss how all these considerations may combine to affect forest carbon storage and productivity in the Lake States and Northeast.

• Watch the archived Web Cast (Windows Media Player, 131 MB)
• Presentation Slides (PDF, 5.2 MB)

February 11, 2009

Forest Management During Climate Change

Presenter: Maria Janowiak (Outreach Scientist, Northern Institute of Applied Carbon Science)

Climate change is expected to have significant effects on the condition and function of forested ecosystems; however, the exact nature of the stressors, their intensity, and the ensuing impacts on forests are quite uncertain. Forest managers will need to cope with this uncertainty, balancing the paucity of detailed information on future conditions against the demands of active and sustainable resource planning and management. In this context, sustainable forest management must recognize the need for ecosystems to adapt to changing climatic conditions in order to achieve desired objectives including, among other things, maintenance of habitat, production of wood, and mitigation of increased levels of atmospheric greenhouse gases. This presentation synthesizes available information on forest management options in the northeastern United States to provide a background for working with an uncertain climate future.

• Watch the archived Web Cast (Windows Media Player, 52.6 MB)
• Presentation Slides (PDF, 1.4 MB)
• Presentation Bibliography (PDF, 16 KB)

March 18, 2009

CVal: A Carbon Valuation Tool for Foresters and Private Forest Landowners

Presenter: Sarah Hines (Presidential Management Fellow, USFS)

This presentation will introduce participants to a just-released Carbon Valuation Spreadsheet and accompanying General Technical Report (GTR) written by Ted Bilek, Peter Becker, and Tim McAbee (2008). The spreadsheet is a powerful and valuable tool available to the forestry community (target audience: consulting foresters, state foresters) to be able to interface with private landowners and help them make sound, transparent decisions as to whether participation in the voluntary carbon market is an attractive option based on a full accounting of variables.

• Watch the archived Web Cast (Windows Media Player, 81.7 MB)
• Presentation Slides (PDF, 1 MB)

April 15, 2009

FIA Data and Forest Carbon Policy

Presenter: Neil Sampson (President, Sampson Group Consulting)

• Watch the archived Web Cast (Windows Media Player, 100 MB)
• Presentation Slides (PDF, 1.5 MB)

May 13, 2009

Introduction to the “Climate Wizard” - a web-based
tool for local climate change forecasting

Presenter: Chris Zhangjar (The Nature Conservancy)

Watch the archived Web Cast (Windows Media Player, 160 MB)