果冻传媒麻豆社

MOSCOW, Idaho 鈥� A multidisciplinary team led by 果冻传媒麻豆社 researchers has received a $15 million grant to study the long-term impact of drought and fire on forest ecosystems.

The six-year is from the National Science Foundation鈥檚 (BII), which is dedicated to supporting diverse and collaborative teams to attack critical biological questions that span multiple disciplines through research, education and training. The funding will create the EMBER (Embedding Molecular Biology in Ecosystem Research) Institute and bring together researchers from a variety of institutions and backgrounds 鈥� from experts across biological disciplines including molecular and cellular biology, organismal physiology and ecosystem sciences.

鈥淲e are looking at how stress caused by increasing drought and wildfire affects forest recovery and resilience. By working together, we are not just investigating how trees or microbes respond but how organisms depend on each other to survive,鈥� said , principal investigator for EMBER and professor in U of I鈥檚 Department of Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences. 鈥淚s this extra stress going to change how these ecosystems respond to climate change? Will they continue to mitigate climate change through carbon sequestration? Will they get better at it? Is there anything we can do to improve resistance? Those are the questions we鈥檙e asking.鈥�

Despite the benefits of bringing together people with a variety of backgrounds to tackle the big problems of the 21st century, the task is easier said than done.

鈥淲e had to go pretty far outside of our comfort zone and start talking to people we鈥檝e never interacted with before scientifically,鈥� said , assistant professor in U of I鈥檚 Department of Soil and Water Systems听补苍诲 co-principal investigator on EMBER.

The team includes both experimentalists and modelers 鈥� two groups of people who usually work separately 鈥� and the results of this collaboration may impact the way the world tackles climate change.

鈥淲orking in siloed disciplines has been our traditional approach as scientists, but we no longer have time for incremental progress,鈥� Lynch said. 鈥淲e hope that bringing our disciplines together will help us to understand these dynamic systems as a whole and inform the policies that tackle pressing issues like climate change.鈥�

One of EMBER鈥檚 partners is the National Center for Atmospheric Research, which participates in intergovernmental climate policy groups worldwide.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not a big leap for us to be able to say that we will be impacting the world,鈥� Hudiburg said.

Chris Marx, biology professor at U of I and another co-principal investigator on the project, hopes EMBER will identify a tangible way to help plants and microbial communities re-establish after a fire.

鈥淗ow do you grow in ash? Especially since ash is such a challenging environment for organisms,鈥� Marx said. 鈥淲e want to explore how rapid evolution within microbial species and communities can influence tree survival, and whether we can use this information to help forests survive and thrive after a wildfire.鈥�

In addition to research, part of EMBER鈥檚 responsibilities includes community outreach. EMBER will partner with the Coeur d鈥橝lene Tribe and the Bonneville Environmental Foundation to establish an Indigenous Innovation Lab for tribal and rural students, develop a unique teacher fellows training program and engage with citizens from across the political spectrum 鈥� including climate change skeptics. As such, the EMBER team is partnering with U of I鈥檚 McClure Center for Public Policy Research听补苍诲 , a conservative organization dedicated to solving climate change by hosting discussions in a non-combative political space.

鈥淭his award is well suited to the research expertise of our faculty leads here at 果冻传媒麻豆社,鈥� Vice President for Research and Economic Development Chris Nomura said. 鈥淭heir approach to understanding physiological and acclimation strategies for trees and microbes and methods to identify the impact of fire and drought on interactions between microbes and trees will inform predictions of ecosystem response to these events. This is truly an outstanding team who has put in a tremendous effort to obtain this award, and I expect great things from them going forward.鈥�

Other U of I researchers on the project include Klas Udekwu, Michael Strickland and Kris Waynant, as well as database manager Andrew Child and postdoctoral fellow Kelsey Bryant.

The team also includes Winslow Hansen from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, N. Cecilia Martinez-Gomez from University of California, Berkeley, Emily Graham from Washington State University, Will Wieder from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Lon Chubiz from University of Missouri-St. Louis, Laura Laumatia from the Coeur D鈥橝lene Tribe and Chaun Macqueen and Parker Mullins, both from the Bonneville Environmental Foundation.

This project was funded to 果冻传媒麻豆社 by the National Science Foundation under award 2320667. The total project funding is $2,669,046, with an estimated total of $15 million in the future, of which 100% is the federal share.

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Media Contacts:

Tara Hudiburg鈥�
Professor, Department of Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences
208-885-7044
thudiburg@uidaho.edu