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Biochar Opportunities in the Southwest: Extension Workshop; Featured Speakers
Biochar Opportunities in the Southwest: Keynote and Featured Speakers
Join us to learn to "Why Biochar?" with these keynote and featured speakers courtesy of the USDA Forest Service:
Description: Debbie will describe the importance of soil health for healthy forests, range, agricultural or mine soils and how soil health is the key to resilient ecosystems. Key to increasing soil health is the use of biochar. Biochar can restore and enhance ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, reduced wind or water erosion, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and increase soil water retention, biodiversity, or fertility. As much as we know about biochar, some key knowledge gaps exist that need to be addressed through coordinated research. A path forward will be outlined to show how collaborations of stakeholder groups, land managers, non-profits, and researchers can work together for technology development, business support, and collaborative policy development.
Biography: Debbie is a senior scientist and research soil scientist with the USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station. Her career has focused on measuring changes in long-term forest productivity and soil sustainability associated with land management, wildfires, and slash pile burning. For the last 12 years she has worked on using biochar on forest, range, and mine sites to increase water retention, vegetation growth, or improve soil health.
APRIL 9, 2021 9:00am - 9:45am MDT*- Keynote Speaker: Nathaniel Anderson, Ph.D., Research Forester, USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station
Why biochar? The economics of biochar enterprise with a focus on scale, industrial ecology, markets, carbon, feedstock and competitive advantages in the Southwest
Biography: Nate Anderson is a Research Forester with the Rocky Mountain Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service in Missoula, Montana, where he studies forest resources management and economics. He has conducted biomass and biochar research since 2009, working on a wide range of projects including two USDA-NIFA Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI) projects, the Bioenergy Alliance Network of the Rockies (BANR), and the Mid-Atlantic Sustainable Biomass for Value-added Products Consortium (MASBio), among others. Nate has a PhD in Forest Resources Management from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, an MS in Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development from the University of Maryland, and a BS in Biology from Bates College.
APRIL 9, 2021 11:45am - 12:00pm MDT*- Closing Remarks: Laura Wolf, MS, Wood Utilization and Innovations Program Specialist, USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region, State & Private Forestry and Tribal Relations
Closing Remarks: Key event takeaways, USFS funding opportunities and assistance on biochar and other wood utilization opportunities.
Description: Laura will summarize key takeaways from the event and give an overview of the Forest Service’s Wood Innovations Program. She will cover funding opportunities and assistance that the Forest Service can provide to those interested in pursuing biochar and other wood utilization opportunities.
Biography: Laura Wolf is the Wood Utilization and Innovations Program Specialist for the Rocky Mountain Region covering Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a bachelor’s degree in Integrative Biology and a minor in Forestry and Natural Resources. She has a master’s degree in Environmental Science and Management from the Bren School at UC Santa Barbara. Her area of study was Conservation Planning, and her research focused on the climate vulnerability of an endemic oak species on the Channel Islands off the coast of southern California. Before permanently joining the Forest Service, she was a Pathways intern on the Plumas National Forest in northern California.
Interested? Registration is free! https://arizona.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZctde6vqj4oG9UBBWlhZZgxn5915Ao...
For a full description of the workshop, see the agenda attached below.
* All start times are one hour earlier in Arizona.
