When Harry Gisborne, the Forest Service's first fire scientist, died investigating the Mann Gulch Fire in 1949, he became known as its '14th victim.' Through personal stories and historical accounts, we explore how the tragic fire that killed 13 firefighters led to the creation of the Missoula Fire Sciences Lab and revolutionized wildland fire research. Current and former lab leaders, Sara Brown and Colin Hardy , share how Mann Gulch's legacy continues to shape firefighter safety and fire scienc...
Dec 18, 2024•38 min•Season 4Ep. 9
On a scorching August afternoon in 1949, a small fire in Montana's Mann Gulch turned catastrophic in just minutes. Through storyteller David Turner, experience this haunting tale that transformed wildland firefighting forever, and discover how this fire claimed the lives of 13 smokejumpers and sparked a revolution in fire safety and science. Join Forestcast as we travel to Helena, Montana to commemorate this monumental moment in Forest Service history, and find out how science is part of this st...
Dec 11, 2024•44 min•Season 4Ep. 8
How does research shape a Chief’s decisions about fire? Through personal stories and reflections, Chief Randy Moore shares how scientific discoveries have transformed our agency’s understanding of fire, and explains how research informs decision-making at the highest levels, the role of partnerships in advancing fire science, and the future of fire management across our landscapes. Related Research: Confronting the Wildfire Crisis Fire and Smoke Model Evaluation Experiment Forestcast is an offic...
Dec 04, 2024•16 min•Season 4Ep. 7
Fire shapes landscapes and lives, but how do humans shape fire? By measuring wildfire ignition, mitigation, and recovery, as well as the wildland-urban interface—where houses meet or intermingle with undeveloped wildland vegetation—scientists are uncovering the complex dynamics between wildfire and human behavior. Research social scientist, Miranda Mockrin , sheds light on the rapidly growing wildland-urban interface and the challenges it poses for fire management and community resilience. Resea...
May 15, 2024•48 min•Season 4Ep. 6
Fire affects forests above and belowground. Travel along on a multiscale journey from forest-wide influences to molecular-level changes, unraveling the knowns and unknowns of fire effects on soil, vegetation, and carbon. Sharon Hood explains how fire affects tree mortality, tracing the pivotal role of carbohydrates in a tree's post-fire survival. Dexter Strother investigates the production and persistence of black carbon in soils, shedding light on its potential climate implications. Matt Dickin...
May 08, 2024•52 min•Season 4Ep. 5
From whipping winds that fan flames to swirling smoke that obscures visibility, fire weather is a complex phenomenon. In Episode 4 of "Afire," hear from three meteorologists at the intersection of the intricate relationships between fire weather, wind, and smoke. Brian Potter explains how large-scale atmospheric patterns, like extended dry periods before a wildfire, may contribute to the development of extreme fire events. Natalie Wagenbrenner discusses WindNinja, a high-resolution wind model th...
May 01, 2024•58 min•Season 4Ep. 4
Prescribed fire plays a vital role in creating healthy landscapes that better survive natural and human-caused disturbances, while reducing wildfire risk to communities, infrastructure, and natural and cultural resources. Episode 3 of "Afire" highlights three scientists and partnerships that are attempting to better understand and utilize prescribed fire. From Georgia, ecologist Joe O’Brien explains how researchers and forest managers are forming unique meetings that spark fresh ideas and advanc...
Apr 24, 2024•52 min•Season 4Ep. 3
Indigenous tribes gained their unique understanding of fire, and the role of fire on the landscape, long before European settlers came to what is now called North America. Since then, the relationship between federal fire management and indigenous perspectives has often been one of misunderstanding and mistrust. On Episode 2 of "Afire," join Forest Service scientists, Frank Kanawha Lake , a tribal descendant, and Serra Hoagland , a tribal member, as they explain the ways in which Forest Service ...
Apr 17, 2024•48 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Fire is a form all of its own, but a simple way to understand fire is as a swarm. A swarm of bees. Or starlings. Or mosquitos. A spreading fire is a swarm of ignitions, a series of small fires over and over. Season 4 of Forestcast is a series of fires, a series of voices. It’s a 360-degree introduction to fire from a scientific standpoint. The story of how fire research shapes our landscapes, and our lives. Through kaleidoscoping voices from across the country, listeners will be taken inside the...
Apr 10, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Once spanning nearly 6 million acres in Missouri's Ozarks, the shortleaf pine and oak woodland ecosystem has dwindled to 100,000 acres today. Along with the loss of this habitat, a bird—the brown-headed nuthatch—disappeared as well. However, after decades of woodland restoration, the brown-headed nuthatch has returned to Missouri—by plane. Over two summers in 2020 and 2021, a team of scientists successfully captured and flew 102 birds from Arkansas to Missouri, marking the bird’s return to the s...
Jun 27, 2023•45 min•Ep. 27
Cindi West has over 30 years of experience working across private industry, academia, and federal government in a variety of jobs to ensure sustainability of natural resources. In February 2021 she assumed the position of Director of the Northern Research Station and the Forest Products Lab . She has served in various leadership roles in the Forest Service, including as the Director of the Office of Sustainability & Climate Change, Associate Deputy Chief for R&D, Director for Resource Us...
Apr 13, 2023•27 min•Season 3Ep. 10
Maggie Hardy is the program manager of the Rocky Mountain Research Station Forest and Woodland Ecosystems Program , a group of scientists that develops and delivers scientific knowledge and management tools for sustaining and restoring the health, biodiversity, productivity, and ecosystem processes of forest and woodland landscapes. Before joining the Rocky Mountain Research Station, Maggie served as Chief Regulatory Scientist and as an Executive Director with the Australian Pesticides and Veter...
Apr 10, 2023•36 min•Season 3Ep. 9
Research soil scientist Deb Page-Dumroese’s research interests center around maintaining soil productivity during and after land management activities. As site principal investigator for several North American Long-Term Soil Productivity Study plots, Deb is well-versed in the pre- and post-treatment sampling necessary to determine changes in above- and below-ground nutrient properties associated with harvesting, organic matter removal, and biochar additions. In partnership with the Missoula Tech...
Apr 06, 2023•25 min•Season 3Ep. 8
Research plant pathologist, Jenny Juzwik , conducts studies on diseases of trees that impact forest health and productivity. Her career-long interest and passion has been the study of interactions among microorganisms and insects associated with disease occurrence and development. One particular focus has been on the insects responsible for transmission of the oak wilt fungus, Bretziella fagacearum . In 2014 she completed research that involved elucidation of the major biotic determinants of hic...
Apr 03, 2023•21 min•Season 3Ep. 7
Research social scientist, Lindsay Campbell, explores the dynamics of civic stewardship, environmental governance, and sustainability policymaking--with a particular emphasis on issues of social and environmental justice—all from New York City. She is a founding member of the New York City Urban Field Station , which was jointly created by the Northern Research Station and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. The Urban Field Station develops and applies adaptive management and s...
Mar 30, 2023•29 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Ecologist Sjana Schanning’s fieldwork has taken her from the Rincon Mountains of Arizona, to the the winter woods of Wisconsin, to the summer shores of Michigan’s Isle Royale. But, she’s recently shifted away from the field towards data analysis, our cities’ trees and the Urban FIA Program. Sjana collects field data and performs data analysis and reporting for the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program. FIA data provides critical status and trend information to resource managers, policy mak...
Mar 27, 2023•28 min•Season 3Ep. 5
Ecologist Susannah Lerman walks us through her career and life, from falling in love with birds in Israel, to making something more of mowing, to hosting a motherhood workshop, to the mentors that enabled her to create a career out of science. Susannah’s research goal is to improve the sustainability of urban and human-dominated landscapes for birds, bees and other wildlife, and advancing human well-being through strengthening connections between people and nearby nature. Related Research: Juggl...
Mar 23, 2023•31 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Ecologist Chelcy Miniat shares watershed moments of her career and life, from a spark of science in sixth grade, to her time at the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, to her decisions about if and when to have children. Chelcy is the program manager of the Rocky Mountain Research Station Maintaining Resilient Dryland Ecosystems (MRDE) program, a group of scientists that investigates the biology, use, management, and restoration of grasslands, shrublands, and deserts. Her own research is centered on ...
Mar 20, 2023•25 min•Season 3Ep. 3
Ecologist Sara Brown takes us through eight chapters of her career and the 10 mentors that made her, from wildland firefighting, to smokejumping, to teaching in New Mexico, to directing the Missoula Fire Science Lab. Sara is a classically trained ecologist, with a focus on fire ecology. Before her return to the Forest Service in 2015, she was an Assistant Professor of Forestry at New Mexico Highlands University. She taught wildfire science and ecology courses, and enjoyed working on research pro...
Mar 16, 2023•38 min•Season 3Ep. 2
To celebrate the immeasurable impact of women in our nation’s history, and to honor the scientists who have inspired others to dream, work, study, serve and succeed, Forecast is kicking off a special 10-episode series highlighting women’s perspectives in research over the past 50 years. Eleven scientists from the Northern Research Station and Rocky Mountain Research Station will share their experiences from before, during and after careers with the USDA Forest Service. Stories of mentors and men...
Mar 13, 2023•39 min•Season 3Ep. 1
Beech bark disease has been killing American beech trees in eastern North America since the late 1890s. In northern New England, New York, and the Maritimes where the disease is most severe, groups of disease resistant trees occasionally occur. Genetic studies reveal that trees in groups are families, and distribution patterns suggest that they were “planted” by blue jays. Related Research: American Beech Resistance to Cryptococcus fagisuga (1983) Forest Insect & Disease Leaflet 75 (1983) Di...
Feb 07, 2023•27 min•Season 2Ep. 6
The number one way you can stop an insect invasion or pathogen from spreading is by stopping it from ever starting. Who says geneticists and ecologists can’t act in the same way—taking action before a tree is ever in danger? With ash, proactive and collaborative breeding is already taking place, and it could be a roadmap for the future of combating tree species restorations. Related Research: Green Ash Trees That Survive Beetle Infestation Pass on Their Resistance Through Propagation and Plantin...
Mar 29, 2022•24 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Dutch elm disease (DED) is one of the most commonly known and destructive tree diseases in the world. The disease was first observed in Ohio in 1930, and by 1976, only 34 million of the estimated 77 million elms present in U.S. urban locations remained. Research on American elm from the 1970s to the present has focused in large part on the identification of American elm individuals that can withstand the DED pathogen. To increase American elm’s long-term recovery as a canopy tree, it is crucial ...
Mar 22, 2022•29 min•Season 2Ep. 4
A hundred years ago, the American chestnut was the redwood of the East. It was big, and it was everywhere, especially in the southern Appalachians. But, today, it’s just a shrub and is, functionally, extinct. With chestnuts having gone through such a dramatic decline, restoration has been a priority, and it’s been a restoration effort unlike many others. It’s been one of the most passionate efforts an American tree has ever seen. Related Research: American Chestnut Oral History Project (2009) Am...
Mar 15, 2022•41 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Tree species restoration—especially with species that are threatened with extinction—isn't even on the table unless you have resistant planting stock. But, trees live on another timescale than humans—a much longer one. And, to be a geneticist, to breed, your job is to infiltrate that timeline, and to understand it. By understanding that timeline, you can begin to fiddle with it, fiddle with time, and with the future. The future of that plant, but also the future of our planet. Genetics allow us ...
Mar 08, 2022•20 min•Season 2Ep. 2
In season one of Forestcast , entomologists showed us the ways we slow insects from attacking and killing trees. This season, we’ll meet another set of scientists, scientists who have been attacking the issue of non-native invasive insects and pathogens from a different angle. Chemicals and biological control can buy trees time, but they cannot completely control the non-native insects that are attacking trees that have never experienced these insects before. We need something on top of those co...
Mar 01, 2022•9 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Mac Callaham, a research ecologist, goes searching alone in Georgia’s Chattahoochee National Forest for one of Brood X’s most-southern cicada emergences. Scientist: Mac Callaham , Research Ecologist, Southern Research Station, Athens, Georgia Produced by the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station . Questions or ideas for the show? Connect with Jon at: [email protected]...
Jul 15, 2021•6 min•Ep. 10
Any day now, periodical cicadas will emerge across 15 states stretching from Illinois to New York and northern Georgia. Two scientists, one who’s tracked the aboveground movements of these cicadas, and another who’s unearthed the belowground impact of these insects, take you inside the many mysteries and forgotten elements of these evolutionary enigmas. Related Research: Sharp boundary formation and invasion between spatially adjacent periodical cicada broods (2021) Periodical cicada emergence r...
May 05, 2021•31 min•Ep. 9
In the 1970s, red spruce was the forest equivalent of a canary in the coal mine, signaling that acid rain was damaging forests and that some species – especially red spruce – were particularly sensitive to this human induced damage. In the course of studying the lingering effects of acid rain, scientists came up with a surprising result – decades later, the canary is feeling much better. Related Research: “ The Surprising Recovery of Red Spruce Growth Shows Links to Decreased Acid Deposition and...
May 14, 2020•37 min•Ep. 8
In addition to studying and monitoring the non-native insects already here, scientists are monitoring pests that have potential to become problems if they ever do arrive, whether from overseas or from other parts of North America. Related Research: “ The Challenge of Modeling and Mapping the Future Distribution and Impact of Invasive Alien Species ” (2015) “ Reproduction and potential range expansion of walnut twig beetle across the Juglandaceae ” (2018) “ Enhanced Mitigation and Rapid Response ...
Apr 02, 2020•17 min•Season 1Ep. 6
