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Fire in Southern Pine Systems

Prescribed Fire for Forest Management Series

Fire in Southern Pine Systems

Jan. 3, 2024

Fire ​into the Future: Utilizing Geospatial Technology to Identify and Categorize Fire in the Southeast

We explored the ecology of southern pines, the reintroduction of ​​fire into fire-adapted ecosystems, and the legacy of prescribed fire and how the “old” links with the “new” with burning in longleaf pine. Participants will discover the importance of the Tall Timbers Private Lands Fire Initiative and hear about​ the cutting edge technology of the Southeast fire map, which helps​ with both on the ground management and re​search.

Dr. Nowell’s talk focused on detecting fires in the Southeast United States, and will include discussion of  satellite detection difficulties, an overview of current products across this region, and future scientific improvements of satellite-based datasets to detect even more fire. In particular, discussion will focus on the Southeast FireMap product – a product that is based on the USGS Landsat Burned Area dataset, but is uniquely tailored to the Southeast US. Preliminary study results that illustrate the utility of using Southeast FireMap to answer scientific questions will also be shared.​

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PRESENTERS

Geo​rge Jensen

Southwest Georgia Prescribed Burn Association Coordinator, Tall Timbers Research Station & Land Conservancy 

George Jensen, originally from Savannah, Georgia, grew up in Berlin, Wisconsin. George attended the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, where he studied Wildland Fire Science and Conservation Biology under Dr. Ron Masters. ​During this time, George had heavy involvement in the UWSP interagency fire crew, where he was an officer for two years; George burned with the crew in Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Chicago, Florida, Georgia, and, South Carolina. George also worked for the federal government on a fuels module and helit​​ack crew and did fire with WDNR. Upon graduation, George took a job as a Conservation Biologist for the Endangered Resources section of the WNDR and was also on the state burn team. George was also private lands biologist for the private sector in central Wisconsin. George attended graduate school for forestry at Mizzou under Dr. Ben Knapp. George worked his master’s tenure at the Jones Center at Ichauway, where he researched how Resistance, Resilience, and Transition silviculture treatments affect fire behavior and effects in longleaf pine ecosystems during atypically hotter and drier days. He also studied fine-scale fire effe​cts in patches of longleaf pine. Currently, George works for ​Tall Timbers as the Southwest Georgia Prescribed Burn Association Coordinator and is an Adjunct professor of ecology at Thomas University in Thomasville, Georgia.

Holly Nowell, Ph.D.

Project Research Scientist, Tall Timbers Research Station & Land Conserva​ncy

Dr. Holly Nowell, born and raised in Wichita, Kansas, was interested in weather from an early age. She held several internship positions at the National Weather Service Office located in Wichita, and at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, before graduating with her bachelor’s degree in Earth and Planetary Science from Washington University in St. Louis. She continued her studies at Florida State University where she obtained two master’s degrees, one in Geographic Information Systems and the other in Meteorology, and a doctorate in Meteorology. Her thesis and dissertation, under the guidance of Dr. Guosheng Liu, focused on studying the backscatter radiation of aggregate snowflakes in the microwave region. Dr. Nowell switched gears with her postdoctoral position under Dr. Christopher Holmes, also at Florida State University, to focus on the issue and difficulty in the satellite detection of fires in the Southeast United States. As a postdoc, she also participated in NASA/NOAA FIREX-AQ field campaign by providing ground support and conducting field research into pre- and post-burn fuels at the Blackwater River State Forest, Florida. Additional studies included examining the impacts of emissions from smoke plumes resulting from prescribed burning on air quality and public health in South Florida. Currently, Dr. Nowell works for Tall Timbers as a Project Research Scientist on the Southeast FireMap project, a joint venture with the USGS to improve satellite detections of fires in the Southeast US region using Landsat and Sentinel satellites. ​

MODERATOR

Michael Tiller, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Forest Ecology, College of Natural Resources, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point

Michael grew up in Northern California where he enjoyed an active outdoor lifestyle hunting, fishing, camping, and skiing in the beautiful Sierra Nevada Mountains and coastal redwoods. He enjoyed a 10-year career with Cal Fire serving as a Firefighter and Fire Apparatus Engineer. In 2006​​​, he moved to College Station, Texas where he attended Texas A&M University and earned a B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Science. After completing his B.S. degree, he attended Stephen F. Austin State University where he earned an M.S. degree in Environmental Science and Ph. D. in Forestry, both with a research focus on understory fuel flammability in forest and rangeland ecosystems. Michael also served as a Wildland Urban Interface Specialist for the Texas A&M Forest Service for 2-years where he was actively engaged with fuels management and prescribed burning. He recently accepted an Assistant Professor of Forest Ecology position at UW-Stevens Point where he leads the fire science program and serves as an adviser for the UWSP Fire Crew.   

Additional Resources

Continuing Education

This webinar has been pre-approved for the following:

If you are watching the recorded session and need continuing education credit, you must be registered for the series AND verify you watched the recorded session​. 

Certificates of completion are available by emailing wfc@uwsp.edu. Certificates will be emailed to you within 7-10 business days.

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Resources

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