New forest inventory method a potential game-changer.

If you need to estimate the value of a forest — whether a plantation of Douglas-fir or a small woodlot — experts in mensuration (aka biometricians) can give you a time-honored method. The traditional process of sampling plots, the measuring of tree heights and diameters, allows an estimation of resources at the landscape level. It works well enough; a similar process also served the ancient Romans.

However, there is a price to be paid. Measuring a small portion of the trees, say 2% to 4%, leads to uncertainty. Moreover, it is cumbersome to replicate the process for future analytical purposes.

Now Chu Qi, a graduate student in the College of Forestry’s MARS lab (Management, Algorithms, and Remote Sensing), has developed a powerful new method to dramatically reduce the uncertainties associated with capturing a forest inventory. The technique speeds up the analysis and creates a robust 3-D dataset for ongoing forest assessment.

Using terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) data from a stand in the McDonald- Dunn Forest near Corvallis, Qi and Bogdan Strimbu, Qi’s adviser and an assistant professor in Forest Engineering, Resources, and Management, created an algorithm that extracts information about forest structure.

For forest inventory purposes, “we identify what is stem and what is not stem,” says Strimbu. But the full point cloud dataset (the collection of points recorded in 3-D by a scanning device) offers a 360-degree picture of the forest environment, everything from the ground to the canopy. Consequently, it can provide details to understand the forest’s multiple aspects, such as understory and canopy conditions, biodiversity and carbon storage.

“We wanted to save on the labor of doing a forest inventory,” says Qi. “We used new technology for analyzing point cloud data. It had not been applied to a forest before. It was a challenge to separate the points for the stems from everything else in the forest. There’s a lot of ‘noise’ in the data.”

Strimbu is working with the OSU Research Office to file a patent. “The ballgame has completely changed,” he says. “If you rescan the stand in the future using the same procedure, you’ll find many of the same trees. With point clouds, you can study changes that are not measured traditionally.”

Conventional mensuration techniques dominated forestry in the 20^th century. A turning point with the advent of airborne remote sensing in the late 1970s when the Landsat program generated the first broad glimpses of forest landscapes. However, the deployment of active sensors, such as LIDAR on aircraft and land-based platforms, created the path for Qi’s and Strimbu’s innovation.

“Imagine that you have created a set of plots for conducting a conventional estimate of timber volume,” says Strimbu. It might take all day to visit each plot and create a record of tree heights and diameters. In the same time, you could walk with a TLS device that creates a continuous point cloud of the forest environment, process the data and run it through the algorithm developed by MARS to estimate volume.

“You still have a sample, but instead of being based on 2% of the trees, it would be based on 25%,” Strimbu adds.

Tests of the algorithm have shown it to have 100% “correctness,” meaning that everything identified as a tree is a tree. Moreover, the algorithm successfully found 95% of the trees.

“We have a wealth of data and need to extract information for relevant measurements,” says Strimbu. It takes a strategy to extract relevant information using traditional forest inventory. For other purposes, point clouds offer the raw data from which extra information, unplanned initially, can be later computed.

For example, if one needs to know how much coarse woody debris is in the forest, current practice calls for a cruise dedicated to this purpose. However, the same estimates can be obtained from an existing cruise that was implemented using point clouds.

The advancement is not the first to come from Strimbu’s MARS lab. He and Qi teamed up earlier to produce an algorithm that uses point cloud data for a single tree to replicate its exact shape and volume. The approach is particularly useful for calculating the optimum cutting pattern for a high-value tree.

Strimbu also has a patent on an algorithm that determines geolocations in point cloud data. Their research was supported by a grant from the US Department of Agriculture.

A version of this story appeared in the Fall 2020 issue of Focus on Forestry, the alumni magazine of the Oregon State University College of Forestry.

Working at the crossroads of industry and community.

Assistant Professor in Forest Policy, Mindy Crandall, grew up in the Oregon Coast Range town of Otis on the edge of the Siuslaw National Forest. For recreation, she and her family camped in clear-cuts, rode dirt bikes and hiked steep trails through towering Douglas-firs.

“It was kind of my playground. There were no other kids close by. It’s the most beautiful place in the world,” she says.

And yet something nagged at her, a question that crystallized after she moved away. Why was it, she wondered, that the national forest looked so different from nearby privately-owned land?

Exploring that question led her to an undergraduate degree from the College of Forestry and a master’s and Ph.D. in Applied Economics from OSU (“I’m a triple beaver”) in 2016.

While she found the biology and ecology of forests fascinating, it was the human element that captured her imagination. “It’s all about people and their interactions with forests,” she says.

Crandall moved across the country to pursue that topic in a tenure-track position at the University of Maine (before getting her graduate degrees, she had worked as a VISTA volunteer in Maine for two years). She returned to Oregon State in January 2020.

“What motivates my research is the intersection of forests, rural communities and working landscapes. That’s where my heart lies,” she says. “How can we sustain a proper forest industry, and how can rural communities survive? These are treasured places of knowledge and experience. Somehow we need to figure out a way for all these things to work together. What are some of the slam-dunk things that are going to help rural places?”

In her efforts to illuminate the social and economic systems that shape forest-based communities, Crandall has looked at the forest industry workforce, alternative uses for biomass, and the relationship between the landscape and land management decisions.

For example, in Maine, she led surveys of businesses and youth to evaluate students’ interests in developing skills that match with forest industry employer needs. Crandall’s team found that students’ skills and expectations aligned with the culture of future potential employers.

In another study, Crandall looked at the relationship between regional landscapes and forest management. Her team identified factors such as tourism, exurban development, infrastructure, and commuting patterns that shape private landowner decisions and affect surrounding communities and landscape structure.

A project that harkens back to Crandall’s youth is “near and dear to my heart,” she says. The Rural Youth Futures Project surveyed high school students in two rural counties — Piscataquis County, Maine, and Coos County, Oregon — and was co-managed by fellow College of Forestry alumna Jessica Leahy. The goal was to evaluate the needs and opportunities facing youth growing up in rural forest-dependent communities.

“This comes out of my own experience growing up in the Coast Range, where there didn’t seem to be a lot of opportunities,” says Crandall. “We wanted to look at how kids think about the economy and the environment, how they perceived their communities, their outdoors, and whether they wanted to stay in rural areas or move away.”

An advisory committee of community leaders in both states helped to determine the questions and connect with schools. The project generated more than 2,000 survey responses. Crandall and her team found that youth have high educational aspirations and a high degree of place attachment to the outdoors. Publications are in process.

“Mindy wants to have a positive impact on rural communities that are challenged by the changes affecting forest-based economies,” says Claire Montgomery, retired chair of FERM and a forest economist. “In all my work with her, her concern for fairness and justice shines through. That passion is manifested in her research program and her commitment to programs that support diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

A prime example focuses on gender in forestry education. “When I started at OSU 20 years ago in forestry,” says Crandall, “it was about 10% women students, and it’s still about 10% women. Why have we made no progress? Female undergrads are often the only women in their classes.”

Conversations with Maine colleagues and students led to the formation of a group called Supporting Women in Forestry Today, or SWIFT. The group held social and professional events, which became places where people to get to know each other. Education, networking and strategizing for undergraduate women were its priorities. Although the pandemic has curtailed face-to-face gatherings, Crandall is considering ways to apply the lessons of SWIFT in Oregon.

In upcoming research, she is collaborating with Jeff Kline, a U.S. Forest Service economist, to study the community impacts of severe wildfire. “I loved living in Maine, but I’m happy to be back home in Oregon,” she says. “The landscape and politics of the West are so interesting — public lands, the rural landscape. It’s so fascinating. There’s so much to explore.”

A version of this story appeared in the Fall 2020 issue of Focus on Forestry, the alumni magazine of the Oregon State University College of Forestry.

Online graduate certificate offers a competitive edge during job hunt.

Getting out of the military after a long career of service is daunting, but thanks to Oregon State University Ecampus, Andrew Carrier, who began his military service after receiving his bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee, had the opportunity to expand his knowledge in his chosen field of urban forestry before he stepped into civilian life.

“Online programs are much more feasible for busy active duty members,” Carrier says. “After researching numerous institutions, I found the OSU online master of natural resources and graduate certificate in urban forestry programs. I was sold on the program based on the ability to form a solid base level knowledge in urban forestry and then easily transition to the master’s program without having to go back and take GRE.”

The OSU graduate certificate in urban forestry prepares students to think scientifically and strategically, at a time where adult learners are looking for alternatives to in-person educational opportunities. Students learn to effectively apply the principles of urban forestry, green infrastructure, planning, policy, management and leadership to the management of urban forests and urban forestry programs.

The certificate is unique and the first of its kind offered online. Courses are delivered through OSU Ecampus – a national leader in online education. No other university in North America currently offers a graduate urban forestry education in this flexible, accessible format.

Carrier finished the certificate program last year and used the program to transition to the master’s of natural resources program. He credits his online OSU education experience in helping make him a desirable candidate in the natural resources and sustainability career fields. In February of 2020, Carrier was hired as a tree inventory technician by PlanIT Geo, a natural resources consulting firm based in Denver.

While reflecting on his experience, Carrier says he enjoyed his classes and the work of Senior Instructor Paul Ries.

“There was a really good balance in the program of academic overviews, important case studies and daily application,” Carrier says.

Ries, who helped create the certificate program, says his students are dedicated and come from a diverse set of backgrounds. “Some, like Andrew, are transitioning into an urban forestry career, while others are already practicing urban foresters looking for advancement,” he says. “One of the most rewarding parts of my job is helping mentor these professionals and watch them grow in their careers and take on new challenges.”

A version of this story appeared in the Fall 2020 issue of Focus on Forestry, the alumni magazine of the Oregon State University College of Forestry.