Forestcast

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 Use Sciences, and Deputy Station Director for Pacific Northwest Research Station.

Cindi holds a BS degree in Forestry Management, an MBA in Marketing and Management, and a PhD in Wood Science and Forest Products from Virginia Tech. As a research scientist, she published more than 60 papers and presented at more than 80 conferences on forest sector trade and industry development.

Scientist:

• Cindi West, Station Director, Northern Research Station, Madison, Wisconsin

If you're interested in hearing from more women in the Forest Service, visit the National Forest Service Library and their HerStory oral history project.

Produced by the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station.

Want more information? Visit us at https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/nrs/products/multimedia/podcasts/forestcast-season-3-women-research-episode-10-our-sustainable

Questions or ideas for the show? Connect with Jon at: [email protected]

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 Veterinary Medicines Authority. In these roles, Maggie managed areas of policy; regulation and budget; provided strategic stakeholder engagement; and led integrated learning and development initiatives. In previous federal government roles, including with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Ga., Maggie held broad responsibilities for program implementation and regulatory assurance, as well as emergency response and preparedness. Her career has focused on incorporating research in drug discovery, bioterrorism agents, vector-borne diseases, and foodborne, waterborne, and environmental diseases.

Related Research:

• Engaging Rural Australian Communities in National Science Week Helps Increase Visibility for Women Researchers (2017)
• Moving Beyond Metrics: A Primer for Hiring and Promoting a Diverse Workforce in Entomology and Other Natural Sciences (2017)
• Create Ethics Codes to Curb Sex Abuse (2014)
• Spider-Venom Peptides: Structure, Pharmacology, and Potential for Control of Insect Pests (2013)

Scientist:

• Maggie Hardy, Forest & Woodland Ecosystems Program Manager, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Flagstaff, Arizona

If you're interested in hearing from more women in the Forest Service, visit the National Forest Service Library and their HerStory oral history project.

Produced by the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station.

Want more information? Visit us at https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/nrs/products/multimedia/podcasts/forestcast-season-3-women-research-episode-9-scientific-ethical

Questions or ideas for the show? Connect with Jon at: [email protected]

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 Technology Development Center (Keith Windell) and Dr. Nate Anderson (RMRS) she developed a biochar spreader to easily distribute biochar on forest sites.

Related Research:

• Biochar Basics: An A-to-Z Guide to Biochar Production, Use, and Benefits (2022)
• Forest Management and Biochar for Continued Ecosystem Services (2022)
• Development and Use of a Commercial-Scale Biochar Spreader (2016)
• Forest Soil Disturbance Monitoring Protocol: Volume II: Supplementary Methods, Statistics, and Data Collection (2009)
• Soil Physical Property Changes at the North American Long-Term Soil Productivity Study Sites: 1 and 5 Years After Compaction (2006)

Scientist:

• Deb Page-Dumroese, Research Soil Scientist, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Moscow, Idaho

If you're interested in hearing from more women in the Forest Service, visit the National Forest Service Library and their HerStory oral history project.

Produced by the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station.

Want more information? Visit us at https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/nrs/products/multimedia/podcasts/forestcast-season-3-women-research-episode-8-changing-world

Questions or ideas for the show? Connect with Jon at: [email protected]

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 hickory decline and investigation of the role(s) putative pathogens play in the complex. In 2010, she initiated 13 years of investigations of bark and ambrosia beetles associated with eastern black walnut in the Midwestern states and their potential as carriers of the Thousand Cankers Disease fungus, Geosmithia morbida, as well as other pathogenic fungi that may cause symptoms similar to those of thousand cankers disease.

Related Research:

• Oak Wilt StoryMap: A Regional View of Oak Wilt and its Management (2022)
• Matching Causes with Symptoms: Research Improves Diagnosis of Declining Eastern Black Walnut (2020)
• Ambrosia Beetles and Bark-Colonizing Weevils Carry Thousand Cankers Disease Fungus (2016)

Scientist:

• Jenny Juzwik, Research Plant Pathologist, Northern Research Station, St, Paul, Minnesota

If you're interested in hearing from more women in the Forest Service, visit the National Forest Service Library and their HerStory oral history project.

Produced by the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station.

Want more information? Visit us at https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/nrs/products/multimedia/podcasts/forestcast-season-3-women-research-episode-7-life-healthy-forests

Questions or ideas for the show? Connect with Jon at: [email protected]

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 science to improve human well-being and the environment in urban metropolitan areas. She creates transdisciplinary spaces of collaboration between land managers, scientists, artists, and other practitioners.

Related Research:

• Stewardship Mapping with National Forests to Support Equitable, Inclusive Partnerships (2022)
• Activating Urban Environments as Social Infrastructure Through Civic Stewardship (2021)
• Building Adaptive Capacity Through Civic Environmental Stewardship: Responding to COVID-19 Alongside Compounding and Concurrent Crises (2021)
• Forest Service Research Evaluates Public Response to Transformed Landfill (2016)

Scientist:

• Lindsay Campbell, Research Social Scientist, Northern Research Station, New York, New York

If you're interested in hearing from more women in the Forest Service, visit the National Forest Service Library and their HerStory oral history project.

Produced by the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station.

Want more information? Visit us at https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/nrs/products/multimedia/podcasts/forestcast-season-3-women-research-episode-6-nature-stewardship

Questions or ideas for the show? Connect with Jon at: [email protected]

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 makers, investors, and the public through a system of annual resource inventory that covers both public and private forest lands across the United States.

Related Research:

• Modernized Forest Inventory Reports Provide Online, Interactive Storytelling with Data Visualization (2022)
• Urban FIA: Where We Have Been, Where We Are, and Where We Are Going (2015)

Scientist:

• Sjana Schanning, Ecologist, Forest Inventory and Analysis, Northern Research Station, Hayward, Wisconsin

If you're interested in hearing from more women in the Forest Service, visit the National Forest Service Library and their HerStory oral history project.

Produced by the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station.

Want more information? Visit us at https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/nrs/products/multimedia/podcasts/forestcast-season-3-women-research-episode-5-plots-blocks-sjana

Questions or ideas for the show? Connect with Jon at: [email protected]

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:

• Juggling Parenthood and Ornithology: A Full Lifecycle Approach to Supporting Mothers through the American Ornithological Society (2021)
• To Mow or to Mow Less: Lawn Mowing Frequency Affects Bee Abundance and Diversity in Suburban Yards (2018)

Scientist:

• Susannah Lerman, Research Ecologist, Northern Research Station, Amherst, Massachusetts

If you're interested in hearing from more women in the Forest Service, visit the National Forest Service Library and their HerStory oral history project.

Produced by the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station.

Want more information? Visit us at https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/nrs/products/multimedia/podcasts/forestcast-season-3-women-research-episode-4-juggling-motherhood

Questions or ideas for the show? Connect with Jon at: [email protected]

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 developing a mechanistic understanding of watershed ecosystem function by studying how abiotic and biotic factors (species, environmental variables, disturbances) regulate carbon, nutrient, and water cycling processes.

Related Research:

• The Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory and the Coweeta Long‐Term Ecological Research Project (2021)

Scientist:

• Chelcy Miniat, Maintaining Resilient Dryland Ecosystems Program Manager, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Albuquerque, New Mexico

If you're interested in hearing from more women in the Forest Service, visit the National Forest Service Library and their HerStory oral history project.

Produced by the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station.

Want more information? Visit us at https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/nrs/products/multimedia/podcasts/forestcast-season-3-women-research-episode-3-watershed-moments

Questions or ideas for the show? Connect with Jon at: [email protected]

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 problems in the field with students. Her applied research program provided graduate and undergraduate students with opportunities to work on questions relating to fire effects, fire intensity, fuel treatment effects and understanding fire history as it applies to reintroducing appropriate fire return intervals to a variety of ecosystems. Today, she is the Fire, Fuel & Smoke Program Manager at the Rocky Mountain Research Station in Missoula, Montana.

Related Research:

• On the Need for Inclusivity and Diversity in the Wildland Fire Professions (2020)
• Diversity: Just Gender and Race... or a Diversity of Perspectives (2018)
• Bridging the Divide Between Fire Safety Research and Fighting Fire Safely (2017)

Scientist:

• Sara Brown, Fire, Fuel & Smoke Program Manager, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula, Montana

If you're interested in hearing more women in the Forest Service, visit the National Forest Service Library and their HerStory oral history project.

Produced by the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station.

Want more information? Visit us at https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/nrs/products/multimedia/podcasts/forestcast-season-3-women-research-episode-2-ode-mentors-sara

Questions or ideas for the show? Connect with Jon at: [email protected]

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 mentorship, motherhood, rural and urban stewardship, passions for science, leadership, and beyond.

To kick things off, a conversation between a mentor and mentee about how they met, the evolution and value of their relationship, their shared diversity research, and where to go from here.

Related Research:

• USDA Forest Service Employee Diversity During a Period of Workforce Contraction (2022)
• Strategies for Increasing Diversity and Inclusion at SAF Meetings (2017)
• Bridging the Gender Gap: The Demographics of Scientists in the USDA Forest Service and Academia (2015)

Scientists:

• Laura Kenefic, Research Forester, Northern Research Station, Bradley, Maine
• Susan Stout, Emeritus Research Forester, Northern Research Station, Irvine, Pennsylvania

If you're interested in hearing more women in the Forest Service, visit the National Forest Service Library and their HerStory oral history project.

Produced by the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station.

Want more information? Visit us at https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/nrs/products/multimedia/podcasts/forestcast-season-3-women-research-episode-1-twenty-five-years

Questions or ideas for the show? Connect with Jon at: [email protected]