Three CNR Graduate Students Named 2013-14 Global Change Fellows

Posted on April 30, 2013 by

Steven Grodsky, Jennifer Niemuth and David Zietlow, graduate students from the Department of Forestry & Environmental Resources in the College of Natural Resources were among seven NC State University graduate students selected by the SE Climate Science Center as Global Change Fellows for 2013-14.

Grodsky is helping to understand the potential environmental consequences of harvesting wood biomass for use in green energy production.

Niemuth is studying the physiologic basis of cold stun in sea turtles. Her work will help to better understand their susceptibility to climate change and predict future cold stuns events.

Zietlow is studying energy and water balances of contrasting forest types in the lower North Carolina coastal plain with a focus on the effects of land use and climate changes on evapotranspiration.

The Global Change Fellowship is a program designed to provide financial, scientific, and professional development support for graduate students who are interested in multidisciplinary research related to climate and global change.

Hussey Win Proves Southern Timbersports Powerhouse

Posted on April 24, 2013 by rwgonzal

Josh Hussey – photo courtesy of STIHL TIMBERSPORTS

For the second time in two years and the third time in four years, a North Carolina State University student has taken the Southern Collegiate Championship title of the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Southern Qualifier. Josh Hussey, a senior in Forest Management from Robbins, NC, placed first out of 14 other strong collegiate competitors, earning a $1000 scholarship for NC State, and advancing to the National Collegiate Championship at The Great Smoky Mountain Lumberjack Feud in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., June 7-9, 2013.

NC State is proving a powerhouse in timbersports. Victor Wassack (’12 Forest Management) won the Southern title in 2012, when NC State hosted the event, and winning both the Southern and National Collegiate titles in 2010 was Logan Scarborough (’10 Forest Management) who now participates in the sport as a Professional Competitor.

Read the full story of Josh’s win below, posted by STIHL TIMBERSPORTS, 3/25/2013, or visit Southern Hospitality: Moving on to the US Championships

Source: STIHL TIMBERSPORTS

TOP SOUTHERN COLLEGIATE AND PROFESSIONAL LUMBERJACKS
ADVANCE TO THE 2013 STIHL® TIMBERSPORTS® SERIES U.S. CHAMPIONSHIPS

Josh Hussey of NC State claims Southern Collegiate Qualifier title;
Paul Cogar, Mel Lentz, Matt Slingerland and Mike Slingerland
take top honors in the Southern Pro Qualifier

AUBURN, Ala. – The STIHL® TIMBERSPORTS® Series presented by Ram Trucks launched the 2013 season with the Collegiate and Professional Southern Qualifiers hosted by Auburn University Friday, March 15. For the second consecutive year NC State took the top Collegiate Qualifier honors as Josh Hussey, an NC State senior, took first place in the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Southern Collegiate Qualifier, advancing to the Collegiate Championship at The Great Smoky Mountain Lumberjack Feud in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., June 7-9, 2013.

The top pros who placed first to fourth respectively in the Southern Professional Qualifier were Mel Lentz of Diana, W.Va., Matt Slingerland of Rockwell, NC, Paul Cogar of Diana, W.Va. and Mike Slingerland from Rockwell, NC. The fourth and final qualifying spot came down to a tie-breaking stock saw-off between Mike Slingerland and Andrew Mattison of Pigeon Forge, Tenn., where Slingerland out-sawed Mattison by mere fractions of a second to advance to the Championship. Only the top four pros advance to the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Series U.S. Championship in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

“We couldn’t have asked for a more exciting competition to kick off the 2013 STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Series season,” said Brad Sorgen, producer of the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Series. “Auburn was a great host providing the perfect atmosphere for the Pro and Collegiate Southern Qualifier.”

NC State’s Hussey, 23 from Robbins, NC, took the top Southern Collegiate Qualifier spot out of 14 collegiate competitors after placing in the top four in every discipline. Jack Lipkin from the University of Tennessee placed second in the competition and Robey Coffey from Virginia Tech took third. In addition to advancing to the Collegiate Championship, the competitor with the most cumulative points also earned a $1,000 scholarship from STIHL for his school.

In the Professional Southern Qualifier, Mel “King of the Lumberjacks” Lentz started out strong, taking first place in the spring board and standing block chop, and stayed consistent throughout the competition, which ultimately placed him in the top spot. Second place finisher Matt Slingerland had a rough start but recovered nicely, placing in the top three in the final four disciplines. You can view a full list of results from the college and pro events on our Results Page for the Southern Qualifier.

ESPNU, Outdoor Channel and TUFF TV cameras were on site to capture the competition. These networks provide a national platform to not only highlight the competition, but also spotlight the hosting schools and their forestry programs in the Professional and Collegiate Series competition shows. The airing schedule for the Southern Qualifier collegiate and pro events on Outdoor Channel can be found here. ESPNU air dates and times for the 2013 season will be announced at a later date.

For the first time this season, fans are able to get in on the action, choosing which pro lumberjacks they think will perform the best in actual competitions, including the Southern Qualifier. Prizes include STIHL chain saws and a trip for two to the World Championship in Germany. To play the ultimate fantasy sports game and view the Southern Qualifier leaderboard, visit facebook.com/STIHLTIMBERSPORTS.

Seymour Delivers 2013 Borlaug Lecture at NC State

Posted on April 18, 2013 by

On April 16, 2013, Frances Seymour delivered the 2013 Norman E. Borlaug Lecture at the Hunt Library at NC State University. The lecture, cosponsored by the College of Natural Resources and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, was part of a week of festivities celebrating Earth Day. The following is an excerpt from an article in the student newspaper.

The Giving Trees by Liz Moomey, staff writer

FORESTS MATTER TO FOOD SECURITY, GROWING ECONOMIES AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

Frances Seymour, former director of Center for International Forestry Research, spoke about the external influences on the conditions of forests and their roles in food security snd climate change at Hunt Library Auditorium Tuesday afternoon.

Forests have a significant impact on food security, although there is not a lot of talk about it, Seymour said. “The role of forests and climate regulations is even that much more important,” Seymour said. “You would think that given all of these contributions of forests to food security and to agriculture, more generally, and local landscapes, conserving forests would be an important part of food security policy, but they are not.”

Seymour said misconceptions about forests’ roles in food security often contribute to lack of policy dealing with forestry and regulating demolition of forests. “It serves the interest of some actors to have you believe that forestry protection and food security are incompatible,” Seymour said. “There are two convenient untruths. One is that you have to sacrifice forests to feed the world, and the other poor people are the main cause of deforestation.

Read the complete article in The TechnicianOnline

Learn more about the Annual Borlaug Lecture Series @ NC State University

BIG DATA ANALYTICS TRAVEL, a program for the tourism industry co-developed SKEMA/NCSU

Posted on April 16, 2013 by

Gene Brothers and Frédéric Dimanche at Sophia

Dr. Gene Brothers, a professor at North Carolina State University was at SKEMA last week to work with Frédéric Dimanche, a marketing professor and head of the Centre for Tourism Management, on the development of a joint program of certification analysis of “big data” in the tourism sector. Every day with the Internet, petabytes of information are being created, and businesses have access to new types of data to answer new questions to better understand, for example, the behavior of traveling consumers. This certificate program will address the needs of research students as well as professionals of tourism. Contacts have been made with Amadeus and other professionals interested in these big travel data analytics. Gene Brothers was a visiting professor at SKEMA in 2008.

For more information: Frédéric Dimanche frederic.dimanche@skema.edu or Gene Brothers gbrother@ncsu.edu