Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Leadership - A Lifetime Quest For Excellence, Douglas D. Piirto

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

This paper is written for aspiring leaders and managers. Each of us will be asked to lead, manage, and/or follow at various times and in many different situations in our journey of life. This paper is written to assist aspiring leaders and managers discover and develop their leadership and management abilities.

The paper is organized per the following outline:

• Introduction
• Establishing Credibility
• Enthusiasm and Desirable Habits of Effective People
• Leadership and Management
• Situational Analysis and Leadership Styles
• Leadership as a Student [discussed in Introduction)
• Leadership as a Forest Scientist
• Leadership as a Teacher and Professor
• Leadership as a Department Head …

Investigation Of Thermochemical Biorefinery Sizing And Environmental Sustainability Impacts For Conventional Supply System And Distributed Pre-Processing Supply System Designs, David J. Muth Jr, Matthew H. Langholtz, Eric Cd Tan, Jacob J. Jacobson, Amy Schwab, May M. Wu, Andrew Argo, Craig C. Brandt, Kara G. Cafferty, Yi-Wen Chiu, Abhijit Dutta, Laurence M. Eaton, Erin M. Searcy

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

The 2011 US Billion-Ton Update estimates that by 2030 there will be enough agricultural and forest resources to sustainably provide at least one billion dry tons of biomass annually, enough to displace approximately 30% of the country's current petroleum consumption. A portion of these resources are inaccessible at current cost targets with conventional feedstock supply systems because of their remoteness or low yields. Reliable analyses and projections of US biofuels production depend on assumptions about the supply system and biorefinery capacity, which, in turn, depend upon economic value, feedstock logistics, and sustainability. A cross-functional team has examined combinations of advances …

Theory Of Transient Streaming Potentials In Coupled Unconfined Aquifer-Unsaturated Zone Flow To A Well, Bwalya Malama

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

A semianalytical solution is presented for transient streaming potentials associated with flow to a pumping well in an unconfined aquifer, taking into account the effect of flow in the unsaturated zone above the water table. Flow in the unsaturated zone is modeled with a linearized form of Richards' equation using an exponential model for soil moisture retention and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity. Archie's law is invoked for unsaturated electrical conductivity. The unsaturated electrokinetic coupling coefficient is modeled with a decaying exponential, where the maximum value is at and below the water table. The coupled flow and electrokinetic problem is solved using …

Classification Of Plot-Level Fire-Caused Tree Mortality In A Redwood Forest Using Digital Orthophotography And Lidar, Brian D. Bishop, Brian C. Dietterick, Russell A. White, Tom B. Mastin

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

Aerial and satellite imagery are widely used to assess the severity and impact of wildfires. Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) is a newer remote sensing technology that has demonstrated utility in measuring vegetation structure. Combined use of imagery and LiDAR may improve the assessment of wildfire impacts compared to imagery alone. Estimation of tree mortality at the plot scale could serve for more rapid, broad-scale, and lower cost post-fire assessments than feasible through field assessment. We assessed the accuracy of classifying color-infrared imagery in combination with post-fire LiDAR, and with differenced (pre- and post-fire) LiDAR, in estimating plot percent mortality …

Life-Cycle Water Quantity And Water Quality Implications Of Biofuels, May Wu, Zhonglong Zhang, Yi-Wen Chiu

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

Water consumption and water quality continue to be key factors affecting environmental sustainability in biofuel production. This review covers the findings from biofuel water analyses published over the past 2 years to underscore the progress made, and to highlight advancements in understanding the interactions among increased production and water demand, water resource availability, and potential changes in water quality. We focus on two key areas: water footprint assessment and watershed modeling. Results revealed that miscanthus-, switchgrass-, and forest wood-based biofuels all have promising blue and grey water footprints. Alternative water resources have been explored for algae production, and challenges remain. …

The Water Footprint Of Biofuel Produced From Forest Wood Residue Via A Mixed Alcohol Gasification Process, Yi-Wen Chiu, May Wu

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

Forest residue has been proposed as a feasible candidate for cellulosic biofuels. However, the number of studies assessing its water use remains limited. This work aims to analyze the impacts of forest-based biofuel on water resources and quality by using a water footprint approach. A method established here is tailored to the production system, which includes softwood, hardwood, and short-rotation woody crops. The method is then applied to selected areas in the southeastern region of the United States to quantify the county-level water footprint of the biofuel produced via a mixed alcohol gasification process, under several logistic systems, and at …

Compressed Air Foam And Structural Firefighting Research, Christopher Dicus, Thomas Korman, Casey Grant, Steve Lohr, Dan Madrzykowski, Fred Mowrer, Chris Pascual, Dan Turner

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

No abstract provided.

The Burning Question: Why Is Fire Season Becoming Worse?, Christopher Dicus

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

No abstract provided.

Core-Scale Solute Transport Model Selection Using Monte Carlo Analysis, Bwalya Malama, Kristopher L. Kuhlman, Scott C. James

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

Model applicability to core-scale solute transport is evaluated using breakthrough data from column experiments conducted with conservative tracers tritium and sodium-22 , and the retarding solute uranium-232 . The three models considered are single-porosity, double-porosity with single-rate mobile-immobile mass-exchange, and the multirate model, which is a deterministic model that admits the statistics of a random mobile-immobile mass-exchange rate coefficient. The experiments were conducted on intact Culebra Dolomite core samples. Previously, data were analyzed using single-porosity and double-porosity models although the Culebra Dolomite is known to possess multiple types and scales of porosity, and to exhibit multirate mobile-immobile-domain mass transfer characteristics …

Investigation Of Biochemical Biorefinery Sizing And Environmental Sustainability Impacts For Conventional Bale System And Advanced Uniform Biomass Logistics Designs, Andrew M. Argo, Eric Cd Tan, Daniel Inman, Matt H. Langholtz, Lawrence M. Eaton, Jacob J. Jacobson, Christopher T. Wright, David J. Muth Jr., May M. Wu, Yi-Wen Chiu, Robin L. Graham

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

The 2011 US Billion-Ton Update1 estimates that there are enough agricultural and forest resources to sustainably provide enough biomass to displace approximately 30% of the country’s current petroleum consumption. A portion of these resources are inaccessible at current cost targets with conventional feedstock supply systems because of their remoteness or low yields. Reliable analyses and projections of US biofuels production depend on assumptions about the supply system and biorefinery capacity, which, in turn, depend on economics, feedstock logistics, and sustainability. A cross-functional team has examined optimal combinations of advances in feedstock supply systems and biorefinery capacities with rigorous design information, …

Considering Water Availability And Wastewater Resources In The Development Of Algal Bio-Oil, Yi-Wen Chiu, May Wu

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

This study aims to quantify water appropriation and the potential production of algal bio-oil using freshwater and municipal wastewater effluent (MWW) as an alternative water resource. The county-level analysis focuses on open-pond algae cultivation systems located in 17 states in the southern United States. Several scenarios were developed to examine the water availability for algae bio-oil production under various water resource mixing MWW and freshwater. The results of the analysis indicate that water availability can significantly affect the selection of an algal refinery site and therefore the potential production of algal bio-oil. The production of one liter of algal bio-oil …

Recognizing And Modeling Variable Drawdown Due To Evapotranspiration In A Semiarid Riparian Zone Considering Local Differences In Vegetation And Distance From A River Source, Brady Johnson, Bwalya Malama, Warren Barrash, Alejandro N. Flores

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

Riparian zones in semiarid regions often exhibit high rates of evapotranspiration (ET) in spite of low-soil moisture content due to the presence of phreatophytic vegetation that is able to withdraw water from shallow aquifers. This work seeks to better define the relationship between ET, the saturated zone and the river boundary by comparing observed water table drawdown records to analytically modeled drawdown in fully penetrating wells of an unconfined aquifer in response to daily ET flux. ET at the Boise Hydrogeophysical Research Site (BHRS), a riparian zone in a temperate, semiarid environment, is calculated using a radiation-based method to provide …

Variability In Effect Of Climate Change On Rain-On-Snow Peak Flow Events In A Temperate Climate, Christopher G. Surfleet, Desirèe Tullos

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

The frequency of rain-on-snow (ROS) hydrologic events, which produce high runoff volumes and lead to large-scale flooding and avalanching, are likely to change in the future as the types and timing of precipitation change. The relationship between ROS precipitation events and peak daily flow events P1-year return were examined for historical and future runoff affected by climate change within the Santiam River Basin, Oregon. Historical streamflow records and modeled historical and future streamflow projections were analyzed for three sites across three elevation zones defined by the dominant precipitation types; rain, rain and snow transition, and snow. The results illustrate that, …

Quantifying The Regional Water Footprint Of Biofuel Production By Incorporating Hydrologic Modeling, M. Wu, Y. Chiu, Y. Demissie

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

A spatially explicit life cycle water analysis framework is proposed, in which a standardized water footprint methodology is coupled with hydrologic modeling to assess blue water, green water (rainfall), and agricultural grey water discharge in the production of biofuel feedstock at county-level resolution. Grey water is simulated via SWAT, a watershed model. Evapotranspiration (ET) estimates generated with the Penman-Monteith equation and crop parameters were verified by using remote sensing results, a satellite-imagery-derived data set, and other field measurements. Crop irrigation survey data are used to corroborate the estimate of irrigation ET. An application of the concept is presented in a …

Selection Of Hydrologic Modeling Approaches For Climate Change Assessment: A Comparison Of Model Scale And Structures, Christopher G. Surfleet, Desirèe Tullos, Heejun Chang, Il-Won Jung

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

A wide variety of approaches to hydrologic (rainfall–runoff) modeling of river basins confounds our ability to select, develop, and interpret models, particularly in the evaluation of prediction uncertainty associated with climate change assessment. To inform the model selection process, we characterized and compared three structurally-distinct approaches and spatial scales of parameterization to modeling catchment hydrology: a large-scale approach (using the VIC model; 671,000 km² area), a basin-scale approach (using the PRMS model; 29,700 km² area), and a site-specific approach (the GSFLOW model; 4700 km² area) forced by the same future climate estimates. For each approach, we present …

Uncertainty In Hydrologic Modelling For Estimating Hydrologic Response Due To Climate Change (Santiam River, Oregon), Christopher G. Surfleet, Desirée Tullos

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

This paper explores the predicted hydrologic responses associated with the compounded error of cascading global circulation model (GCM) uncertainty through hydrologic model uncertainty due to climate change. A coupled groundwater and surface water flow model (GSFLOW) was used within the differential evolution adaptive metropolis (DREAM) uncertainty approach and combined with eight GCMs to investigate uncertainties in hydrologic predictions for three subbasins of varying hydrogeology within the Santiam River basin in Oregon, USA. Predictions of future hydrology in the Santiam River include increases in runoff in the fall and winter months and decreases in runoff for the spring and summer months. …

Assessing County-Level Water Footprints Of Different Cellulosic- Biofuel Feedstock Pathways, Yi-Wen Chiu, May Wu

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

While agricultural residue is considered as a near-term feedstock option for cellulosic biofuels, its sustainability must be evaluated by taking water into account. This study aims to analyze the county-level water footprint for four biofuel pathways in the United States, including bioethanol generated from corn grain, stover, wheat straw, and biodiesel from soybean. The county-level blue water footprint of ethanol from corn grain, stover, and wheat straw shows extremely wide variances with a national average of 31, 132, and 139 L of water per liter biofuel (L_w/L_bf), and standard deviation of 133, 323, and 297 L …

First Record Of Serropalpus Substriatus Haldeman, 1848 (Coleoptera: Melandryidae) On Giant Sequoia, Sequoiadendron Giganteum (Lindl.) J. Buchholz (Cupressaceae): New Larval Host, Kim S. Camilli, Joshua D. Soderlund, David Wood, Jim Kral, Douglas D. Piirto

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

No abstract provided.

Measuring Ecological Impact Of Water Consumption By Bioethanol Using Life Cycle Impact Assessment, Yi-Wen Chiu, Sangwon Suh, Stephan Pfister, Stefanie Hellweg, Annette Koehler

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

Purpose

Though the development of biofuel has attracted numerous studies for quantifying potential water demand applying life cycle thinking, the impacts of biofuel water consumption still remain unknown. In this study, we aimed to quantify ecological impact associated with corn-based bioethanol water consumption in Minnesota in responding to different refinery expansion scenarios by applying a life cycle impact assessment method.

Methods

This ecological damage assessment method for quantifying water consumption impacts was proposed by Pfister et al. in 2009 (Environ Sci Technol 43: 4098–4104, 2009) using an impact characterization factor integrating terrestrial net primary production and precipitation. In …

An Approach To Study The Effect Of Harvest And Wildfire On Watershed Hydrology And Sediment Yield In A Coast Redwood Forest, Christopher G. Surfleet, Arne Skaugset, Brian Dietterick

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

The Little Creek watershed, within California State Polytechnic University’s Swanton Pacific Ranch, is the location of a paired and nested watershed study to investigate the watershed effects of coast redwood forest management. Streamflow, suspended sediment, and stream turbidity have been collected during storms at two locations on the North Fork Little Creek and at the outlet of South Fork Little Creek from 2002 until present. In 2008, the watershed area between the two monitoring stations on the North Fork Little Creek watershed was harvested with an individual tree selection silvicultural system within the Santa Cruz County Rules of the California …

Road Runoff And Sediment Sampling For Determining Road Sediment Yield At The Watershed Scale, Christopher G. Surfleet, Arne E. Skaugset Iii, Matthew W. Meadows

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

In this study, we demonstrate that watershed-scale estimates of road sediment production are improved if field measurements of road runoff and sediment production are used in the analysis. We used several techniques to spatially extrapolate measurements of road runoff and sampled sediment: comprehensive road runoff measurements, runoff estimates derived from the Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model (DHSVM), and adjustment of the road erosion models WARSEM and SEDMODL2.The sediment yield for the Oak Creek, Oregon, road network based on measured road runoff and sediment was 6.5 tons/year. When DHSVM was used to simulate road runoff, the estimated sediment from roads was …

Using Forsee And Continuous Forest Inventory Information To Evaluate Implementation Of Uneven-Aged Management In Santa Cruz County Coast Redwood Forests, Douglas D. Piirto, Scott Sink, Dominic Ali, Steve Auten, Christopher Hipkin, Reid Cody

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

Swanton Pacific Ranch in northern Santa Cruz County has been owned and managed by California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) Foundation since 1987. The California Forest Practice Rules specific to Santa Cruz County limit harvest rate and opening size. Cal Poly forest managers are implementing uneven-aged forest management on 1,182 acres of 80 to 110 year old, second-growth coast redwood forests using a modified BDq approach. The Lockheed Fire spread into most of the managed forest area during the summer of 2009 causing significant mortality in lower diameter classes.

Uncertainty Assessment Of Forest Road Modeling With The Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model (Dhsvm), Christopher G. Surfleet, Arne E. Skaugset Iii, Jeffrey J. Mcdonnell

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

We used a generalized likelihood uncertainty estimation procedure with the Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model (DHSVM) for two streamflow and 11 road ditchflow locations. We observed considerable uncertainty in DHSVM simulations of forest road and stream runoff. The accuracy of simulations decreased as the size of the area modeled decreased. For streamflow, 44% of attempted model structures exceeded a 0.5 Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency threshold for a 630 ha catchment; 12% of attempted model structures exceeded a 0.5 Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency threshold for a 55 ha catchment. DHSVM simulations produced behavioral model structures for only six of the 11 road ditchflow sites (ha). …

Forest Roads Mapped Using Lidar In Steep Forested Terrain, Russell Alan White, Brian Dietterick, Thomas Mastin, Rollin Strohman

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

LiDAR-derived digital elevation models can reveal road networks located beneath dense forest canopy. This study tests the accuracy of forest road characteristics mapped using LiDAR in the Santa Cruz Mountains, CA. The position, gradient, and total length of a forest haul road were accurately extracted using a 1 m DEM. In comparison to a field-surveyed centerline, the LiDAR-derived road exhibited a positional accuracy of 1.5 m, road grade measurements within 0.53% mean absolute difference, and total road length within 0.2% of the field-surveyed length. Airborne LiDAR can provide thorough and accurate road inventory data to support forest management and watershed …

Theory Of Transient Streaming Potentials Associated With Axial-Symmetric Flow In Unconfined Aquifers, Bwalya Malama, Kristopher L. Kuhlman, André Revil

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

We present a semi-analytical solution for the transient streaming potential response of an unconfined aquifer to continuous constant rate pumping. We assume that flow occurs without leakage from the unit below a transverse anisotropic aquifer and neglect flow in the unsaturated zone by treating the water-table as a moving material boundary. In the development of the solution to the streaming potential problem, we impose insulating boundary conditions at land surface and the lower boundary of the lower confining unit. We solve the problem exactly in the double Laplace—Hankel transform space and obtain the inverse transforms numerically. The solution is used …

Fire On The Landscape: Current Policies And A Changing Climate Lead Toward Higher Costs, More Severe Wildfire, Christopher Dicus

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

No abstract provided.

Challenges To Educating The Next Generation Of Wildland Fire Professionals In The United States, Leda N. Kobziar, Monique E. Rocca, Christopher Dicus, Chad Hoffman, Neil Sugihara, Andrea E. Thode, J. Morgan Varner, Penelope Morgan

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

Over the last 20 years, the duties of US fire professionals have become more complex and risk laden because of fuel load accumulation, climate change, and the increasing wildland-urban interface. Incorporation of fire use and ecological principles into fire management policies has further expanded the range of expertise and knowledge required of fire professionals. The educational and training systems that produce these professionals, however, have been slow to organize an updated and coordinated approach to preparing future practitioners. Consequently, aspiring fire professionals face numerous challenges related to scheduling conflicts, limited higher education programs in fire science, lack of coordination between …

Complete Findings: Survey On Public Opinions And Attitudes On Outdoor Recreation In California: 2009, Arnold Schwarzeneggar, Mike Chrisman, Ruth Coleman, William W. Hendricks

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

A Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP) is required of every state in order to be eligible for grants from the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act. The LWCF Act requires the SCORP to include the following: a) the name of the state agency with authority to act for California in dealing with the Secretary of the Interior for the purposes of the LWCF Act, b) an evaluation of the demand for and supply of the outdoor recreation resources and facilities in the state, c) a program for the implementation of the Plan, d) certification by the governor that ample …

Water Embodied In Bioethanol In The United States, Yi-Wen Chiu, Brian Walseth, Sangwon Suh

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

Prior studies have estimated that a liter of bioethanol requires 263−784 L of water from corn farm to fuel pump, but these estimates have failed to account for the widely varied regional irrigation practices. By using regional time-series agricultural and ethanol production data in the U.S., this paper estimates the state-level field-to-pump water requirement of bioethanol across the nation. The results indicate that bioethanol’s water requirements can range from 5 to 2138 L per liter of ethanol depending on regional irrigation practices. The results also show that as the ethanol industry expands to areas that apply more irrigated water than …

A Semi-Analytical Solution For Transient Streaming Potentials Associated With Confined Aquifer Pumping Tests, B. Malama, A. Revil, K. L. Kuhlman

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

We consider the transient streaming potential response due to pumping from a confined aquifer through a fully penetrating line sink. Confined aquifer flow is assumed to occur without fluid leakage from the confining units. However, since confining units are typically clayey, and hence more electrically conductive than the aquifer, they are treated as non-insulating in our three-layer conceptual model. We develop a semi-analytical solution for the transient streaming potentials response of the aquifer and the confining units to pumping of the aquifer. The solution is fitted to field measurements of streaming potentials associated with an aquifer test performed at a …