NSF East Asia and Pacific Summer Institute for FY 2012 in Japan

Beckman-Ross Natalie D, Fort Collins CO

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds Natalie Dolores Beckman-Ross of Colorado State University to conduct a research project, entitled "Comparing natural wood transport in mountain streams of Hokkaido and Colorado," during the summer of 2012 at the Department of Forest Science Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Hokkaido. The host scientist is Dr. Futoshi Nakamura. The Intellectual Merit of the research project is to add to current understanding of wood transport, log jam formation and carbon storage in headwater streams by collecting and analyzing field data from sites in Hokkaido and comparing it to previously collected data from Colorado's Front Range. The research includes quantifying the relationship between instream wood and carbon export from headwater streams, informing the management of stream ecosystems, and determining the applicability of a statistical model based on physical characteristics to a new stream and forest system. If similar factors are shown to control the wood dynamics of headwater streams in Colorado and Japan, it is possible that those factors can be used to remotely estimate stream carbon flux for other mountainous areas. The Broader Impacts of an EAPSI fellowship include providing the Fellow a first-hand research experience outside the U.S.; an introduction to the science, science policy, and scientific infrastructure of the respective location; and an orientation to the society, culture and language. These activities meet the NSF goal to educate for international collaborations early in the career of its scientists, engineers, and educators, thus ensuring a globally aware U.S. scientific workforce.