Jason Johnston
University of Maine at Presque Isle, ME·Earth & Environmental Science
Maine's forests support its economy and many rural and Indigenous communities. Building research that strengthens this forest-based economy, while helping communities handle environmental and social change, is the goal of Maine-FOREST.
- Fields
Earth & Environmental Science
Materials Science
Social Science
- Topics
forest economy
forestry
cellulose nanofibers
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jul 2028
What they work on
- Apply AI and machine learning methods to assess core forest ecosystem features across broad areas and time spans in Maine.
- Advance the characterization and use of cellulosic nanofibers, tiny fibers derived from wood, in an advanced manufacturing context.
- Use culturally inclusive, participatory systems dynamics modeling with rural and Tribal communities to strengthen their response to social and ecological threats and opportunities.
- Study the program's collaborative culture and cohort-based student engagement to learn how convergent research teams function.
More about the research
This is a statewide collaborative incubator led by the University of Maine, with partner colleges and nonprofits. The University of Maine at Presque Isle is one of its primarily undergraduate partners. The grant text does not describe this campus's specific role.
Why it matters
Maine's forest industries and the rural and Tribal communities that depend on them could benefit from this work. It may yield new wood-based nanofiber products for manufacturing and AI tools to monitor forest ecosystems. It also plans a public dashboard of forest, economic and workforce data to inform planning in natural resource-dependent communities.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Matthew Jull
University of Virginia, VA·Engineering
Assess how thawing permafrost changes the earthquake response of soils and foundations, combining monitoring of key Alaskan infrastructure with centrifuge physical modeling.
Lani Tsinnajinnie
University of New Mexico, NM·Earth & Environmental Science
Work with Indigenous and rural communities in New Mexico and Oklahoma, through a co-production process, to identify information needs about the land-water-air system under extreme weather.
Vera Kuklina
University of Maryland, MD·Social Science
Identify and inventory the ice, snow and permafrost 'frozen commons' recognized by Indigenous and local communities and regional stakeholders, and describe how each is governed within its cultural setting.
The school
University of Maine at Presque Isle: 1 labs on PI Pages.
Reach out
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