Restoring Bottomland
Hardwood Forests
Project Team
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Collaborating Investigators
Nana Tian
Assistant Professor
Project PI
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- Activity 3: Lead on carbon quantification
- Activity 4.2: Collaborating on economic evaluation and analysis
- Activity 5: Collaborating on outreach activities
- Activity 5.2: Lead on survey design and conduction
- Background Expertise
Dr. Tian is an Assistant Professor at the University of Arkansas at Monticello, and her research primarily focuses on combining human dimension and economic theories to answer natural resource management issues. Dr. Tian’s expertise is in natural resource economics and policy as well as forest management. She has served as PI on 3 grant-funded projects, has more than 30 peer-reviewed articles, and contributed to the scientific and education community for over 5 years.
Douglas C. Osborne
Professor
Project Co-PI and Project Coordinator
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- Activity 1.1: Collaborating on landowners’ recruitment
- Activity 1.2: Collaborating on demonstration site establishment
- Activity 2.2: Lead on waterfowl use of climate-smart plantings
- Activity 5: Collaborating on outreach activities
- Background Expertise
Dr. Osborne is a Professor of Wildlife Management for the University of Arkansas, and Graduate Director of the Five Oaks Ag Research & Education Center. Dr. Osborne’s expertise is in applied waterfowl ecology and wetland habitat management. He has served as PI on 10 grant-funded projects, has 25 peer-reviewed articles, contributed to 5 land management field days and workshops, and contributed to the scientific and education community for over 15 years.
Matthew H. Pelkki
Professor
Project Co-PI
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- Activity 2.1: Lead on forest health inventory
- Activity 3.1: Collaborating on carbon quantification
- Activity 4.1: Collaborating on potential market development
- Activity 5: Collaborating on outreach activities
- Background Expertise
Dr. Pelkki is the Director of the Arkansas Forest Resources Center and the George H. Clippert Endowed Chair of Forestry at the School Forestry, Agriculture, and Natural Resources (CFANR) at the University of Arkansas-Monticello (UAM). He joined the CFANR faculty in 2001, and teach courses in economics, forest inventory, wood products, and forest management and had published more than 100 scientific articles and been part of research projects totaling more than 5 million dollars.
Jianbang Gan
Professor
Project Co-PI
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- Activity 3.4: Lead on carbon credit allocation
- Activity 4: Lead on economic valuation and analysis
- Activity 5: Collaborating on outreach activities
- Background Expertise
Dr. Gan is a Professor of Forest Economics and Management in the Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology at Texas A&M University and a faculty affiliate of Texas A&M Energy Institute. His expertise includes forest/natural resource economics, forest conservation, disturbance impacts and response, and bioeconomic development. He has conducted collaborative research in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Oceania; published more than 100 scientific articles; and been part of research projects totaling 35 million dollars. He has also accumulated over 25 years of undergraduate and graduate teaching experience.
Kathleen Bridges
Assistant Professor
Project Co-PI
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- Activity 3.1: Lead on soil carbon quantification
- Activity 5: Collaborating on outreach activities
- Background Expertise
Dr. Bridges is the Assistant Professor of Agronomy for CFANR at UAM. She has worked in soil science for seven years with experience in both soil carbon, soil microbiology, and soil health in both row crop and pasture systems. Four of those years were located in the Mississippi Delta. She has worked in extension for more than three years and developed agricultural educational programming based on unbiased scientific research.
Henry English
Extension Specialist IV
Project Co-PI
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- Activity 1: Lead on landowners’ (especially small and minority) recruitment
- Activity 5: Collaborating on outreach activities
- Background Expertise
Dr. English is the Director of the Small Farm Program at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB). He is also the project director for the UAPB “Keeping It in the Family (KIITF)” Forestry Project. He is responsible for providing education and technical assistance to socially disadvantaged, small, and limited resource producers in 22 counties in eastern Arkansas and 10 counties in southwest Arkansas. Dr. English has provided education and technical assistance in the use of different USDA Programs, vegetable crops, row crops, and livestock production including marketing for more than 30 years. He has been part of research and education projects totaling more than 10 million dollars.
Advisory Board
Michael Blazier
Dean of the College of Forestry, Agriculture, and Natural Resources
Advisory board chair
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Dr. Blazier hold dual administrative roles with the University of Arkansas system. He serves as the Dean of the College of Forestry, Agriculture, and Natural Resources, in which supports faculty and staff in educating the next generation of foresters, farmers, ranchers, and natural resource management professionals. He also serves as the Director of the Arkansas Forest Resources Center of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. In the Director role, he supports faculty in their diverse research to improve the knowledge base of the abundant natural resources of Arkansas and beyond. As Director he also supports our extension faculty in their efforts to convey research-based information to landowners and professionals to improve their forest, farm, and wildlife management.
Justin Mallett
Registered Forester
Advisory board member
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Justin Mallett graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Forestry and an Associate of Science in Land Surveying Technology from University of Arkansas-Monticello in 2010. He has been a Registered Forester under the Arkansas Board of Registration for Foresters since 2013. He was a County Forester for the Arkansas Department of Agriculture-Forestry Division for over 9 years. Since he has left the state government, he started his own company, Cypress Creek Forestry Services, where he manages timberland and assists private landowners, as well as doing consulting for UAPB’s Keep it in the Family Program. He has been an American Tree Farm Inspector since 2013 and is the current Vice Chair of Arkansas Tree Farm Committee.
Joe Friend
Forester, UAPB Small Farm Program
Advisory board member
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Joe Friend is an extension associate and forester for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Small Farm Program. He retired from the Arkansas Forestry Commission in 2014 with 34&1/2 years of service and has worked with UAPB since 2016. Joe is a SAF certified Forester and Arkansas Registered Forester. Joe serves on the Arkansas Forestry Association board of directors and is a SAF Fellow.
Charley Williams
Conservation Consultant, UAPB Small Farm Program
Advisory board member
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Charley Williams is an alumnus of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, graduating with a degree in Agronomy. Immediately upon graduation, Charley began work with the United States Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, now Natural Resources Conservation Service. After 44 years of service, retirement began in January 2019. Charley held numerous positions during employment including Soil Conservationist, District Conservationist, Resource Conservation and Development Coordinator and StrikeForce Coordinator. In each position, a focus was to aid in the application of resource conservation practices to protect the nations soil and water resources. Charley established TaskONE LLC in 2019 and now works as a Conservation Consultant with the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Small Farm Program.