The Spring 2015 Request for Seed Grant Proposals in Support of Critical Zone Science in the Susquehanna Shale Hills CZO has resulted in the successful funding of one project. 

  The proposal "Modeling fine-scale above ground carbon storage using LiDAR: A comparison across two watersheds" by PI Kristen Brubaker, Ph.D, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, will measure and calculate fine-scale above ground carbon pools on both the Shale Hill and Garner Run watersheds, and link those calculations to spatially explicit LiDAR-based models of the individual components of carbon, including living trees, coarse woody debris (CWD), and shrub/understory. These models should facilitate the exploration of several research questions, including how carbon storage changes throughout a watershed—particularly with regard to landform—and how carbon storage may differ between shale and sandstone dominated watersheds.  The project will train 2 undergraduate students in ecological field techniques; thus producing calculated biomass and carbon pool estimates for both the watersheds.  This award was funded for $19,927 with the period of performance from 7/1/2015 - 6/30/16.