The mcintire-stennis (MS) program supports forest management research to improve the sustainability of the nation's public and private forests for economic development, environmental protection, and…

The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded Central State University $219,640 under the Cooperative Forestry Research (McIntire-Stennis) program on October 1, 2025, for oak silviculture research and workforce development in southeastern Ohio through September 30, 2027.

CSU will conduct forest management research across three nested geographic scales—statewide, a 17-county oak management priority forest area, and the Hocking Plateau Shared Stewardship Project—in collaboration with the Ohio Interagency Forestry Team, which includes the US Forest Service, NRCS, Ohio State University, and ODNR. The project deliverables include creating an integrated inventory of oak silviculture practices and treatments, developing a training manual for adaptive oak management to address ecological change stressors, conducting forest biomass estimation using remote sensing and geospatial techniques, modeling watershed-scale forest health and water quality through predictive modeling, monitoring and managing forest pests and diseases, and assessing biodiversity in forest landscapes as affected by land use and ecological change. Dr. Jessica Hartshorn, hired as Research Associate Professor of Forestry, will lead the research program and train undergraduate students to build a forestry workforce for the forestry and forest products manufacturing industries. The program also supports expansion of the Ohio Silvah Oak Management Software by integrating new knowledge from remotely sensed data.

Performance occurs in Wilberforce, Ohio.

The mcintire-stennis (MS) program supports forest management research to improve the sustainability of the nation's public and private forests for economic development, environmental protection, and wildlife habitat preservation. Among the various native tree species, oaks support a multibillion-dollar commercial timber industry nationwide, and OAK forests have dominated southeast ohio for thousands of years. Central state university (CSU) will continue research in the forested landscapes of southeastern ohio to improve OAK silviculture through forest management, supporting healthy ecosystems and regenerating OAK forests. CSU will work closely with the ohio interagency forestry team, made up of leaders in forest management and research, including experts from the US forest service, nrcs, the ohio state university, and odnr. The MS project will follow the forestry team's model of working at three nested scales: statewide, a 17-county OAK management priority forest area, and the hocking plateau shared stewardship project. Specifically, this project involve creating an integrated inventory of OAK silviculture practices including treatments and monitoring, developing a training manual for adaptive OAK management practices to tackle ecological change stressors, forest biomass estimation using advanced remote sensing and geospatial techniques, modeling watershed scale forest health and water quality through predictive modeling, monitoring and managing forest pest and diseases and assessing biodiversity in forest landscapes as impacted by land use and ecological change. Recently, CSU hired DR. Jessica hartshorn as the research associate professor of forestry, who will lead forestry research and train undergraduate students to develop a forestry workforce for the forestry and forest products manufacturing industries. The MS program at CSU also aims to support the expansion of the ohio silvah OAK management software by integrating new knowledge generated from remotely sensed biomass estimation and the watershed-scale modeling objectives of this project into silvah. The research outputs and outcomes will be applied through training for private forest landowners to support effective forest management, as well as through targeted implementation of conservation practices, with support from nrcs programs such as equip and CSP. The MS program will focus on forest management practices in natural forests, including site selection, propagation, harvesting, and post-harvest technology for various agroforestry crop species, medicinal plants, and botanicals to derive non-timber forest products. Research on supply chain and market analysis for agroforestry crops will be conducted to diversify forest production systems and promote the economic development of less-represented forest landowners in the appalachian region of ohio. To address nifa's strategic goal of combating ecological change, research will be initiated to understand below-ground carbon dynamics in the forested landscapes, which will inform earth systems modeling at national and global scales. The knowledge generated from this study on forest soil carbon sequestration will aid policymakers and decision-makers in identifying effective ecological change mitigation and adaptive strategies in forested landscapes. Additionally, CSU will initiate research projects on urban forestry topics, including the effective management of urban forests, managing pest and disease pressure in urban forests, and quantifying ecosystem benefits from urban trees. One of the deliverables of the urban forestry project would be a GIS-based city tree inventory dataset. The urban forestry research will provide tools critical for the effective management of urban trees, including those affected by storms, pests, and disease-related failures.