This project aims to engage students from alabama a & m university in research and career enhancing activities that will prepare them to be future professionals in forestry

The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded Alabama A & M University $600,000 on June 1, 2026, under the 1890 Institution Capacity Building Grants program (CFDA 10.216) to develop forestry education and research capacity for undergraduate students through performance ending May 31, 2030.

The award funds two integrated objectives: classroom and field training in forest data science, and development of analytical tools for forest demographic analysis. Alabama A & M will deliver technical and experiential instruction in forest inventories, dendrochronology, LiDAR, optical remote sensing, GIS-based analysis, and data science. Six students per year will participate in a spring semester internship preparing them for summer research internships at collaborating institutions including the Jones Center at Ichauway, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Nature Conservancy, Harvard Forest, and the Smithsonian Institution. Students will gain hands-on field experience collecting tree measurements, dendrochronological samples, terrestrial LiDAR, and hyperspectral imagery at the Alabama A & M Research Site, part of the Smithsonian Institution's Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO) Network. The program aims to bridge classroom knowledge with professional research techniques, strengthening student competitiveness for careers in forestry and forest science.

Work is performed in Normal and Huntsville, Alabama.

We have two primary objectives: (1) education - enhance training opportunities for all students in data science relating to forest habitats; and (2) research - develop tools for integrated forest demographic analysis. Education will be facilitated by technical and experiential learning in forestry to build students' capacities in emerging techniques, more specifically in forest inventories, dendrochronology, lidar, and optical remote sensing, GIS-based data analysis and data science. Research in this project will focus on understanding the forest architecture based on tree-level sampling and large-scale image analysis. Students will be instructed in field techniques such as collecting tree measurements, dendrochronological samples terrestrial lidar and hyper-spectral images, as well as developing analytical skills in processing and interpreting the data associated with remote sensing analyses. The main goal is to bridge the GAP between classroom knowledge and hands-on research techniques and experiences targeted toward students, making them more competitive when considering continuing careers in these areas. We will expose the students to immersive learning at the alabama a & m research site that is part of the smithsonian institution'sforest global earth observatory (forestgeo) network. Six students per year will participate in a spring semester internship to prepare them for a summer research internship with collaborating institutions (the jones center at ichauway, OAK ridge national laboratory, the nature conservancy, harvard forest, and smithsonian)