by Anna Kottkamp-Hoard, Science and Conservation Specialist
How to (Seriously) Read a Scientific Paper
If you haven’t read a scientific paper before (or it’s been a minute!) here’s a handy resource from the American Association for the Advancement of Science to help you through.
How do you measure a year? For our Science Team, that evaluation often includes tallying up the articles that we helped get published in scientific journals.
These publications are an indicator of how science informs our conservation activities and represent one way that we share learnings with conservation practitioners and scientists around the world.
Our publications are the result of many years of close work with our collaborators to advance the research from just a tiny hatchling of an idea to leaving the nest as a fully fledged journal publication.
Below are a few highlights of publications from 2023 and what is ahead in 2024.
The lifecycle of a salmon and a research idea have a lot in common. This graphic shows how each starts small and comes to fruition. Illustration: Erica Sloniker / TNC.
Publication Highlights from 2023
Did our forest restoration treatments achieve our goals by accelerating the development of old growth characteristics? Research published by TNC scientists, Dr. Michael Case and Dr. Ailene Ettinger, with UW collaborator and recent PhD graduate, Dr. Kavya Pradhan, helps answer that question. Hint: yes… and it’s complicated. Read the full paper published in Conservation Science and Practice at this link: Forest restoration thinning accelerates development of old-growth characteristics in the coastal Pacific Northwest.
When a tree falls in the forest, what happens to the snowpack? Research by Dr. Emily Howe and collaborators from Natural Systems Design, UW Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Seattle Public Utilities ask that question. As improved forest management for fire resilience leads to less dense forests in the Eastern Cascades, researchers examined how these forest gaps might influence freshwater resilience. Their work quantifies how forest gaps influence snowpack depth and duration, finding that gaps on north facing slopes offer a promising adaptation technique to promote water supplies in the face of climate change. Catch up with Dr. Howe on her research in this article from Nature.org, and read the full paper from Frontiers in Water at Forest gap effects on snow storage in the transitional climate of the Eastern Cascade Range, Washington, United States.
Protecting communities and carbon from forest fires. New research from an ongoing collaboration of 18 scientists, including Dr. Michael Case and scientists from many TNC offices across the country, explores ways to protect communities and carbon from forest fires by mapping the opportunity ‘hot spots’ where proactive forest management offers the most benefits for people & climate. This article has already been picked up by 38 news outlets, indicating the broad appeal of prioritizing equitable, targeted solutions to reduce wildfire risk to communities and carbon. Future work from this collaborative will bring new carbon analysis to answer additional questions at the nexus of humans, wildfire, and climate. View the maps in Environmental Research Letters at Identifying opportunity hot spots for reducing the risk of wildfire-caused carbon loss in western UW conifer forests.
How fishing communities view climate vulnerablity. Interdisciplinary research published back in February examines how fishing communities on the west coast view climate vulnerability and the impacts of climate change. This work learns directly from fishers’ lived experiences while digging into the ways that beliefs and economic factors shape their views. Their findings will help managers and policy-makers address the barriers to climate adaption and work towards more climate-resilient fishing communities. This study was led by Dr. Laura Nelson, now a post-doctoral researcher with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and is part of an ongoing research series led by former TNC Science Director Dr. Phillip Levin (now directing the National Nature Assessment) and UW professor Dr. Alison C. Cullen, with support from additional co-authors including TNC Marine Conservation Manager Molly Bogeberg. As with many other research projects this year, this research was made possible by the strong partnership between TNC and the University of Washington. Review the data yourself in PLOS Climate at Understanding perceptions of climate vulnerability to inform more effective adaptation in coastal communities.
Nature Conservancy scientists doing field work. Photo: Hannah Letinich.
Our research this past year has taken us from the mucky, miraculous estuaries of the Puget Sound to the budding green infrastructure projects of neighborhoods in South Tacoma to the towering, pine-scented forests of Eastern Washington --- and beyond. All this research wouldn’t be possible without our strong collaborations with many partners around the region and the globe.
Looking forward
We have even more science to look forward to sharing in 2024 --- an upcoming publication from the Greening Research in Tacoma collaboration, continued research on wildlife at Ellsworth Creek preserve and natural climate solutions, and more! Keep an eye out on our Science page, our social media, and on the Cool Green Science Blog for updates!
