Department of Geographical Sciences PhD candidate Wenli Huang was recently awarded an Ann G. Wylie Dissertation Fellowship by the University of Maryland Graduate School.  The purpose of the Wylie Fellowship is to ensure fellows devote their full attention to their dissertation research.  Wenli will receive a $10,000 stipend, $800 towards health insurance, candidacy tuition remission and a credit for mandatory fees for the Fall 2014 semester.  

This Fellowship will support Wenli in the completion of her dissertation research on “Monitoring and Assessing Forest Aboveground Biomass from Disturbance and Recovery by a combined use of LiDAR, SAR and Ecosystem Model.” Monitoring forest aboveground biomass (AGB) over time is important for a better understanding of the terrestrial ecosystem carbon budget. Different forest management practices have been implemented for North American forests during the last few decades to move towards sustainable wood production and a healthy forest ecosystem. Yet the loss of carbon from forest disturbance and the gain from post-disturbance recovery have not been well-assessed. Results from this research will significantly improve our knowledge concerning waveform LiDAR and L-band Radar’s capability in monitoring and assessment of the net carbon budget from forest disturbance and post-disturbance recovery, and improving the understanding of the mechanism's human impact on carbon sinks.  

Congratulations, Wenli!