Forest Ecosystem Modeler, Spatial Informatics Group

Charles leads the development and implementation of vegetation scenarios (fuels management and drought dieback) such that they can feed into the long-term wildfire projection modeling frameworks being developed by the Climate Change & Fire Projections Team. Charles specializes in applied forest management, with a focus on the provision of ecosystem services by forested landscapes. He has expertise in forest ecology, fire ecology, and plant physiology, with formal training in statistics and geospatial analysis. His research interests include understanding the links between forest recreation and climate change, which include both direct impacts from changing weather and indirect impacts from changing forest composition. He has worked on forest conservation projects for a number of state and federal agencies. Charles holds a doctorate in Forestry from North Carolina State University, a master’s in Forestry and Environmental Management from Duke University, and a bachelor’s in Economics from Wake Forest University.