Notes from the Field

Biographies

August 10th, 2010 by Joanne Howl

Dr. Jon Ranson is an earth scientist specializing in radar, lidar and remote sensing. As NASA Goddard Space Flight Center DESDynI Lidar Project Scientist and Head of the NASA GFSC Biospheric Sciences Branch in Greenbelt, Maryland, he uses these tools for studying vegetation type and biomass in ecosystem research. Under his guidance the Branch is advancing the use of satellite technology to study the carbon cycle and ecosystem science. Dr. Ranson has participated in numerous field campaigns in the United States, Canada and Siberia to improve our ability to measure and monitor vegetated ecosystems from space. He enjoys hiking, birding, music and outdoor cooking.

Dr. Vyacheslav Kharuk , a forest ecologist, is Head of Forest Ecology and Monitoring Branch, Sukachev Forest Institute Siiberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science, in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia and Head of GIS Chair at Siberian Federal University. He has collaborated on several NASA- supported projects including projects in Maine, Canada and Siberia with Dr. Ranson and other NASA and USDA Forest Service scientists over the past several years. Dr. Kharuk leads the field and remote-sensing data activities at the Sukachev Institute and collaborates in data analysis research at NASA GSFC.

Dr. Bruce Cook is a physical scientist in the Biospheric Sciences Branch of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. He received a Ph.D. degree from the University of Minnesota in Natural Resources Science and Management, specializing in Assessment, Monitoring and Geospatial Analysis. He has also earned the M.S. in Soil Science and a B.S. in Biology. As a remote sensing scientist with expertise in biology, meteorology, and natural resource management, Bruce’s research has focused on the quantification of forest biomass, plant production, and exchange of CO2 and water vapor between the atmosphere and the biosphere using a combination of field measurements, computer simulations, and satellite imagery. The goal of his work has been to understand how terrestrial ecosystems function, to determine how these systems respond to land use and disturbance and to predict the influence and feedbacks of climate change on regional to global scales.

Dr. Sergei Im is a scientist at the V. N. Sukachev Institute of Forests, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia. He completed his undergraduate Studies at Krasnoyarsk University in 2001 and did his post-graduate studies at the V. N. Sukachev Isntitute. He is author and co-author of many scientific papers that have been published in Russian and International journals. His special interests are informatics such as GIS. Dr. Im is a skilled computer programmer in object-oriented C++ (Visual C++), a software language. He has a particular interest in microwave and optical remote sensing for analysis of land cover dynamics.

Dr. Ross Nelson is a physical scientist who works for the Biospheric Branch of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. He completed his B.S. in Forestry at the University of Maine, Orono, his Master’s in Forestry/Remote Sensing at Purdue University and earned his Ph.D. in Forestry/Biometrics at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He has several areas of research. One important area is the use of airborne laser data to characterize the forest canopy and estimate forest biomass, volume and carbon. He is also working to use moderate and high-resolution satellite data to monitor tropical and subtropical forest conversion. Ross is also developing statistical and image processing procedures for continental and sub-continental resource assessment using satellite imagery.

Pavel Oskorbin is a scientist at the V.N. Sukachev Institute of Forests, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia. He is a veteran of several field expeditions in the Siberian forest, working with field studies as well as logistics. Pasha was born on the coast of lake Baikal lake in 198. He graduated from Krasnoyarsk State Technological University. Now, he is working in V. N. Sukachev Institute of Forest SB RAS as a scientific associate with PhD. His field of interest is the forest stands structure dynamics. He is the participant of a number of international expeditions.

Maria Dvinskaya was born in Krasnoyarsk in 1981. She graduated from the Krasnoyarsk Stat Technical University, department of computer Sciences. In 2006 she completed her post-graduate studay at the Sukachev Forest Institute. She is currently a junior research assistant in the Sukachev Forest Institute, Laboratory of Forest Monitoring. She is interested in climate-driven changes in Siberian forests and in wildfire dynamics.

 

 

Dr. Joanne Howl received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine, Knoxville, Tennessee in 1987. She has practiced clinical veterinary medicine, worked in veterinary emergency response and is a writer and editor in the pet health and science fields. Currently she is employed as a Technical Writer for Sigma Space. This is her fourth year blogging for the Earth Observatory in support of NASA field campaigns.

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