Justin Baker

The Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS) Center is a convergence research hub for addressing the fundamental challenges associated with phosphorus sustainability. The vision of STEPS is to develop new scientific and technological solutions to regulating, recovering and reusing phosphorus that can readily be adopted by society through fundamental research conducted by a broad, highly interdisciplinary team. Key outcomes include new atomic-level knowledge of phosphorus interactions with engineered and natural materials, new understanding of phosphorus mobility at industrial, farm, and landscape scales, and prioritization of best management practices and strategies drawn from diverse stakeholder perspectives. Ultimately, STEPS will provide new scientific understanding, enabling new technologies, and transformative improvements in phosphorus sustainability.

The Southern Forest Resource Assessment Consortium (SOFAC) will develop forest sector market models for application to forest resource assessments in the South, U.S., and the World. SOFAC will integrate currently available forest resource data from the USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program and economic theory to model timber supply and demand in the South by local area. SOFAC economic models will allow use of exogenous or endogenous inputs about supply, demand, land use change, and landowner behavior in the analysis of timber and forest land markets and management. SOFAC modelers and members will be able to use the SOFAC suite of models and research to simultaneously project timber inventory, supply, and prices for a variety of regions and a variety of timber products across the South, the U.S., and the World. SOFAC will foster discussion among modelers and members about the appropriate inputs and assumptions in forest projection models and employ these in building timber supply models and timber supply scenarios that represent likely conditions. SOFAC will continue cooperative university-industry-public agency cooperation in southern and national forest sector economic modeling. SOFAC will enhance graduate instruction in forest economics and modeling in the South.

Whereas, the parties of this Agreement intend to join together in a cooperative effort to support a SOUTHERN FOREST RESOURCE ASSESSMENT CONSORTIUM (hereinafter called "CONSORTIUM") at the University that will develop forest sector market models for application to forest resource assessments in the South, U. S. and the world; foster interactions between industry and university researchers; and facilitate further research cooperation between the parties. SOFAC will build timber supply models based on prior efforts by the modelers at NC State University and cooperators at the USDA Forest Service, Research Triangle Institute, and University of Georgia. SOFAC will enhance existing multiple products timber supply modeling that has been developed by NC State modelers in the Multiple Product Subregional Timber Supply ( MP SRTS) model. SOFAC will integrate and update endogenous land use change and reforestation decision components in the ongoing MP SRTS framework. SOFAC will develop new statistical methods and programs to use the annual FIA SAFIS data, which will form the basis for timber inventory status and projections in the United States. SOFAC will maintain data on comparative investment returns to plantation and natural forests in the Americas, and integrate these results into estimates of impacts on trade and forest plantations throughout the Americas. SOFAC will meet annually with industrial and public members and with scientific cooperators to discuss model enhancements and appropriate assumptions for use in modeling each year. SOFAC will discuss current issues and applications for the economic models each year, and the members will select appropriate applications each year. SOFAC will report in the research program each year, and publish periodic public reports stemming from its analyses and modeling. SOFAC will provide funds for graduate research assistantships and train graduate students in forest economics, who can then work for private firms or public agencies in timber supply and forest economics analyses.

There is an emerging need to further refine and apply food-energy-water (FEW) nexus modeling techniques that integrate agricultural land use, hydrologic systems, and energy systems to evaluate the long-term implications of emerging policy priorities such as renewable energy development (that can be land resource intensive) and groundwater conservation initiatives (that can limit agricultural production opportunities). This research will use modeling techniques that integrate agricultural land use, energy generation, and hydrologic systems to project future FEW nexus relationships with focused case study applications in the Central Valley, California (United States), and Jing-Jin-Ji region (China). A harmonized scenario analysis approach will be developed to evaluate potential synergies and trade-offs of infrastructure development and policy priorities. Results from policy simulations will be used to inform an analysis of potential solutions to address future resource limitations, and spatial-temporal implications of increased resource competition on agricultural landscapes. In the U.S. case study region, modeling efforts will contribute to emerging policy dialog by offering a more detailed depiction of land use systems in the Central Valley, including an explicit representation of the economic opportunity costs of agricultural land displacement under new policies (e.g., California’s Zero Carbon Policy and the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act) and a spatially disaggregated perspective on renewable energy siting considerations. Additional simulation analysis will test alternative solutions to nexus challenges in each region, including groundwater storage set-asides, new water trading schemes to assess whether these solutions are resilient to future socioeconomic, policy, and environmental conditions

The Southern Forest Resource Assessment Consortium (SOFAC) will develop forest sector market models for application to forest resource assessments in the South, U.S., and the World. SOFAC will integrate currently available forest resource data from the USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program and economic theory to model timber supply and demand in the South by local area. SOFAC economic models will allow use of exogenous or endogenous inputs about supply, demand, land use change, and landowner behavior in the analysis of timber and forest land markets and management. SOFAC modelers and members will be able to use the SOFAC suite of models and research to simultaneously project timber inventory, supply, and prices for a variety of regions and a variety of timber products across the South, the U.S., and the World. SOFAC will foster discussion among modelers and members about the appropriate inputs and assumptions in forest projection models and employ these in building timber supply models and timber supply scenarios that represent likely conditions. SOFAC will continue cooperative university-industry-public agency cooperation in southern and national forest sector economic modeling. SOFAC will enhance graduate instruction in forest economics and modeling in the South.

The Southern Forest Resource Assessment Consortium (SOFAC) will develop forest sector market models for application to forest resource assessments in the South, U.S., and the World. SOFAC will integrate currently available forest resource data from the USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program and economic theory to model timber supply and demand in the South by local area. SOFAC economic models will allow use of exogenous or endogenous inputs about supply, demand, land use change, and landowner behavior in the analysis of timber and forest land markets and management. SOFAC modelers and members will be able to use the SOFAC suite of models and research to simultaneously project timber inventory, supply, and prices for a variety of regions and a variety of timber products across the South, the U.S., and the World. SOFAC will foster discussion among modelers and members about the appropriate inputs and assumptions in forest projection models and employ these in building timber supply models and timber supply scenarios that represent likely conditions. SOFAC will continue cooperative university-industry-public agency cooperation in southern and national forest sector economic modeling. SOFAC will enhance graduate instruction in forest economics and modeling in the South.

The Southern Forest Resource Assessment Consortium (SOFAC) will develop forest sector market models for application to forest resource assessments in the South, U.S., and the World. SOFAC will integrate currently available forest resource data from the USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program and economic theory to model timber supply and demand in the South by local area. SOFAC economic models will allow use of exogenous or endogenous inputs about supply, demand, land use change, and landowner behavior in the analysis of timber and forest land markets and management. SOFAC modelers and members will be able to use the SOFAC suite of models and research to simultaneously project timber inventory, supply, and prices for a variety of regions and a variety of timber products across the South, the U.S., and the World. SOFAC will foster discussion among modelers and members about the appropriate inputs and assumptions in forest projection models and employ these in building timber supply models and timber supply scenarios that represent likely conditions. SOFAC will continue cooperative university-industry-public agency cooperation in southern and national forest sector economic modeling. SOFAC will enhance graduate instruction in forest economics and modeling in the South.

The Southern Forest Resource Assessment Consortium (SOFAC) will develop forest sector market models for application to forest resource assessments in the South, U.S., and the World. SOFAC will integrate currently available forest resource data from the USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program and economic theory to model timber supply and demand in the South by local area. SOFAC economic models will allow use of exogenous or endogenous inputs about supply, demand, land use change, and landowner behavior in the analysis of timber and forest land markets and management. SOFAC modelers and members will be able to use the SOFAC suite of models and research to simultaneously project timber inventory, supply, and prices for a variety of regions and a variety of timber products across the South, the U.S., and the World. SOFAC will foster discussion among modelers and members about the appropriate inputs and assumptions in forest projection models and employ these in building timber supply models and timber supply scenarios that represent likely conditions. SOFAC will continue cooperative university-industry-public agency cooperation in southern and national forest sector economic modeling. SOFAC will enhance graduate instruction in forest economics and modeling in the South.

The Southern Forest Resource Assessment Consortium (SOFAC) will develop forest sector market models for application to forest resource assessments in the South, U.S., and the World. SOFAC will integrate currently available forest resource data from the USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program and economic theory to model timber supply and demand in the South by local area. SOFAC economic models will allow use of exogenous or endogenous inputs about supply, demand, land use change, and landowner behavior in the analysis of timber and forest land markets and management. SOFAC modelers and members will be able to use the SOFAC suite of models and research to simultaneously project timber inventory, supply, and prices for a variety of regions and a variety of timber products across the South, the U.S., and the World. SOFAC will foster discussion among modelers and members about the appropriate inputs and assumptions in forest projection models and employ these in building timber supply models and timber supply scenarios that represent likely conditions. SOFAC will continue cooperative university-industry-public agency cooperation in southern and national forest sector economic modeling. SOFAC will enhance graduate instruction in forest economics and modeling in the South.

Administrative Center Account