M.S. Assistantship Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics in Developing Bioenergy Agroforest Plantations
The School of Forest Resources, University of Arkansas, Monticello has a M.S. Assistantship available beginning in the summer or fall of 2010. The assistantship is half time and carries a stipend of $15,000 per year plus tuition. The assistantship will work on a project developing cottonwood/switchgrass agroforest systems for supplying cellulosic bioenergy feedstocks in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley (LMAV). The intent of this project is to develop a range of agroforest systems on marginal agriculture lands that can produce cellulosic feedstocks as well as ecosystems services such as wildlife habitat, carbon sequestration, nutrient retention, and soil sustainability. Funding for this project is through the Department of Transpiration and US Department of Agriculture and is a coordinated effort between scientists in Arkansas and Louisiana. The MS assistantship will focus on soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics in these developing agroforests compared to that in traditional agriculture ecosystems that commonly occur on marginal soils in the LMAV. The student will investigate these dynamics in relation to carbon sequestration and nitrogen retention by these crops. Details on the project can be accessed at http://www.afrc.uamont.edu/liechtyh/Bioenergy%20Agroforest.htm Contact Dr. Hal Liechty, SFR-UAM, PO Box 3468, Monticello, AR 71656; (870- 460-1452); liec...@uamont.edu. For more information graduate programs at School of Forest Resources http://www.afrc.uamont.edu/sfr/graduate_education.htm or Dr. Liechty http://www.afrc.uamont.edu/liechtyh/
