The GES Department is proud to highlight one of our faculty, Dr. Matthew Fagan, for his involvement in a new study in the Nature journal. The study looks at where natural (not human managed) forest regeneration is occurring to help inform restoration goals and minimize the steep cost of managed restoration efforts. Dr. Fagan utilized satellite imagery to identify areas in the global tropical region where there was a natural increase in tree cover over time. From there, a predictive model was constructed to determine areas where forest regeneration is most likely to occur. Ultimately, up to 215 million hectares of land were identified in the study, enough land to store 23.4 gigatons of carbon with a residence time of 30 years.
The article in Nature can be accessed through the following link:
You may also view the UMBC Stories page that discusses the article: