A prescribed burn in California from Dr.
Kobziar's dissertation-related research. Photo/ L. Kobziar |
SNRE Fire Ecologist Burns a New Path
By Elisa Livengood
The School of Natural Resources
and Environment welcomes Dr. Leda Kobziar as the first joint
appointment faculty member for SNRE and the School of Forest
Resources and Economics. Dr. Kobziar comes to UF to establish
a program in the burgeoning field of fire ecology. The use
of fire in natural
areas has become one of the biggest issues of concern across
the country especially in the forest and scrub land of Florida.
"I became interested in fire ecology after going through the basic wildland fire fighting training course and I was hooked. Once you see fire in action, you instantly come to understand how important it is to the ecosystem," Kobziar said.
Dr. Leda Kobziar has an extensive
background in forestry, natural resources and fire ecology. Her research
interests include measurement of the efficacy of fuels, reduction and
prescribed burning treatments in forest restoration, predicting and quantifying
fire behavior and severity, determining historical fire regimes, as well
as relationships between fire and soil carbon efflux. Another facet of
her research interests include fire modeling and the feedback effects
between fire and hydrologic issues, such as how fire influences the quality
and quantity of water output from an ecosystem. Kobziar intends to begin answering
these questions and concerns on fire management in Florida and was
recently awarded the IFAS Innovation in Research Grant for a project
in the
Ocala National Forest. The project is investigating prescribed burning
and wildfire,
and their effects on tourism, plant mortality and regeneration, as
well as the possible management implications.
"The creation of this project was
to take an interdisciplinary approach to a management question; the question
being how fire is used to manage an ecosystem and if this is a viable
management option in the wilderness areas of Florida. To answer this
question a number
of different ecosystem components have to be addressed and an interdisciplinary
team of researchers was needed to examine the
many facets," Kobziar said.
Dr. Kobziar's students conducting a prescribed burn in the Austin
Cary Memorial Forest. Photo/L.Kobziar |
"The interdisciplinary approach
to solving any kind of natural resource question has to take into
account the human element. In terms of the fire ecology, this often
involves smoke
impact on human populations, and is something I would like to better
understand. To address the human element of the project, we are
working with an ecotourism expert,
who will examine people's responses to fire in wilderness areas.
These wilderness areas are supposed to be natural, scenic,
and untouched by
man, however
there is no way we can eliminate anthropogenic influence on any
land anymore, especially given climate change and the implications
of fire
suppression," Kobziar
said.
One of SNRE's missions is to foster an interdisciplinary research approach with our faculty and students and Dr. Kobziar hopes to continue to incorporate this method of analyzing problems and research into her program. There are often challenges associated with conducting such research and Kobziar believes that working through these challenges can provide an opportunity for the professional growth of all those involved. "It's a new experience for me to work on an interdisciplinary team, and it has been nothing but exciting," says Kobziar. "The most important thing is to examine the ultimate overarching question that you want to answer and then evaluate what aspects can be parsed out into different disciplines. These questions do not just involve one particular discipline especially with regard to natural resources, so it is important to recognize the necessity of that interdisciplinary approach," said Kobziar.
Dr. Leda Kobziar Assistant Professor, Fire Science and Forest Conservation.
Contact:
Dr. Leda Kobziar
lkobziar@ufl.edu |
Dr. Kobziar is currently teaching Fire in Natural Resource Management, Fire Modeling and will teach Introduction to Forest Resources and Conservation this summer. She hopes to expand her curriculum to include a graduate level course that would focus on special topics in interdisciplinary ecology.
Dr. Kobziar received her doctorate from U.C. Berkeley in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management. For more information on Dr. Kobziar's research or graduate school opportunities see:
http://sfrc.ufl.edu/faculty/kobziar/
Publication Links:
-Effects of Fuel Treatments
-Wildfire Burn Patterns
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