Abstract
This dissertation brings together three applied areas of inquiry: forest measurement, fire effects research, and adult-oriented teaching in natural resources and geography. Although these topics are distinct, they are connected by a common concern with how ecological systems are measured, how fire-related outcomes are interpreted, and how complex technical knowledge is translated into meaningful forms for practitioners and learners.
Chapter 2 compares continuous forest inventory (CFI) approaches with airborne laser scanning (ALS)-based digital inventory methods across more than 1,000 plot locations and about 611,000 acres. In this analysis, CFI estimated inventory volume 44% higher than ALS-derived inventory, highlighting how plot-based samples expanded across large, variable landscapes can substantially skew estimates of forest conditions.
Chapter 3 examines fire-induced mortality in two younger tree species and whether fire behavior and sapling traits improve prediction of mortality. Saplings were subjected to increasing levels of fire intensity and compared with existing mortality models. The findings showed species differences in immediate versus delayed mortality, while crown volume scorched and related metrics remained consistent predictors of fire-induced tree mortality.
Chapter 4 examines andragogy in two contrasting contexts: a senior-level engineering Capstone project and an online introductory physical geography laboratory course. In the Capstone setting, many of the conditions Knowles associated with adult learning were already built into the work, and students generally responded in ways consistent with those assumptions. In GEOG 1000L, the picture was much more mixed. Readiness for self-direction, persistence, and productive use of feedback varied widely, meaning those conditions had to be built much more deliberately through course design, onboarding, workflow clarity, and recoverability.
Taken together, these chapters show that improving understanding of dynamic forest ecosystems depends not only on how those systems are measured and studied, but also on how that knowledge is translated into applied learning and practice.