Join us as we explore the ecology of southern pines, the reintroduction fire into fire-adapted ecosystems, and the legacy of prescribed fire and how the “old" links with the “new" with burning in longleaf pine. Participants will discover the importance of the Tall Timbers Private Lands Fire Initiative and hear about the cutting edge technology of the Southeast fire map, which helps with both on the ground management and research.
George Jensen, Southwest Georgia Prescribed Burn Association Coordinator, Tall Timbers Research Station & Land Conservancy
George Jensen,
originally from Savannah, Georgia, grew up in Berlin, Wisconsin. George
attended the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, where he studied Wildland
Fire Science and Conservation Biology under Dr. Ron Masters. During this time,
George had heavy involvement in the UWSP interagency fire crew, where he was an
officer for two years; George burned with the crew in Wisconsin, Oklahoma,
Chicago, Florida, Georgia, and, South Carolina. George also worked for the
federal government on a fuels module and helitack crew and did fire with WDNR.
Upon graduation, George took a job as a Conservation Biologist for the
Endangered Resources section of the WNDR and was also on the state burn
team. George was also private lands biologist for the private sector in central
Wisconsin. George attended graduate school for forestry at Mizzou under Dr. Ben
Knapp. George worked his master's tenure at the Jones Center at Ichauway, where
he researched how Resistance, Resilience, and Transition
silviculture treatments affect fire behavior and effects in longleaf pine
ecosystems during atypically hotter and drier days. He also studied fine-scale
fire effects in patches of longleaf pine. Currently, George works for Tall
Timbers as the Southwest Georgia Prescribed Burn Association Coordinator and is
an Adjunct professor of ecology at Thomas University in Thomasville, Georgia.
Holly Nowell, Ph.D., Project Research Scientist, Tall Timbers Research Station & Land Conservancy
Dr. Holly Nowell, born and raised in Wichita, Kansas, was interested in weather from an early age. She held several internship positions at the National Weather Service Office located in Wichita, and at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, before graduating with her bachelor's degree in Earth and Planetary Science from Washington University in St. Louis. She continued her studies at Florida State University where she obtained two master's degrees, one in Geographic Information Systems and the other in Meteorology, and a doctorate in Meteorology. Her thesis and dissertation, under the guidance of Dr. Guosheng Liu, focused on studying the backscatter radiation of aggregate snowflakes in the microwave region. Dr. Nowell switched gears with her postdoctoral position under Dr. Christopher Holmes, also at Florida State University, to focus on the issue and difficulty in the satellite detection of fires in the Southeast United States. As a postdoc, she also participated in NASA/NOAA FIREX-AQ field campaign by providing ground support and conducting field research into pre- and post-burn fuels at the Blackwater River State Forest, Florida. Additional studies included examining the impacts of emissions from smoke plumes resulting from prescribed burning on air quality and public health in South Florida. Currently, Dr. Nowell works for Tall Timbers as a Project Research Scientist on the Southeast FireMap project, a joint venture with the USGS to improve satellite detections of fires in the Southeast US region using Landsat and Sentinel satellites.
Michael Tiller, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Forest and Fire Management, College of Natural Resources, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
Michael grew up in Northern California where he enjoyed an active outdoor lifestyle hunting, fishing, camping, and skiing in the beautiful Sierra Nevada Mountains and coastal redwoods. He enjoyed a 10-year career with Cal Fire serving as a Firefighter and Fire Apparatus Engineer. In 2006, he moved to College Station, Texas where he attended Texas A&M University and earned a B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Science. After completing his B.S. degree, he attended Stephen F. Austin State University where he earned an M.S. degree in Environmental Science and Ph. D. in Forestry, both with a research focus on understory fuel flammability in forest and rangeland ecosystems. Michael also served as a Wildland Urban Interface Specialist for the Texas A&M Forest Service for 2-years where he was actively engaged with fuels management and prescribed burning. He recently accepted an Assistant Professor of Forest Ecology position at UW-Stevens Point where he leads the fire science program and serves as an adviser for the UWSP Fire Crew.
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