I am an Assistant Professor in Forest Management and Silviculture at the Department of Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences (NRES) at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. As a forest ecologist and silviculturist, I am interested in understanding forest ecosystem function and disturbance dynamics in forests facing environmental change, particularly in California. Forest management plays an important role in controlling the stand biomass stock and therefore that of carbon. Thus, it is impossible to understand global terrestrial carbon sink without understanding forest demography.
As an educator, I want to design classes (and tools within) that are relevant and informative, and support student learning. At CalPoly, I teach classes in forest ecology and advanced silviculture, which include a strong field component, including Silviculture and Fuels Management, Forest Stewardship Practices and Senior Project in Forestry. I also serve as an advisor/faculty mentor for senior (5-7 undergraduates students AY) and graduate (3 students AY) research projects. To provide students teaching and research access, frequently cooperate and coordinate with forest stakeholders in the region and in California, including with UC Berkeley Blodgett Forests, CAL-FIRE, US Forest Service (Los Padres) and private landowners. Finally, I am involved as an instructor in the Forestry Institute for Teachers (FIT) program (run by UNCAR).
With a background in forest ecology and management as a research group, we (=me and very motivated students!) are interested in identifying and developing real-world solutions to natural resource management in working forests across the West. To that end, our lab’s current research focuses on identifying evidence-based environmental solutions (natural climate solutions) for carbon management from the perspective of silviculture and forest soil management, as well as finding ways of connecting practical forest management with carbon offset markets. By integrating traditional forest inventories with innovative, low-cost canopy monitoring methods such as hemispherical photography, our lab’s research has shown that proactive management strategies – such as thinning and fuel reduction – can strengthen forest health while increasing carbon sequestration. The results offer land managers accessible tools and data-driven approaches to improve monitoring, inform management decisions, and advance climate resilience efforts.
In addition to my wonderful job as an educator and college professor, I serve as a member in the Society of American Foresters Committee on Forest Policy (2023-2025) and as the Chair of the Early Career Section of Ecological Society of America (2023-2024).
My past research in Prof. Laura Dee’s lab at CU Boulder focused on identifying evidence-based environmental solutions and natural climate solutions for carbon management from the perspective of silviculture and forest soil management in the Great Lakes region. This research was supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation, and done in partnership with The Nature Conservancy in Minnesota (Dr. Meredith Cornett), USDA Forest Service and University of Minnesota’s Carbon Science Group.
I am also the previous pod leader for 500 Women Scientist, a grassroots organization dedicated to making science open, inclusive and accessible, in Los Angeles, CA.
(Photo credit: Lilli Kaarakka)
Dr. Lilli Kaarakka 