A team of UC Merced researchers was recently awarded $100,000 from Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) to identify ways to improve drought resilience and reduce the risk of wildfire in Sierra Nevada forests.
Professor Roger Bales, who also serves as director of the Sierra Nevada Research Institute (SNRI), Professor Martha Conklin and SNRI Research Scientist Mohammad Safeeq will develop new approaches to accelerate the pace and scale of forest restoration in Calaveras County.
"Research supported by this PG&E grant will provide land managers with a much-needed understanding of the forest-water-fire nexus. It will also provide the tools needed to increase forest resiliency in the Sierra Nevada,” said Safeeq, who also served as the proposal’s primary author.
