2012 ECANUSA Forest Science Conference
The northeastern United States and eastern Canada are connected via an ecologically and economically important forest resource that provides livelihood as well as social and ecological values critical to the region’s people. Sustaining these values depends on our understanding of the sciences underlying resource management and ecosystem health. Forest science research is conducted on both sides of the border. The opportunity to share knowledge between U.S. and Canadian researchers is enhanced by the bi-annual ECANUSA Forest Science Conference (ECANUSA FSC). Since 2002, the bi-annual ECANUSA FSC has provided a vehicle for regular exchange of scientific information among managers, scientists, policy makers, and others engaged in forestry issues on both sides of the bioregion’s political boundary.
The 2012 ECANUSA Conference was held in late October 2012 at the University of New Hampshire. Because many of the U.S. scientists participating in this conference are also funded by the USDA Forest Service’s Northeastern States Research Cooperative (NSRC), a more formal engagement by NSRC-funded researchers at this conference highlighted the NSRC-sponsored work.
Over seventy researchers from nine U.S. states and four Canadian provinces attended. Of the forty-four oral presentations, 18 (41%) were by researchers presenting results of work sponsored by NSRC. Of the 19 posters, 7 (37%) featured work sponsored by NSRC. The meeting not only promoted the work of NSRC but also raised awareness of the program among researchers and facilitated exchange of scientific information among the research community in the NSRC target area.