SENR Seminar Series welcomes PhD Student Presentations

The School of Environment and Natural Resources Seminar Series welcomes PhD students Ziyu Dong and
Md Nayem Hasan Munna.

Ziyu Dong will present, "Modeling and Simulation of Wildland Fire Dynamics Based on Spatial and Temporal Fire Environment."

Abstract: The wildland fire environment and regime have profoundly changed over the last few decades. Future predictions of fire probability have shown a dramatic increase in the eastern U.S., highlighting the need to develop a spatially and seasonally dynamic fire model. However, a reliable fire behavior estimation is challenging owing to complex interactions among weather, fuel, and topography, especially under variable conditions such as rugged terrain, different burn seasons, and changes in fuel compositions. This study will focus on how topography and burn seasons affect fire behavior and will build a dataset to create a fire prediction model in eastern hardwood forests. A comprehensive fire environment (forest attributes), pre-fire fuel conditions, post-fire fuel recovery, and fire severity derived from remote sensing imagery will be evaluated across topography (aspects, slope positions, elevations) and burn seasons (fall vs. spring). The dataset and new modeling approach are expected to provide reliable fire predictions and can subsequently help to develop an effective fire planning and management strategy.

Md Nayem Hasan Munna will present, "Soil Physical Quality Index (SPQi) for Organic No-tillage in Central Ohio, USA." 

Abstract: Long-term organic inputs under no-tillage (NT) are critical for sustaining soil function. This study evaluated compost, manure, and cover cropping effects on the Soil Physical Quality Index (SPQi) after 28 years of continuous NT corn in central Ohio, USA. We hypothesized that compost would maximize SPQi due to its stable organic matter and structural benefits. SPQi was developed from penetration resistance (PR), saturated hydraulic conductivity, plant available water capacity, water-stable aggregates (WSA), and soil organic carbon (SOC), with principal component analysis (PCA) assigning indicator weights. Data from 0–20 cm and 20–40 cm were analyzed using ANOVA and regression. Compost-treated plots achieved the highest SPQi at both depths (0.63 ± 0.12 at 0–20 cm and 0.64 ± 0.18 at 20–40 cm), followed by manure, while cover crop consistently exhibited the lowest values (0.26 ± 0.14 at 0–20 cm). SOC emerged as the primary driver of SPQi, showing strong positive correlations with WSA (R² = 0.76, p < 0.001) and a moderate inverse correlation with bulk density (R² = 0.32, p < 0.001). PR was highest under cover crop (1.88 ± 0.08 MPa), indicating surface compaction. Compost and manure markedly improved soil physical quality, and SPQi provided a robust integrative metric for soil health under temperate NT systems.