Steve P Prisley
Biographical Information
Education
B.S., Virginia Tech (1980)
M.S., Virginia Tech (1982)
Ph.D., Virginia Tech (1989)
Professional Experience
Forest Resources Information Manager, Westvaco Corporation, 1989 – 1999.
Applications Scientist, EROS Data Center Anchorage Field Office, 1985 – 1986
Manager Resource Information, Continental Forest Industries, 1982 – 1985
Academic Interests
Quantitative and spatial analyses of forest resources for strategic and tactical forest management planning, including modeling of forestcarbon inventories, inventory projection for wood supply planning, andspatially-constrained harvest scheduling.
Teaching Responsibilities
FOR 4114 Computer Applications in Natural Resources
FOR 5264 GIS Applications in Natural Resource Management
Selected Research Activities
Modeling carbon in a managed forestry enterprise. In order to plan and prepare for a business environment in which credits for carbon sequestration can be traded in financial markets, forestry enterprises must be able to estimate the net effect of their activities on carbon pools and fluxes. Using forest inventory data, and inventory projection techniques, it is possible to simulate the effects of various management regimes on the carbon balance of an enterprise.
Spatially-constrained harvest scheduling. Forest managers who wish to adhere to sustainable forest managementsystems (such as the Sustainable Forestry Initiative of the AmericanForest & Paper Association) need to be able to plan and conduct timber harvesting with spatially-defined constraints. These constraints typically focus on improving the production of non-market forest resources such as visual quality and wildlife habitat. Using a simulation model developed by NCASI (HABPLAN), we have investigated thecosts and benefits of implementing spatial constraints in scheduling of timber harvests.
Indicators of sustainable management. The Bureau of Land Management is interested in developing indicators useful in planning and monitoring land management practices. We have investigated the value of data from samples of benthic macroinvertebrates, in conjunction with existing GIS data from the same watersheds, to develop indicators of ecosystem health.
Error analysis in Geographic Information Systems. GIS analyses are widely used by natural resource management organizations, for a variety of spatial assessments. In many cases, the data for these assessments come from a combination of public and private sources, and an understanding of the error structure in spatial data sets is crucial to the proper interpretation of results.
Personal Story for Steve P Prisley
I am a forester. I sort of backed into being a forester. I grew up loving the outdoors, especially forests and mountains. As the son of a naval officer, we moved a number of times, and these moves gave me the opportunity to see a wide variety of our national parks and forests. I spent years as an active Boy Scout, as that gave me additional opportunities to enjoy backpacking, camping, hiking, canoeing, and caving, mostly in Virginia’s mountains. As I grew intellectually in high school and college, I also became fascinated with the complexity of forested ecosystems. I landed in forestry when I rejected my initial interests of geology and wildlife because I was told they required graduate school to get a job, and that sounded like way too much school for me.
At the same time I was growing in an intellectual and scientific interest in forested ecosystems, I was growing in a spiritual appreciation for their Creator. Being raised in the Episcopal Church, I had been taught from an early age that there was a Creator God. I never doubted it. The more I learned about nature, the more I was dazzled by its intricacy, its resilience, its beauty, and its design. I felt closest to my Creator when I was surrounded by some of His finest work. I recall sitting in a canoe on the Shenandoah River one Sunday morning as my scout troop pulled our canoes together next to a grand cliff face for an impromptu worship service. It was led by our canoeing guide, a retired forester and a man of God. We sang “How Great Thou Art” in our faltering and timid voices, but every verse resonated with me.
But it was parents and friends who helped me to fully understand the meaning of Christianity. It was at a weekend-long program at an Episcopal church in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania where I finally heard most clearly the message of the Christian gospel that somehow I had missed in all the church services I had attended. In some ways, it was like finally understanding, deeply and thoroughly, something you have known for a long time. I learned what it meant to develop a personal relationship with the Creator I had worshipped, the person of Jesus Christ.
Since then I have lived many places, and done many things. I’ve wasted a great deal of time pursuing fulfillment outside of this relationship with God. But I’ve always returned and found a faithful, merciful God whose love has been made clearer to me each day. He blessed me with a 20-year marriage to my wife Karen, a wonderful, strong, active and independent friend who was also a forester and shared so many of my interests. He gave me hope and purpose when I lay in a bed at Duke University Hospital being treated for cancer. He showed me the joy and the deep responsibility of fatherhood by giving me two sons. He gave me an example of faith and trust in action as my wife bravely dealt with multiple sclerosis. And He enveloped me with love and the support of His people when Karen died.
So I can attest that while God may not remove hardship from our lives, He makes our lives so much richer when we know him and trust Him. I intend to spend the rest of my life getting to know Him even better, appreciating Him and His creation more fully, and doing a better job at repaying His kindness and mercy with obedience. It’s a long hike, and not always an easy one, but I’ve got lots of great company. I hope I’ll see you on the trail.