Doctoral Student Earns NASA Fellowship
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EmailLeonardo Ziccardi wins prestigious fellowship and three-year grant.
Sierra Jezuit
Leonardo Ziccardi, a doctoral student in the MSU Department of Forestry, was recently named a recipient of the Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) fellowship.
Ziccardi was awarded a three-year grant for his research initiative studying how the Amazon rainforest will respond to climate change. Working with his project mentor Scott Stark, associate professor in the MSU Department of Forestry, Ziccardi is focusing on measurements of carbon dynamics and chlorophyll fluorescence of trees within the Amazon.
The Science Mission Directorate (SMD) of NASA solicits proposals from accredited U.S. universities and other eligible organizations for graduate student-led research that contributes to the goals and objectives of the organization.
Tropical ecosystems, such as the Amazon rainforest, are threatened by various disturbances, including deforestation, fire and drought, with the possibility of such events worsening with the effects of climate change. There is a longstanding debate on whether the Amazon will adapt to future changes in climate: whether it can thrive in a drier environment or instead begin to transform into more of a tropical savanna.
Ziccardi hopes to help researchers predict the impacts of forthcoming climate change on the Amazon rainforest, and ideally, other locations worldwide. The fellowship will provide Ziccardi with additional resources and time to collect and analyze data, allowing researchers to understand and predict future outcomes more thoroughly.
One of the vital components in this research initiative is capturing field data throughout the rainforest. Ziccardi accomplishes this through tree climbing and measuring vertical variation of photosynthesis in leaves throughout the forest, which helps in building models for future reference.
“From the start of his Ph.D., I have been very impressed with Leo’s focus and ability to set his sights on something and accomplish it. When Leonardo first came to MSU, he did not have experience tree climbing, but he was presented with the opportunity to try. After his first trip to our field site in the Tapajos National Forest, Leonardo was able to climb with our collaborator Neill Prohaska, a sort of ‘tropical tree climbing guru,’ and Leo was thrilled about the prospect of incorporating this in his work,” recalled Stark. “I think it is safe to say that he is now one of the few experts we have in the Amazon that can climb and study leaf level processes in the canopy, an incredible — and incredibly important for climate change research — accomplishment.”
