Alexis Bernal

Alexis Bernal
Advisor: 
Jeffrey Kane
Graduation Year: 
2019

Originally from San Diego, California, forests and forest management had been completely foreign to me. It was not until I studied abroad in Beijing, China that I had found my calling. Once I returned to the States, I transferred from my community college to UC Berkeley and earned a B.S. in Forestry & Natural Resources. During my time at UCB and the summer thereafter, I spent most of my time assisting on various research projects. From quantifying ladder fuels using Light Detection and Ranging models, to increasing complexity in forest structures using variable density thinning, my insatiable curiosity and passion to solve issues related to forestry are what led me to pursue a M.S. in Forestry at Cal Poly Humboldt. My research with Dr. Jeff Kane explores how different management techniques contribute to a tree?s ability to respond to bark beetle outbreaks. Because there is evidence suggesting that climate change will not only affect the environmental conditions that these trees are exposed to, but also the population dynamics of the beetles that attack them, it is important to determine the underlying mechanisms for the current mortality so that we may better prepare our forests to withstand the next inevitable outbreak.