About InterfaceSouth
The U.S. Forest Service, in partnership with the Southern Group of State Foresters and the University of Florida’s School of Forest Resources and Conservation, established InterfaceSouth (previously known as the Southern Center for Wildland-Urban Interface Research and Information) in Gainesville, Florida, in January 2002. The creation of this new center was a Forest Service response to critical findings of an assessment that was conducted after the 1998 Florida wildfires, called the Southern Wildland-Urban Interface Assessment. This assessment demonstrated that potential users—from urban planners to natural resource managers—need access to new information, technology, and skills that will help them meet the challenges of working and living in the interface.
In 2007, InterfaceSouth joined Urban Forestry South (formerly known as the Southern Center for Urban Forestry Research and Information) based in Athens, Georgia, to become the Centers for Urban and Interface Forestry (CUIF). The Centers for Urban and Interface Forestry are science delivery centers within the Southern Research Station (SRS) research work unit “Integrating Human and Natural Systems in Urban and Urbanizing Environments.” The Centers are a successful model of how research results can be rapidly transferred into science delivery applications.
Some key elements of CUIF include:
• We are a partnership between all deputy areas of the Forest Service and are jointly funded through the Southern Research Station and the Southern Region.
• We integrate research with science delivery efforts, engage actively with stakeholders to help determine research and science delivery priorities, and collaborate with a variety of agencies and institutions to develop and deliver products.
• We focus on a range of science delivery activities including product development, outreach, communication, marketing, professional development, training, and technology.
• We use a range of technologies to increase awareness of the Centers’ products and projects, including websites, webinars, social media, and other emerging technologies.
The InterfaceSouth website was developed by and is maintained through a partnership between the U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station , Region 8, and Southern Regional Extension Forestry. This site includes up-to-date interface information, such as current news, events, publications, training and outreach programs, and decision support systems. It also includes reference information such as a literature database, a photo gallery, and links to informative Web sites. The site also allows you to sign up for the InterfaceSouth listserve, through which you will receive the InterfaceSouth Post, the InterfaceSouth Update, and the Leaves of Change bulletin.
