Gretchen Moisen has not changed her phone number in nearly 40 years.

“A friend called me a while ago—I think he just typed in my number on the off chance it still worked,” said Moisen. “I picked up the phone and there was a long pause. Finally, he said, ‘You are one of the most stable people I know.’”

Moisen tolerates friendly teasing about her stability. After all, even she couldn’t have predicted the longevity of her career. She originally came to Ogden, Utah, in 1982 for a temporary position collecting field data in the Interior West Forest Inventory and Analysis unit—and never left.

“I landed in a good place,” said Moisen, a research forester. “The position was filled with opportunities to grow, learn, change and develop.”

FIA collects data about forests—including how much exists, where it exists, who owns it and how it is changing — from inventory plots spaced three miles apart across the nation’s public and private forests.

“We’re like the U.S. Census Bureau,” Moisen said, “Only for trees, not people.”

In the FIA, Moisen creates models of forest characteristics using data from inventory plots. FIA models can help track changes from fire, wind, insects and other disturbances and improve the quality of foundational information about forest resources across the country.

Evaluating small tracts over short time periods requires big teams. Statisticians, scientists, remote sensing specialists, programmers, students and others work across geographic and technological barriers to compile small area estimates. Moisen acts as a liaison, helping these people communicate and consolidate their knowledge.

“It takes a special organizational structure to maximize everyone’s talents at the same time,” she said, “But the bottom line is that people in this field want to communicate. They want to share and do good, and that overcomes 90% of the obstacles of organizing such a large group of people.”

Over the next few years, Moisen hopes to see the scope of small area estimation expand. “There has been so much great research and development recently on small area estimation. And FIA is working hard to make this science accessible, so people can begin to answer all those hard questions about small spaces and short time intervals,” she said.

She cites the progress she has seen in the Forest Service as evidence of coming improvements. “For decades people have been saying, ‘Oh, remote sensing and statistics are going to do this and that and the other thing,’” said Moisen. “And now it is happening. We are finally able to implement new tools that were once just hypothetical.”

“But evolution is slow,” she continued. “In a large national program, you cannot just change what you are doing every year. Imagine moving a big boat. You need to be thoughtful and cautious about the changes you make to that boat’s direction. But FIA has worked to become nimbler and more responsive in the last 40 years. We have really improved our ability to communicate across the nation and adapt to change.”

Moisen noted she has always found the organization progressive and supportive. “Even in the early eighties, I had supervisors, mentors and colleagues who were all very supportive of women in science.”

After 40 years—and one phone number—Moisen will retire at the end of April 2022. Reflecting on her career, she expressed overwhelming satisfaction with her time in the Forest Service.

“The bottom line is that I am grateful and optimistic about this organization,” she said. “There is so much good work going on, and there are so many talented and dedicated people in the Forest Service.”