Tree-Ring Talk

Dendroarchaeology in the Southeastern U. S.: The Quest to Develop New Regional Tree-Ring Networks Using Dendroarchaeological Data

The state of Kentucky and the North Carolina (NC) Piedmont represent large spatial gaps in public tree-ring datasets. For Kentucky, there are only four unique sites currently represented on the International Tree-Ring Data Bank. For North Carolina, only 26 unique sites are represented; less than 12 were collected from sites east of the Appalachian Mountains, and only seven are from Piedmont sites. Like other eastern states, Kentucky and North Carolina old-growth forests were removed for logging and agriculture during settler colonization of the states.

Prehistoric pile-dwellings: dendroarchaeology in the southwestern Balkans

A number of wetland archaeological sites have been identified around the lakes in the southwestern part of the Balkan Peninsula, however only a limited number have been excavated. The constantly wet, low-oxygen depositional environment on such sites provides excellent conditions for wood preservation. Since 2018, more than 1800 remains of construction woods have been sampled from these prehistoric sites, mostly from the Lakes of Ohrid and Kastoria.

Creating more culturally engaging and inclusive environments in STEM

The lack of diversity in STEM professions is an ongoing concern for the US both in terms of social justice and in having a globally competitive workforce. This session will present a framework for thinking about diversity and inclusion in STEM courses and in research environments, and provides research and information for faculty, graduate students, and campus leaders to be proactive in considering a wide array of identities to meet the needs of students beyond attending to structural forms of diversity.

The risks of xylem safety: when investing in cavitation resistance doesn't save trees from drought

As the earth’s climate warms, forest around the world – and particularly those in already arid climates – have been suffering increasing drought stress. During the “hot drought” of 2012-2016, over 1 million conifer trees across California’s Sierra Nevada mountains died. We investigated how trees that died differed from those that lived in how they built their wood. Surprisingly, pines that died tended to have narrower xylem tracheids (the water conducting cells in wood) with thicker walls – features that should have made them more resistant to hydraulic failure during drought.

Tailoring X-ray imaging techniques for dendrochronology of large wooden objects

X-ray computed tomography (CT) has been applied to visualize tree rings in a non-invasive way for dendrochronological research. For large objects such as chests or cabinets, it is often impossible or impractical to rotate fully within the scanner as is necessary for CT. As a solution to this challenge, we developed a line trajectory X-ray tomography technique, in which the object is moved only sideways. We show that this
method, although not yielding a full 3D image, is particularly well suited to reveal tree rings. Using this easily implementable scanning

Servingness in STEM: Meaning and Examples

Changes in atmospheric circulation, precipitation patterns, and lake hydrology over the last ~12,000 years in Alaska

As a result of rapidly rising temperature in Alaska, glaciers are melting, sea ice is diminishing, lake levels are dropping, and precipitation patterns are changing. These rapid changes are superimposed upon naturally occurring patterns of climate variability in the North Pacific and Arctic Ocean basins, and must be interpreted in the context of these longer-term changes.

Using virtual field experiences (VFEs) for science communication and outreach

Virtual field experiences (VFEs) have become more popular in geoscience and field science education and outreach at both the K-12 and college levels. They are incredibly valuable in allowing students to experience or visualize an environment that they wouldn't be able to visit otherwise, while also providing an opportunity for them to learn about the science that researchers are conducting in that environment. VFEs have been shown to be particularly effective for hard-to-reach and hard-to-imagine field sites, like drilling ice cores on top of Mt.

Tree rings and paleoenvironment on the Southeast Atlantic Coast: insights and developing research

A huge buried deposit of bald cypress trees is providing insights into over 5000 years of paleoenvironmental changes on the Southeast Atlantic Coast. Information from tree rings and chemical analyses, supported by other lines of environmental proxy data, reveals changes in rainfall, sea-level, hurricane frequency, and ecological stability in antiquity. We have initiated complementary analyses to bolster our interpretations.

TBA Tree-Ring Talk (open for volunteeer)

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