In addition to the summer work described by Lilly Hinkley and Tyrell Cooper, the Wooster Tree Ring Lab is collaborating projects with (1) The Tree Ring Lab of the Johannes Gutenberg-University in Mainz, Germany. This work is part of a project called Monostar (Modelling Non-Stationary Tree growth Responses to global warming) and (2) The University of Alaska – Fairbanks funded by the National Science Foundation, which involves developing long tree-ring records from along the Gulf of Alaska. This post describes some of the sampling aspects of these projects this past summer.
First MONOSTAR sampling: We started in Juneau – here (below, left to right) is Nick Wiesenberg (Wooster), Philipp Romer (Mainz), and Davide Frigo (University of Padova, Italy).

The first tree-ring site was above the Mendenhall Glacier at the East Glacier Site. MONOSTAR sampling is being done across the Northern Hemisphere to determine the whys, hows, wheres and whens of changing tree growth with changing climate. The trees in the background are mountain hemlock with a few Sitka spruce. This is close to a yellow cedar site that we sampled some years ago.

Philipp and Davide with Mendenhall Glacier in the background. 
The next stop was Glacier Bay where we flew to Gustavus. The

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There are two legs to the project this summer. Lilly and Fred are headed back to the Wooster Tree Ring Lab with samples from Kake and Jacob and Jack have arrived. Jack, Jacob, Nick and I will now travel to Glacier Bay for 10 days of sampling ancient forests. As a warmup, the group hiked to Mendenhall Glacier. The glacier is rapidly retreating but we are still able to find solid ice to take the team photo.

The hike to the glacier is great and the day was perfect.
Mendenhall Glacier from the forefield.

Fred found some ancient stumps and logs likely dating back to about 2.5 ka, the forests continue to be unearthed with the ice recession.

The West Mendenhall Trail has a variety of streams and falls.

Across the glacial lake is Nugget Falls and part of the group poses next to this popular stop.

The group getting organized and enjoying the katabatic breeze.
 

After all it was the 4th of July.

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Editor’s note: The following is by Caitlyn Denes (’23).
“The Community Climate Change Project sought to document the changes in climate in Wooster, Ohio and surrounding communities. Through the collection, analysis, and interpretation of climatological data, we summarized our findings and developed recommendations to improve the resiliency of the community in the face of climate change. Having served a wide variety of local clients, we are hopeful that our findings will educate community members and foster strong connections with community partners.”
When a group of rising sophomores entered Scovel 116 on May 16th, I do not think they realized how much they would grow as students, researchers, and as people. Tasked with researching the dynamic interactions between climate variability and the local community, the CCC Team had their work cut out for them from the beginning of their AMRE project. As a peer advisor to the work that was completed, I watched our group come together to form an effective, successful, dynamic research team in just six weeks. Supervised by Dr. Pollock and Dr. Wiles, our team encountered some great experiences. It is impossible to cram six weeks of research and field experience into just one post, so here are just some

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