Cedar Hanger
Reconstruction of Fire History and its Connection to the Arrival of Spruce from Windmill Lake, Interior Alaska
°®ÎÛ´«Ã½ Junior
B.S. Geoscience
Cedar is a 2024 Summer Student Project Award Recipient.
Under the mentorship of Dr. Nancy Bigelow, Cedar's project aims to reconstruct fire history and vegetation changes in Interior Alaska. To do this, they analyzed a lake core from the Windmill Lake region for pollen and charcoal. Pollen reveals information about vegetation while the presence of charcoal reflects fire history. Based on previous research, Cedar hypothesizes that the expansion of spruce was critical to an increase in fire frequency. Their main goal this summer: to uncover if fire frequency in the Windmill Lake region has fluctuated through time and whether or not it was impacted by the presence of spruce.
To what extent does vegetation impact fires and how do fires impact vegetation? Studying the connection between vegetation and fires in the past may shed light on this question. By reconstructing fire history (analyzing charcoal abundance) at the same time as reconstructing vegetation (counting pollen grains),Cedar and Nancy can assess the past relationship between fire and vegetation. Previous research from western interior Alaska suggests that fire frequency increased with the appearance of black spruce on the landscape (Lynch et al., 2003) but this same pattern was not seen in the central interior (Tinner et al., 2006). Windmill Lake is located between these two sites and may shed light on this apparent contradiction. This lake was initially studied in the late 1990s (Bigelow et al., 2001) and contains sediments that span the past 15,000 yrs. Pollen analysis was conducted at that time, but charcoal analysis was not. Cedar's summer project focuses on recently collected cores, during the summer of 2023. The charcoal and pollen analyses they will conduct will focus on the region of the cores that spans the appearance of spruce on the landscape, about 9500 yrs ago.
How did you find out about URSA and what encouraged you to submit an application for funding?
I found out about URSA through a fellow classmate who had also done a project. They encouraged me to apply and said it wouldn't hurt to try. I reached out to my mentor and supervisor Dr. Bigelow, and she liked the idea of me wanting to do a project. I told her that I wanted to do a pollen project for the first time and we set out to do just that. I was nervous to submit the funding application but I was told that the projects were worth it and that project work would bolster my CV. Of course, I also wanted to do the project to have experience in the pollen lab and I am so grateful I was awarded that opportunity.
How does your URSA project relate to your career or personal goals?
When I came to °®ÎÛ´«Ã½ I knew I wanted to be a geologist but I was skeptical about what in geology I wanted to do. This project was a major stepping stone for me to jump to in the career field of palynology, the study of pollen. Doing this project taught me how to process pollen, make slides, and do so many other things that helped me achieve my goal of starting my pollen career. This project was also used as a trial run for me to see if I really liked everything about palynology. I loved it all! This project has confirmed my interest in becoming a palynologist.
If you could share one piece of advice with students interested in pursuing URSA in the future, what would you say?
Definitely apply!!! I was really skeptical because it is a lot of work but honestly it is SO WORTH IT. I loved every part of my project and I basically got to run the whole thing. The best part is URSA is willing to work with you. Find your passion or do something you're interested in. Do a group project, just do it. URSA is a great experience, it can be stressful if you wait till the last minute but otherwise it is so easy going and they keep you motivated.