These simple features are meant to provide an overview of the breadth of research projects that occur across our landbase. The goal is to offer a new feature every quarter.
Accounting for Carbon: How much carbon is stored at the UMN Cloquet Forestry Center?
Measuring and managing forest carbon stocks is a key approach to lessening the effects of human-induced climate change. Forests sequester more carbon annually than any other land use and have the potential to uptake carbon released through energy production, transportation, manufacturing, agriculture, and forestry. But how can we measure, with certainty, the carbon stored in our forest lands? Ethan Emick, a Master's student and research associate working with Assistant Professor Chad Babcock in the UMN Department of Forest Resources, explains their recent efforts to inventory carbon stocks at the CFC using a fusion of forest data.
What do trees remember? Insights from tree rings into Minnesota’s changing forests
Mara McPartland, PhD candidate in the U of MN Department of Geography, Environment, and Society explains in our Spring 2021 research feature what she's learning from her doctoral research in northern Minnesota. Mara is using tree-ring data collected from two study areas in northern Minnesota to reconstruct local-to-regional climate histories. The goal of her research is to further our understanding of paleoclimate, and to provide tools to public policy makers in planning for a range of future climate change scenarios.
The highs and lows of cone production in white spruce
Jalene LaMontagne's lab at DePaul University is studying variation in white spruce cone production at the Cloquet Forestry Center.
Learning from wolves
Mike Schrage, Wildlife Biologist for the Fond du Lac Band, describes current efforts to better understand wolf ecology on the Fond du Lac Reservation. The Otter Creek Pack at the Cloquet Forestry Center serves as a case study. Niganawaabamaanaanigingiw Ma'iinganag Wolf Monitoring on the Fond du Lac Reservation
Biochar: An Opportunity to Grow a More Resilient Forest?
Mat Lochner explains what biochar is and how it could be used to improve the productivity of Minnesota's forest lands.
When Pine Beetles Meet
Zach Smith, a graduate student in the UMN Department of Entomology, describes his Master's research in ;Exploring ecological interactions between mountain pine beetle and Minnesota’s native bark beetles
Exploring the Lichens and Mosses of Minnesota
Lichens and mosses and liverworts, oh my! Abby Glauser shares about a recent survey of lichens and bryophytes across Minnesota.