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April 2013
I was out at Harvard Forest last week and got stuck in a traffic jam behind two moose on Pierce Road. I also managed to corner this little centipede in one of my tubes in the heated + N addition plots.
March 2013
Spring break! I was out in the peaceful snowy forest taking an early round of root photos and respiration measurements. Did a bit of snowshoeing up around my plots . It was bright and beautiful – I think I even got a bit of a tan! What more can you ask?
I’ll be showing a poster at the HF Ecology Symposium comparing the root phenology of hemlock and oak stands – and moderating a lunch for graduate students.
November 2012
We installed minirhizotron tubes into the long term soil warming + N addition plots at Harvard Forest to look at the impacts of temperature and nutrient addition on root dynamics. Here are some highlights:
 Andy and Allison positioning the soil corer. Tubes are inserted at a 45 degree angle to allow the soil to fall flush against the upper surface of the tube, and still capture root growth at depth.  Probing for rock free soil is smile-inducing fun!  Pat inserting a minirhizotron tube into the ground. The portion of the tube that remains above the soil surface is painted black to prevent light from reaching roots, then white to prevent the tube from absorbing and conducting heat into the soil. Including these plots, we have a total of 59 tubes at Harvard Forest. Special thanks to everyone who helped to install: Marc-Andre Giasson, Allison Gill, Pat Sorensen, Andy Reinmann, Xi Yang, Tim Savas, and Mel Knorr.
 A post-installation hike to Royalston Falls. Enjoy (or study) some hemlocks before they are gone! August/September 2012
Here are some photos of Sam working with the camera and a wonderful zoom shot of mycorrhizal hyphae colonizing a root tip. I’ve taken some of our preliminary findings to ESA in Portland, OR and will be presenting a poster at the LTER All Scientist’s Meeting in Estes Park, CO.
 Sam taking photos  High-tech specialized cleaning device (definitely not a swiffer duster)  ~6mm^2 viewing area June 2012
Starting my first season as a mentor for the Harvard Forest REU program, working with Sam Knapp, from the University of Wisconsin. He is spending considerable time in the forest with our minirhizotron camera, and being supremely helpful during my other sampling campaigns. Recently, root exudates:
 Excavating fine root system  Washed roots in cuvette  Filling cuvette with glass beads  Adding carbon-free nutrient solutionHave a look at Sam's blog at Harvard Forest to hear about his experience firsthand: http://harvardforestreu.blogspot.com/2012/06/research-profile-underground.html May 2012
As the school year wraps up, so does my teaching experience with the NSF GK12 fellowship program. For lesson plans and highlights of my year spent in a 5th grade science classroom, please visit my GK12 GLACIER site.
Some pictures from the root box installation:
 Harvard Forest  Jon Perry with the finished product  getting ready to install  Pat, Marc, and John backfilling  Kim and Pat ready to dig  almost finished  sampling window to the left, gridded root viewing panel to the right  |
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