On January 4-5, 2023, Hubbard Brook’s January Quarterly Project Meeting took place at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY, and featured a series of talks on the selected topics of Critical Ecology and Changing Forest Structure. 

The first day’s talks and discussion introduced the topic of Critical Ecology, which is a new area of ecological research examining how unjust social systems shape ecosystem processes, particularly during the era of climate crisis. Leading Wednesday’s discussion was Dr. Suzanne Pierre, Director of the Critical Ecology Lab based in Oakland, California, which she founded in 2020 as a means to formally explore the intersections between critical social theory, race, gender, and global change science. “The Critical Ecology Lab began as a question,” Dr. Pierre writes on the Lab’s website, “what does academic science miss by ignoring the relationship between long term patterns of oppression and ecosystems?” The Critical Ecology Lab is a collaborating institution on the pending 2023 Hubbard Brook NSF LTER award. Wednesday’s lineup of presenters included Peter Groffman, Charley Driscoll, Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro from SUNY New Paltz, and Michelle Wong, from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. 

The second day’s theme, Changing Forest Structure, included talks on both current and projected changes in tree species composition and structure (the 3D arrangement of above and belowground plant parts), particularly as a result of emerald ash borer, beech bark disease, and beech leaf disease. Recent projects using Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) technology at Hubbard Brook have allowed researchers to see the detailed spatial composition of forest plots. As ash and beech trees decline, these scans will reveal changing canopy density, or rugosity, over time. Thursday’s program was organized by Natalie Cleavitt and Matt Vadeboncouer, and included presentations by Jack Hastings, Joseph Tumber-Dávíla, Jeff Garnas, Jackie Matthes, Brandon Alveshere, Nick Rodenhouse, and Mark Green. 

Both sessions included small group discussions to forward the consideration of these topics in work at Hubbard Brook.

At lunch on the second day of the meeting, Anthea Lavallee, Christy Goodale, and Lynn Christenson opened the floor for a moment of story-sharing in memory of Gary Lovett. 

 

You can download the original agenda here.