Mark Norris

the correlation of soil moisture and tree growth in WI, and the effect of acid rain on trees in upstate NY. Again, lots of good stuff here. (2 of 2)

This week in #Norrestry (my Forest Ecology & Mgmt course): We wrapped up the lab portion with presentations by small groups on their projects exploring forest ecology questions using big datasets (USFS FIA). We heard about regen in urban vs rural NY, the effects of hurricane Katrina in LA, (1 of 2)

I really enjoy this assignment as it gives students a chance to apply a little 1) of what they've learned in the class to a tree of their choosing, and 2) creativity in describing the biology, ecology, and history of their tree/forest. The presentations make for a fun final week of the semester.

This week in #Norrestry (my Forest Ecology & Mgmt course): Students selected a study tree months ago & are now telling that tree's story, Part III: Today we learned about the bald cypress swamp habitat, the fashion changes that trees have witnessed, unusual life history traits, and more!

This week in #Norrestry (my Forest Ecology & Mgmt course): We also had a great guest lecture by my friend Dr. Autumn Sabo who presented on the threats of deer to forests and the forest understory and how it varies with different soil conditions.

This week in #Norrestry (my Forest Ecology & Mgmt course): Students selected a study tree months ago & are now telling that tree's story, Part II: Wednesday's stories told about trees as habitats, unique life history traits and growth patterns, construction threats & benefits, and more!

The annual Operation Griswold is in the books. A lovely white pine is in the living room ready for decorating.

This week in #Norrestry (my Forest Ecology & Mgmt course): Students selected a study tree months ago & are now telling that tree's story. Today's stories focused on why trees grow the way they do, history they've witnessed, threats to the tree/forest, & the food web that trees contribute to

#Movember ended but the Mo lives on. For now. Here's me with my Dad last week. The Mo is in his honor as he continues his cancer struggle.

Just a reminder that for 800,000 yrs prior to the industrial revolution, atmospheric [CO2] never exceeded 300 ppm, was usually between 200-250 ppm.

Intro biology (eco & evo) lab this week: exploring patterns of global NPP and C cycling. Atmospheric [CO2] was 331 ppm when I was born, then 360 when I was in college. It was 380 when my students were born. It's now 427 ppm. One of my students says "We're so cooked."

Sunday #sunrise in Baltimore County.

A quote by Greta Thunberg stating that, "The one thing we need more than hope is actoin. Once we start to act, hope is everywhere." It's in white font on a blue sky background with puffy white clouds.

Nearly every panel I spoke on this year ended with the same question: "What gives you hope?"

My friends, that question expired years ago. (If you need receipts, my book Saving Us is literally a 300-page answer.)

The real question is: How are you PRACTICING hope?

Because Greta is right ..

End of fossil fuel era inches closer as Cop30 deal agreed after bitter standoff Wealthy countries agree to triple funds for countries to tackle climate impacts, but deforestation and critical minerals blocked from final deal

After two weeks of #COP30 negotiations, countries agreed to BEGIN DISCUSSIONS on fossil fuel phase out. And as the article says, "they achieved this incremental progress only in the teeth of implacable opposition from oil-producing countries."

THIS is the problem with requiring unanimous decisions.

I always enjoy our School of the Sciences senior capstone poster session. It's a chance to hear what cool things our seniors did for their capstone internships or research experiences. This semester's ENV cohort is a great group, fortunately I get to hang our with most of them for 1 more semester.

#Norrestry lab this week (my Forest Eco & Mgmt course), we continued assessing campus landscape trees for our Tree Campus application. We surveyed our original campus property (286 trees). We also crunched data from our previous survey of >300 trees. 94% were rated of good or fair overall health.

This week in undergraduate research: we did our final red-backed salamander survey for the year. We generally found the same pattern with salamanders at just 2 of the 14 (now 15) transects but we did find 1 each at two other transects where we've had very limited captures in the past. 22 in total.

Now the fun work begins. It's great to have expert friends willing to help!

Grading lab reports all morning means 1) a 2nd pot of coffee, and 2) learning which students believe in punctuation (generally but the Oxford comma, in particular)

sketch of the forest food web involving the eastern red-backed salamander, arrows showing who eats who. Creator: Maggie Sehnert, Stevenson University, B.S. Environmental Science 2026.

For our salamander project, we're trying to explain patterns of red-backed salamander presence across 14+ cover board transects across two properties. We've wondered about food web effects but haven't found a good diagram for this, so I asked one of our Env Sci majors to create one. This is awesome!

Super quick, preliminary look at one of the samples:

Yes, it is. I really like it and have found it easy to get my newby students on it. It can be a little touchy so like any similar device, you need to get used to it. And perhaps adjust it if you change ropes (dia).

I've been using a SRS with a Rope Runner Pro, it seems to be a good match for 1) this project, 2) my age/fitness, and 3) new student climbers. Are you a climber?

Today in undergraduate research, collecting our sticky tape arthropod traps from our 4 study trees. Traps were placed in three positions: 2m aboveground and on the stem and a branch in the canopy. It was a chilly, blustery morning in the trees. Now we see what's been crawling on the trees.

Final day of the Tree Climbing Academy. More climbing practice on different systems, lots of good conversations with trainers & other participants. What a good week to expand my skillset, gain confidence, & meet new friends. Many thanks to Casey Trees, Bartlett Tree Experts, & Montgomery Co Parks!

Day four of the Tree Climbing Academy. Got 80' up a nice tulip poplar a couple of times, trying different mechanical devices on SRS. Also had a good demo of rigging a limb removal.

Annual 'Got Woolly mammoths?' post.
Here's a lovely Osage orange tree. It's suspected that the fruits were consumed and seeds spread by long extinct large mammal herbivores.

Day three of the Tree Climbing Academy. Got 70' up a big silver maple to learn some new techniques to move around the canopy using SRS on a canopy anchor with redirects to access different parts of the canopy.
Picture from yesterday, using a hitch climber system to access canopy & branch walk.

Day one of arborist boot camp, or what they call a Tree Climbing Academy. Good stuff, hanging out in trees all week. Learning new techniques and able to share my experiences too.