Ecological Data Collecting: "There is valuable information..."

Three interns with the College of Menominee Nation Sustainable Development Institute are working on a project called "Measuring the Pulse (MTP)." In this post, Brennan Waupoose, MTP Ecological Data Collector, describes his experience and work below.

"Following the Summer Institute, the Ecological Data Collectors went to the Wabikon Lake plot located within the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest near Laona, WI. We spent two days learning Condit’s protocol used by the Smithsonian Institute to create an inventory of tree species and size. This protocol is very advanced compared to the “fixed-radius” method sometimes used by Menominee Tribal Enterprises. Every 20-meter subplot has PVC pipes at every 5 meters (25 total) for a “roping” method to create a layout for mapping the trees.

After learning Condit’s protocol, we then returned to our site at College of Menominee Nation where we installed a one-hectare plot, which measures 100 meters by 100 meters, nearly 2.5 acres. This site will be used as a Training plot in the near future for CMN’s Natural Resource program and also serve as a control for scientific research of the Menominee forest. The plot has been divided into 25-20 meter square subplots known as quadrants or “quads”. The quads are used to map and create a census of the forest plot documenting all living trees greater than 2.5 cm. The process includes mapping, sequentially tagging, measuring diameter at breast height (DBH), identifying tree species, and recording each tree on data sheets in a consistent manner to ensure data integrity. Without consistency a re-census of the plot will have flaws between the original data and the re-census.

This has been a great learning experience so far.  Considering the amount of detail used in the protocol, there is valuable information that can be produced within this site and I see myself using this site to continue my tree-ring research."

Post written by Brennan Waupoose

SDI Intern Studies Ecological Recovery and Environmental Disasters

Last month SDI Intern Lloyd Frieson visited New Orleans to study ecological recovery and prevention of environmental disasters. Here he learned about harnessing science and building social resilience. As a College of Menominee Nation student, Lloyd plans on using this knowledge in Sustainable Development Institute programming. Hear from Lloyd himself on some information he'd like to share with you:

"In this photo I'm standing by a levy which stands only ten feet high and is the only defense the community has for protection against storm surges. The storm surge for Hurricane Katrina reached 21 ft. high. The community was completely under water. Some roof tops were visible and many homes floated away. Behind this wall was a forest of Cypress trees but due to the development of progress, the government thought it would be beneficial to build a canal for easier transport of sea export and import. By creating such a canal, saltwater was released into bayou where the Cypress trees lived and completely wiped them out. The forest acted as a buffer for wind and storm surge. Now the area behind this wall is known as the Ghost Forest."

"One day we did some community engagement work and visited the New Orleans lower 9th ward. Here I learned that Brad Pitt donated millions of dollars to the hard hit area of the lower nine ward in New Orleans, LA. He founded an organization called “Make It Right”. Mr. Pitt held a contest for young architecture students and chose three to design the houses to be partially sustainable. Each home has a large solar panel on the roof and a rain harvesting system to purify the water. These homes were given to the people who had homes before Hurricane Katrina. Most homes in that terrible storm were destroyed or washed away. A person can request a home that is raised six to eight feet off the ground for flooding precaution.  These homes are built to withstand 160 mph winds."

Lloyd visited New Orleans as part of ESA-SEEDS. According to their web site, SEEDs is an education program of the Ecological Society of America and their mission is to diversity and advance the ecology profession through opportunities that stimulate and nurture the interest of underrepresented students to not only participate in ecology, but to lead.