PERSONNEL OF THE LABORATORY OF TREE-RING RESEARCH
Many people are surprised to learn that the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research
consists of 36 faculty members, principal investigators, and support staff,
and 43 graduate and undergraduate students. They are by no means a small
laboratory - after all, they're housed in a football stadium that seats 55,000,
so there's no waiting in the restrooms! The list below also supplies links
(e-mail addresses) for the LTRR personnel. Simply place the mouse on the
name of the person, and click away. Phone numbers for all personnel are
also available.
CONTENTS
Director
Malcolm K. Hughes, Professor
(B.Sc., Botany & Zoology, University of Durham, 1965; Ph.D., Ecology,
University of Durham, 1970) works on extracting records of past climate
in Europe, the Himalayas and the Sierra Nevada from tree rings. He uses the
fine detail of wood structure revealed by microdensitometry as well as
overall ring width. He is involved in a cooperative effort to improve
knowledge of the Earth's climate since AD 1000 by combining information from
tree rings, ice cores, laminated sediments and historical records. He is
exploring the potential of 3000 year and older giant sequoia as proxy
climate records.
Main Office Staff
Phyllis Gress, Administrative Associate
Phyllis is Malcolm Hughes's right-hand person, and supervises all activities
that transpire in the LTRR office, although her speciality is payroll.
Generally, all laboratory activities must pass through Phyllis first for
her approval, including the all-important routing of research proposals and
dealing with the large number of accounts the LTRR maintains. For any
questions or problems, refer to Phyllis first so she can
help you or refer you to another staff member who can.
Jackie Mather, Secretary
Jackie has been in the office longer than anyone else, and handles all matters
pertaining to paychecks and keys. She also is in charge of the affairs of the
Tree-Ring Society, the editing and handling subscriptions for the Tree-Ring
Bulletin, and assists in matters of travel.
FACULTY AND PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS
Bryant Bannister, Professor Emeritus
(B.A. Anthropology, Yale University, 1944; M.A., Anthropology, University
of Arizona, 1953; Ph.D., Anthropology, University of Arizona, 1960) is
primarily interested in the development and refinement of dendrochronology
as an archaeological dating tool on a world-wide basis. His studies involve
the derivation, interpretation, and application of archaeological tree-ring
dates and have been focused mainly on the construction of prehistoric
chronological controls for the American Southwest, Mexico, and the Near
East.
Jeffrey S. Dean, Professor
(B.A., Anthropology, University of Arizona, 1961; Ph.D., Anthropology,
University of Arizona, 1967) is interested in archaeological dating
theory, archaeological tree-ring dating, the effects of human behavior on
date assemblages, the use of tree-ring data to investigate fluvial processes,
the utilization of long archaeological tree-ring chronologies for
dendroclimatic reconstructions, the integration of these reconstructions
with reconstructions based on other paleoenvironmental measures, and the
effects of environmental fluctuations on past and present human populations.
Robert E. Dickinson, Professor
(B.A., Chemistry & Physics, Harvard, 1961; M.S., Meteorology, MIT, 1962;
Ph.D., Meteorology, MIT, 1966) is represented in the Laboratory
with a 0.25 Faculty position. His interests are widely varied and include
climate modelling for the effects of radiatively-active trace gases, the
role of the biosphere in climate change, climate modeling of the effects of
deforestation, and the role of aerosols on the global radiation budget.
Current support also includes research into the southwestern summer monsoon,
the 1988 drought, and improvement of surface hydrology subroutines in
global climate models.
Harold C. Fritts, Professor Emeritus
(B.A., Botany, Oberlin College, 1951; M.S., Botany, Ohio State University,
1953; Ph.D., Botany, University of Ohio, 1965) works on dendrochronology
theory with current applications concerning the reconstruction and mapping of
past North American climate from large grids of tree-ring data. He also
works with growth and environmental relationships of trees and has begun
modeling them for the clarification of specific processes and eventual
application to problems concerning rising CO2 levels, acid rain and
environmental pollution. For more information see his
personal home page.
Lisa Graumlich, Associate Professor
(B.A., Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1975; M.S., Geography,
University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1978; Ph.D., Forestry and Dendrochronology,
University of Washington, 1985) is interested in the influence of climatic
variation on vegetation at seasonal to millennial time scales. Currently she
is conducting research on the relative importance of millennial scale climatic
variation in governing Holocene vegetation dynamics in the upper Great Lakes
region. As a part of this research effort she is using tree-ring data to
improve the climate/growth parameterization used in forest simulation models.
In addition, she is reconstructing the climate history of the Sierra Nevada
over the last 1000 years using a multiple species network of tree-ring
chronologies. For more information, see her
personal home page.
Thomas P. Harlan, Research Associate
(B.A., Anthropology, Texas Technological College, 1956; M.A.,
Anthropology, University of Arizona, 1962) has worked up basic tree-ring
chronologies from all continents except Antarctica. He has taught a
tree-ring dating laboratory class since 1986. He is interested in
developing long chronologies from all over the world.
Katherine Hirschboeck, Associate Professor
(B.S., Geography, University of Wisconson-Madison, 1973; M.S., Geography,
University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1975; Ph.D., Geosciences, University of
Arizona, 1985) is interested in the atmospheric patterns and processes
associated with climatic variability and Global Change. In her research,
she seeks to integrate synoptic climatology with hydrology, geomorphology,
and dendrochronology to study environmental responses to varying atmospheric
circulation patterns. Specific projects involve the relationship between
flooding and climate at global, regional, and local scales, and frost rings
in trees as records of anomalous cooling due to major volcanic eruptions.
For more information, see her
personal home page.
Steven W. Leavitt, Associate Professor
(B.S., Geology, University of Illinois, 1971; M.S., Environmental Sciences,
University of Virginia - Charlottesville, 1977; Ph.D., Geosciences, University
of Arizona, 1982) is interested in the use of carbon-13/carbon-12 ratios
in tree rings to reconstruct past climate (e.g., drought) and past atmospheric
chemistry (the changing isotopic ratios of atmospheric CO2 resulting from
fossil-fuel and biospheric inputs). He is currently examining seasonal
isotopic signals within tree rings in an effort to reconstruct seasonal
environments. Growth chamber and field experimentation is used in this
effort.
David Meko, Principal Research Specialist
(B.S., Meteorology, Pennsylvania State University, 1972; M.S., Atmospheric
Sciences, University of Arizona, 1974; Ph.D., Hydrology, University of
Arizona, 1981) is interested in applying time-series methods to study
the relationship between tree-rings and hydrologic series, and reconstructing
streamflow and drought frequency from tree rings. He has done considerable
work testing the statistical evidence for a link between solar/lunar cycles
and drought as reflected in tree rings. Another interest is the effect of
climatic variability on water supply, particularly in the semi-arid
southwestern United States.
Charles W. Stockton, Professor
(B.S., Geology, Colorado State University, 1960; M.S., Hydrogeology,
Colorado State University, 1965; Ph.D., Hydrology, University of Arizona,
1971) is interested in the influence of climatic variability on
hydrologic processes. Past research focus has been on determination of
long-term drought frequencies and their effect on water supply with the
ultimate goal of developing methods for forecasting future occurrences.
Regions of special research interest have been Arizona, the western United
States, and Morocco in North Africa.
Thomas W. Swetnam, Associate Professor
(B.S., Biology, University of New Mexico, 1977; M.S., Forestry-Watershed
Management, University of Arizona, 1983; Ph.D., Watershed Management,
University of Arizona, 1987) is studying natural and human disturbances
of forest ecosystems. He is currently developing multi-century histories of
fire and insect outbreak occurrences from tree-ring records in southwestern
U.S. forests and in coast redwood and giant sequoia stands in California.
This work is providing basic ecological information as well as guidance to
National Forest and Park Managers.
Richard L. Warren, Research Associate
(B.A., Archaeology, University of Arizona, 1964) is interested in
dating archaeological materials.
STAFF OF THE LTRR
Rex Adams, Research Specialist
(B.A., Sociology/Anthropology and Chemistry, Adams State College, 1967;
M.A., Anthropology, Eastern New Mexico University, 1980) teaches students
and visiting scholars basic field and laboratory methods and techniques. He
also does public outreach work by either going to schools and
groups for presentations or by providing talks and tours at the Laboratory
of Tree-Ring Research.
Christopher H. Baisan, Senior Research Specialist
(B.S., Watershed Management, University of Arizona 1991) is interested
in studying the ecology of forest and woodland disturbances particularily
fire and insect outbreaks as well as cultural influences on disturbance
processes. He is currently working on innovative ways to extract
seasonal climate from tree rings and examining relationships between
fire, fuel accumulation rate, and climatic patterns.
Liz Barlow, Research Technician
Dennie O. Bowden, Research Specialist
(B.A., Anthropology, University of Arizona 1967; M.A., Anthropology,
University of Arizona, 1973) is involved in dating archaeological
tree-ring samples from the southwestern United States.
Ross Bryant, Research Specialist
James M. Burns, Research Specialist
(B.A., Anthropology, University of Arizona, 1976; A.A.S., Digital
Electronics, Pima Community College, 1982) is involved in collection
of densitometric data.
James A. Fairchild-Parks, Research Technician
(B.A., History, University of Arizona, 1990) is primarily involved in
the crossdating of archaeological and modern samples from the
southwestern USA and the Great Basin. He has conducted research on
Pinus cembroides in southeastern Arizona, and on log buildings
(Quercus stellata) in central Texas. He is currently involved in
applying tree-ring data to the study of prehistoric and protohistoric human
behavior.
Gary Funkhouser, Research Specialist
(B.A. Anthropology, Washington and Lee University, 1975; M.A. Anthropology,
University of Georgia, 1978) has been involved in the development and
analysis of tree-ring chronologies from the semi-arid regions of the U.S. and
the subarctic regions of Russia. Current research includes extending the
8000-year long Pinus longaeva chronology for climatic reconstruction
and calibration of the radiocarbon timescale, and development of long
chronologies from Siberia. He worked in Jordan as co-director of a
paleolithic excavation at Ain-El-Assad.
Mary Glueck, Research Specialist, Sr.
Richard L. Holmes, Consultant
(B.A. in Geography, The University of Arizona, 1967) was in charge of a
six-year research project to develop tree-ring chronologies in Argentina and
Chile, and another to develop chronologies in California, eastern Oregon,
and the northern Great Basin. He also worked as research consultant and
computer programmer at the Laboratory of Dendrochronology in Mendoza,
Argentina; the Research Center for Forest and Wood Technology at the
University of Hamburg, Germany; and the Tree-Ring Laboratory, Lamont-Doherty
Earth Observatory of Columbia University. He developed a package of
interactive computer programs for dendrochronology known as the
Dendrochronology Program Library, and wrote other programs for tree-ring
analysis of daily temperature fluctuations, forest fire history, outbreaks
of forest pests, responses of closed-canopy forests, and image analysis.
John C. King, Research Specialist
(B.S. Watershed Management, The University of Arizona, 1994) has collected
a ten species tree-ring chronology set in the Sierra Nevada, California to
study vegetation response to climate and long term climate trends. Other
research efforts include prehistoric landslide dating from tree-ring evidence
and construction of a millennial length Chinese juniper chronology.
Robert G. Lofgren, Senior Support Systems Analyst
(B.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of Illinois 1954; M.S., Physics,
Northwestern University, 1962) has graduate studies in Meteorology and
Climatology and is interested in climatic variations and in developing
accessible data sets for the detection of change. He has worked with global
climatic and tree-ring data sets making many of these data sets accessible
for tree-ring related analyses.
Kiyomi A. Morino, Research Specialist
(B.S., Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Arizona, 1989;
M.S., Watershed Management, The University of Arizona, 1996)
Martin A.R. Munro, Research Specialist
(M.A., Archaeology, University of Edinburgh, 1977; Ph.D., Queen's
University of Belfast, 1983) Currently working on image analysis for
cell size measurement and densitometry in dendrochronology; data analysis
tools for dendrochronology and computer system support. For more information,
see his personal home page.
Ramzi Touchan, Research Specialist
(B.S., Agriculture Engineering, University of Aleppo, 1977; M.S. 1986;
Ph.D., Watershed Management, The University of Arizona, 1991) has
developed fire history chronologies from a variety of forest types in
western U.S. Current work is concentrated on the development of long
chronologies from giant sequoia and dendroclimatic reconstruction from
these chronologies. He has a strong interest in the development of long
chronologies from regions outside the U.S., including Siberia, the Near
East (where he has developed a Cedrus libani chronology), and
Finland.
GRADUATE ASSISTANTS AND ASSOCIATES
UNDERGRADUATE ASSISTANTS
© 1999 by Henri D. Grissino-Mayer. All rights reserved.
Last updated 02.01.99. For comments and suggestions, contact me at
grissino@valdosta.edu.
