Monthly Newsletter of the Duke Forest Teaching and Research Laboratory at Duke University

Canadian research team led by Loïc D’Orangeville (far right) at their research site in the Duke Forest.

A team of Canadian researchers (pictured above), led by Loïc D’Orangeville from the University of New Brunswick, visited the Duke Forest to collect data for a study of tree response to climate change. This international effort has 11 sites in eastern North America; the Duke Forest is the southernmost. The D’Orangeville Lab established their Duke Forest site in February (highlighted in our March e-LOG) when they planted northern conifer species, including Balsam Fir, Red Spruce, and White Spruce. By planting northern species at this southern location, the trees experience a dramatic change in climate, which allows the researchers to assess the species’ tolerance to increasing heat. In June, the team returned to collect data on tree survival. They will come back again in February of 2025 to plant White Pine and a variety of hardwood species, including oaks, maples, and birch. Stay tuned for updates as this important long-term study continues. 

Isabella Brotton measures the abundance of invasive plants in a permanent research plot.

Isabella Brotton, an undergraduate student at UNC-Chapel Hill, worked with Robert Peet, Research Professor of Biology at UNC, to begin resampling permanent vegetation plots in the Duke Forest. This is the fourth time these plots have been sampled since they were established in 1977 by Robert Peet and Norman Christensen, Professor Emeritus of Environmental Sciences and Policy and founding Dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke. Isabella’s current research focuses on the change in invasive plant abundance since the 2010 sampling. The long-term data from these historic plots create an invaluable timeline of ecological change and offer an opportunity to understand the impacts of a changing climate. The Duke Forest helps maintain the long-term data archive and protects plot locations to preserve the opportunity for future research to build on this critical dataset. 

Kellan Hepditch (left) carries a broadband electromagnetic sensor while Anastasia Stroujkova (middle) monitors the data as it is transmitted to her cell phone.

A team led by Peter Malin, Professor Emeritus of Earth and Climate Science at Duke, visited the Duke Forest to measure and map the features beneath our feet, such as bedrock, soils, and aquifers. This work supports efforts to determine if the rock structure underneath Duke’s West Campus offers an opportunity to provide energy for heating and cooling via Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES). ATES systems use a pair of wells, one for hot water storage and one for cold water storage, along with heat exchangers, to provide buildings with geothermal heating during winter and cooling during summer. Initial ATES test wells have been drilled on what used to be Central Campus, and this summer, the project team used an electromagnetic sensor to characterize subsurface features in the Duke Forest to identify potential sites for additional wells. An ATES system for heating and cooling could substantially reduce fossil fuel use in campus operations. Read more about this innovative project on the Bass Connections website. 

Data/Climate+ students Harssh Golechha (left) and Qianyu Zhu (middle) conduct a herpetofauna transect visit with Caroline Rowley (right), who acted as the Project Manager for both the Bass Connections and Data/Climate+ projects.

In spring 2023, the Innovations in Research Technology to Assess Forest Wildlife - Bass Connections team installed camera traps and acoustic recorders across the Duke Forest. Since that time, they have analyzed thousands of wildlife photos and audio recordings. These efforts help Duke Forest meet its wildlife management goals by characterizing the types and numbers of species occupying different habitats. Similarly, our Herpetofauna of the Duke Forest program gives us valuable information about the amphibians and reptiles that make their home here. Duke Forest staff partnered with a team of undergraduates through a summer 2024 Data+/Climate+ project to help us improve the systems we use to collect, sort, and visualize this important data. 

STAY CONNECTED

The Office of the Duke Forest would like to announce that the 17th annual deer herd reduction hunting program will begin on Monday, September 23, 2024, and end on Friday, December 13, 2024. During this time, the Durham, Korstian, and Blackwood Divisions will be closed to public access and for all recreation Monday through Friday (Saturdays and Sundays will be open for normal use). This closure is for safety and for the effectiveness of our deer herd reduction hunt, a critical operation for ecosystem health.

Please read the FAQs here to learn more about our important deer management efforts.

Date: Thursday, November 14, 2024
Time: 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Guests will enjoy refreshments and hors d’oeuvres at 5:30 p.m., with the event program beginning at 6:00 p.m.
Location: Penn Pavilion, Duke University (West Campus)

Join us for the Duke Forest’s Annual Gathering, where new and longstanding community members will come together to celebrate and explore the Forest’s deep-rooted connection with Duke University. This year, we're excited to bring the event to campus as a Duke Centennial celebration. The program will include a presentation from Duke Forest Executive Director Sara Childs on the intertwined history of the Forest and the University from its founding through its first hundred years. This will be followed by a panel discussion on the future of the Duke Forest moderated by Duke University President Vincent Price.

Registration will open in late September with invitations being sent via email.

Join the Duke Forest and the Nasher Museum of Art for a special tour series in honor of the Nasher’s upcoming exhibit Second Nature: Photography in the Age of the Anthropocene (opens August 29th). Explore visual expressions of the Anthropocene — the geological epoch in which human activity has had a marked impact on the global climate — through the exhibit’s contemporary photography and apply the concept to our local context during a visit to the Duke Forest. The two tours will be similar in content and led jointly by Nasher and Duke Forest Staff. We ask interested participants to please register for only one offering in the series. Space is limited.

Saturday, September 21 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Exploring Second Nature starting at the Nasher Museum of Art and ending in the Duke Forest.

Saturday, October 5 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. | Exploring Second Nature in the Duke Forest, with participants invited to visit the Nasher’s exhibit on their own.

We are excited to welcome Tyler Gibson as our new Assistant Director of Engagement. With eight years of diverse experience spanning alumni relations, annual giving fundraising, communications, and donor stewardship, Tyler will provide the Duke Forest with strategic leadership and capacity in development and communications. Tyler comes to us from MIT where he served as Associate Director of Stewardship and Donor Relations.

“This is an inspiring time to join Duke and the Duke Forest team,” Tyler says. “The Forest is uniquely poised to bolster major pillars of the University’s Climate Commitment, which will have a lasting impact on the Carolinas and beyond. I invite everyone to get involved in ways that are meaningful to them!”

Tyler is looking forward to connecting with you. He can be reached via email at tyler.gibson@duke.edu or by phone at 919-613-8631. Please join us in welcoming him to Duke and Durham!

Our small team stays busy maintaining and managing this incredible land base for teaching, research, resource use, and conservation. Some priorities on our field crew's list this month are:

Mission Action and Support

Recreation

See a summary of our planned management activities for the current fiscal year.

Master of Forestry student Jianna Torre uses a drip torch to ignite the perimeter of the burn unit during a controlled burn led by the Office of the Duke Forest.

Occasionally, the Duke Forest invites graduate students from Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment to join our staff for a valuable co-curricular experience: participating in a prescribed burn. Master of Forestry student Jianna Torre suited up and joined the action for a burn in the Hillsboro Division earlier this spring. She was so inspired by what Forest Supervisor Tom Craven shared about this 30-acre stand of trees (and how it has been managed over time) that she wrote an article for us this summer! Dive into Jianna’s story of how this burn is particularly helping oak species thrive in the Duke Forest. Controlled fire is just one tool in a forest manager’s toolbelt, but it can be key to boosting biodiversity, protecting wildlife, and keeping our forests healthy and resilient.