History of the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Science
The Early Years 1993 to 2000
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May 1993: Sally Horn, attracted to the idea of coring trees as well as lakes, attends the North American Dendroecological Fieldweek at Mountain Lake Biological Station near Blacksburg, Virginia, with students Charles Lafon and Diana Wolfram.
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August 1994: Ken Orvis joins the faculty, increasing department strengths in climatology and paleoclimatology.
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January 1995: Sally Horn and student Lisa Kennedy collect initial tree-ring samples in the Dominican Republic.
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August 1997: Jim Speer begins his Ph.D. research. Under Ken Orvis, Jim conducts a massive research program to understand mast ecology from tree rings for oaks at numerous sites throughout the southern Appalachian Mountains.
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1997-1999: Jim works with Ken and Sally to acquire equipment and space for lab work in dendrochronology at the University of Tennessee. Jim oversees the lab and instructs other students in field and laboratory techniques.
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1997-1999: Ph.D. student Charles Lafon (with help from Jim) conducts dendroecological research in the southern Appalachians analyzing ice storms as important disturbance agents.
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1998-2000: Sally Horn, Ken Orvis, Jim Speer, and Lisa Kennedy collect tree-ring samples at several sites in the Dominican Republic.
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May 2000: Charles Lafon receives his Ph.D. from the Department of Geography. Congratulations, Charles!
The Formative Years: 2000–2004
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August 2000: Henri Grissino-Mayer joins the faculty in the Department of Geography. The formalizing of a laboratory dedicated to tree-ring science begins.
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December 2000: Five masters' thesis projects are soon underway: Michael Armbrister (fire ecology of Table Mountain pine), Jake Cseke (tree-ring studies of gap dynamics), Beth Atchley (dendroecology of Torreya taxifolia), Daniel Lewis (fire history of kipukas in New Mexico), and David Mann (dendroarchaeology of the Swaggerty blockhouse).
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2000-2001: Rooms are outfitted, equipment is purchased, duties are assigned, and projects organized. The tree-ring lab is in full swing...
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April 2001: The lab receives its first substantial grants from the Joint Fire Science Program for $28,000 and $30,000, to study fire regimes in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and El Malpais National Monument.
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May 18, 2001: While in the field at El Malpais National Monument in New Mexico *, the laboratory gains its name, the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Science.
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July 2001: Henri Grissino-Mayer, Paul Sheppard (Arizona), and Malcolm Cleaveland (Arkansas) travel to England to help date violins in the Ashmolean Museum and at the Royal Academy of Music.
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August 2001: First organizational meeting attended by Henri Grissino-Mayer, Sally Horn, and Ken Orvis, with students Kevin Anchukaitis, David Mann, Daniel Lewis, Beth Atchley, Jake Cseke, Bill Reding, and Michael Armbrister.
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Fall 2001: Jim Speer receives his Ph.D. from the Department of Geography. Congratulations, Jim!
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Fall 2001: The LTRS begins a collaborative project with members from the Department of Geological Sciences, Dr. Claudia Mora and graduate student Dana Miller, through the UT's Global Environmental Change Research Group. Oxygen isotopes + hurricanes + tree rings... oh my.
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November 2001: Henri Grissino-Mayer, Paul Sheppard (Arizona), and Malcolm Cleaveland (Arkansas) announce to the world that the "Messiah" violin was contemporary with Stradivari.
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May 2002: We're proud to report that Michael Armbrister, David Mann, and Bill Reding completed their master's theses, the first produced by members of our lab.
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June 2002: We're also very proud to report that Kevin Anchukaitis has joined the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of Arizona to work on his Ph.D.
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August 2002: Charles Lafon of Texas A&M and Henri Grissino-Mayer receive the lab's first major grant of $280,000 to investigate the fire history of Table Mountain pine in central Virginia. Go, team!
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October 2002: New Ph.D. student Georgina Wight joins the LTRS. Her dissertation research will involve reconstructing the fire history of Table Mountain pine stands in Virginia.
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November 2002: Sally Horn, Ken Orvis, and Henri Grissino-Mayer initiate dendroecological research on the island of Abaco in the Bahamas. Seriously. Really. The Bahamas...
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January 2003: The LTRS receives its second major grant, $153,000 from the NSF, from a masterful proposal organized and co-written by Ken Orvis. AND, the grant provides our first funded Research Technician, Daniel Lewis.
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January 2003: We initiate new research using oxygen isotopes to reconstruct monsoon variability in the American Southwest with student Whitney Nelson.
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June 2003: The LTRS receives its third major grant, $150,000 from the NSF, to analyze oxygen isotope ratios in tree rings to study past hurricane activity, with Dr. Claudia I. Mora as co-principal investigator.
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July 2003: Daniel Lewis receives his master's degree studying the fire regimes on kipukas in El Malpais National Monument, while Jake Cseke receives his master's degree studying gap phase dynamics from tree rings in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
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August 2003: We welcome three new graduate students to the laboratory, Saskia van de Gevel (Ph.D.), Evan Larson (M.S.), and Alison Miller (M.S.), while David Mann (Ph.D.) rejoins us after a year in Afghanistan serving his country.
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Fall 2003: Our lab continues to grow quickly as we welcome two new graduate students to the laboratory, Joe Henderson (Ph.D.) and Chris Underwood (M.S.).
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March 2004: We begin investigating Abraham Lincoln's log cabin in Hodgenville, Kentucky, to assess its authenticity based on tree-ring analyses. This research is soon featured on the History Channel.
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May 2004: We say goodbye and congratulations to Beth Atchley for completing her master's degree, investigating the declining Torreya taxifolia in northern Florida.
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August 2004: We welcome new Ph.D. student Justin Hart from the University of Alabama, who's interested in modeling gap phase dynamics in southern Appalachian forests.
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August 2004. We also welcome Michelle Pfeffer, a talented undergraduate major, who will be conducted her senior honor's thesis research in our laboratory!
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November 2004: The LTRS continues to bring in grants from the Tennessee Historical Commission, the Suwannee River Water Management District, and Wake Forest University.
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December 2004: We initiate new research collaborating with Scott Schlarbaum and Stacy Clark in the Department of Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries, analyzing butternut decline in the Appalachians.
The LTRS Matures: 2005 to the Present
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February 2005: We are proud to learn that Saskia van de Gevel is awarded a very prestigious Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement grant from the National Science Foundation. Congratulations, Saskia!
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April 2005: Saskia van de Gevel and Evan Larson are both awarded the Robert G. Long Outstanding Graduate Student Awards from the Department of Geography! Congratulations Saskia and Evan!
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April 2005: More good news: David Mann is awarded the Outstanding Teaching Associate Award from the Department of Geography, while Georgina Wight is awarded a Student Publication Award. Congratulations David and Georgina!
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April 2005: More awards! Justin Hart received a fellowship grant from the Torrey Botanical Society to attend this year's Dendroecological Fieldweek in Idaho. Congratulations, Justin!
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April 2005: Henri D. Grissino-Mayer was presented the Chancellor's Award for Professional Promise in Research and Creative Achievement, one of only two faculty members so awarded from the entire university.
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April 2005: Yet another award! We are proud to report that Georgina Wight is awarded a prestigious Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant from the National Science Foundation! Congratulations, Georgina!
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Summer 2005: The LTRS initiates new research projects funded by the National Science Foundation (2 projects), the Tennessee Historical Commission, the USDA Forest Service, The Hermitage (Nashville), and Tannenbaum State Park (NC), totaling over $50,000!
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September 2005: We formally say goodbye to Evan Larson. Evan spent just two years in our lab and in that time completed his master's thesis on fire history of whitebark pine, earned a minor in environmental policy, and earned a very prestigious EPA STAR Fellowship to continue his research at the University of Minnesota. We'll miss you, Evan.
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October 2005: We welcome two new graduate students, Jessica Brogden (M.S.) and Lisa Wilkins (Ph.D) to the LTRS. Welcome! (and good luck!)
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December 2005: More student grants! We are proud to report that David Mann is awarded a prestigious Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant from the National Science Foundation! Congratulations, David!
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February 2006: On February 21, we are all deeply saddened and shocked to learn that our own Michelle Pfeffer passed away from leukemia. She was an integral part of our lab for nearly a year and a half, helping out on numerous fieldtrips and demonstrating her stewardship of the Earth. We will never forget your lesson to us: "I am myself and what is around me; if I do not save it, it will not save me."
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April 2006: Saskia van de Gevel and Tim Green, an undergraduate assistant in our lab, are both awarded $3,000 from the W.K. McClure Fund for the Study of World Affairs at the University of Tennessee to travel to China and Mongolia in June to participate in the international dendrochronology conference and fieldweek!
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April 2006: More Awards! Justin Hart, Saskia van de Gevel, and Georgina DeWeese are presented Student Publication Awards. Chris Underwood is presented the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, Saskia van de Gevel is presented the Outstanding Teaching Associate Award, and Georgina DeWeese and Joe Henderson are presented Exceptional Professional Accomplishment awards! Congratulations everyone!
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April 2006: We're proud to report that Justin Hart, Chris Underwood, and Saskia van de Gevel have all been awarded prestigious GK-12 fellowships through a grant to Dr. Sally Horn and Dr. Ken Orvis from the National Science Foundation.
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May 2006: The LTRS receives another large grant, this time from the Joint Fire Science Program, for $300,000. Collaborators include Dr. Henri D. Grissino-Mayer, Dr. Charles W. Lafon of Texas A&M, and Dr. Sally P. Horn. The grant will support graduate student Lisa LaForest for three years.
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May 2006: Another student grant! We are proud to report that Justin Hart is awarded a prestigious Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant from the National Science Foundation! Congratulations, Justin!
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May 2006: We say good-bye to Joe Henderson who completed a masterful dissertation on the climate and fire history of longleaf pine. Joe, you brightened up our laboratory with your expertise and wit. The lab will never be the same without you.
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June 2006: At the 7th International Conference on Dendrochronology held in Beijing, China, Saskia van de Gevel won Honorable Mention in the Student Paper Competition, while Henri D. Grissino-Mayer was presented with an Outstanding Service Award!
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February 2007: We also say a fond farewell to Chris Underwood who successfully defended his master's thesis, which involved reconstructing past climate from western junipers in central Oregon. We'll miss you, Chris! Luckily for us, Chris will be entering our Ph.D. program working with Dr. Sally Horn on soil charcoal analyses!
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February 2007: Congratulations to Georgina DeWeese who was recently hired as a tenure-track Assistant Professor at the University of West Georgia beginning in Fall 2007!
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February 2007: Congratulations also to Justin Hart who was just hired by the University of North Alabama as a tenure-track Assistant Professor beginning in Fall 2007!
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April 2007: Justin Hart was recently honored with a University of Tennessee Citation Award for Extraordinary Professional Promise!
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April 2007: Alison Miller successfully defended her master's research project on the fire history of Abaco Island in the Bahamas. We will miss you, Alison! Luckily for us, she loves her job in the Graduate School at the University of Tennessee!
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April 2007: Congratulations to Justin Hart, who received the Department of Geography's Robert G. Long Outstanding Graduate Student Award!
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April 2007: More awards! Georgina DeWeese and Justin Hart received Student Publication Awards, Lisa LaForest received the Exceptional Professional Promise Award, David Mann received the Outstanding Teaching Associate Award, while Jessica Brogden received the Outstanding Teaching Assistant award. Congratulations all!
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May 2007: Saskia van de Gevel is awarded a second year NSF GK-12 Fellowship!
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May 2007: Another sad good-bye. Justin Hart successfully defended his dissertation on the disturbance ecology and stand dynamics of a site in the Cumberland Plateau. Best to you, Justin!
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July 2007: Georgina DeWeese joined us in Fall 2002 and we're proud to report she successfully defended her dissertation, turned it in to the Grad School, and has started her new job at the University of West Georgia. We'll miss your wry sense of humor, Georgina!
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August 2007: We welcome three new graduate students to the LTRS: John Sakulich (M.S. Penn State), Mark Spond (M.S. Arkansas), and Ian Feathers (B.A. Tennessee) bring a wealth of expertise and field experience to the lab. Welcome!
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December 2007: David Mann was a mainstay in our lab for over 7 years, since my arrival here in 2000. We're pleased to announce that Dave completed his Ph.D. degree and is now an Ensign in the Meteorology and Oceanography Command of the United States Navy! Now, I don't know who to route for, Army (Dr. Joe Henderson) or Navy (Dr. David Mann)!
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February 2008: We're happy to report that Saskia van de Gevel was offered and has accepted a position as Lecturer at Appalachian State University beginning this fall!
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April 2008: John Sakulich and Mark Spond are awarded NSF Fellowships through our GK-12 Earth Science Program!
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April 2008: At the Department's annual awards ceremony, Saskia van de Gevel, Jessica Slayton, and Maggie Stevens received Student Publication Awards, Saskia van de Gevel and Mark Spond received the Exceptional Professional Promise Award, and Christine Biermann and Ian Feathers received the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Awards. Congratulations all!
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April 2008: We're very proud that our own Philip White was awarded the Michelle D. Pfeffer Outstanding Senior Award in our department! Phil is now on his way to Appalachian State University where he will work with Saskia van de Gevel and Pete Soule.
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April 2008: Henri D. Grissino-Mayer was chosen to receive the Team Excellence Award from the Department of Human Resources and the Office of Disability Services! Henri also received the Department's Outstanding Teaching Award.
* For future reference (and in case anyone ever writes a book about this), this occurred at the Campsite fire history site at the beginning of the Mesita Blanca Road, on the very south end of Little Hole-in-the-Wall. I was sitting on some very uncomfortable lava rocks on the south side of our tarp, enjoying some excellent tequila.