TREES Lab Faculty, Staff and Students

Dr. J Elmo Rawling III
Office: 242 Gardner Hall
Tel: 608.342.1680
E-mail: rawlingj@uwplatt.edu
Website: http://www.uwplatt.edu/~rawlingj

Elmo is a geomorpholgist interested in recent Earth history. Specifically, he focuses on eolian processes, soil geomorphology and Geat Lakes shoreline processes. Elmo uses sediment analysis and luminescence dating in his research.

Kristine E Gruley
Office: 255 Gardner Hall
Tel: 608.342.7124
E-mail: gruleyk@uwplatt.edu
Website: https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/gruley/web/Kristysite/

Kristy is a geomorphologist interested in how paleoenvironmental changes have affected soil development and landscapes.  She has experience working in loess deposits and sandy soils of north central Wisconsin, as well as relict permafrost features in Michigan.  Kristy employs soil analysis and GIS in her research.

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Current Students

Gabriel Brownell
Geography

Gabriel analyzed cores collected from whitebark pine, subalpine fir, and lodgepole pine from the Wallowa Mountains of Oregon. Gabriel participated in a 2012 WiscAMP project assessing the effects of invasive earthworms on tree growth in the Chequamegon National Forest in northern Wisconsin, and collecting and analyzing cores from old-growth eastern hemlock trees from Porcupine Mountain Wilderness State Park, that were used to update chronologies developed in the early 1980s.

Sarah Scott
Biology

Sarah processed and analyzed soil samples collected from 16 isolated forest patches in the naturally fragmented landscape of Granlandet, northern Sweden, in order to extract and quantify soil charcoal as a proxy for past fire activity. Sarah also measured tree-ring samples collected from spruce and birch trees growing in Grandlandet to examine how climate-tree growth relationships vary across forest patches of different area and composition.

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Past Students

Christiane Alepuz
Christiane participated in the 2012 DUGG REU project analyzing dune and shoreline evolution along Lake Michigan.

Irina Beal
Irina participated in the 2010 DUGG REU project analyzing dune evolution along the shores of Lake Michigan and presented at the 2010 Geological Society of America Meeting in Denver.

Melissa Bradley
Melissa worked on several  projects in the Geomorphology laboratory.

Carolyn Branecky
Carolyn participated in the 2011 DUGG REU project analyzing dune and shoreline evolution along Lake Michigan and presented at the 2011 Geological Society of America Meeting in Minneapolis.

Brooke Burich
Brooke participated in the 2010 DUGG REU project analyzing dune evolution along the shores of Lake Michigan.  She also returned for the 2011 program as the project assistant and worked on an independent project assessing the impact of earthworms on soil particle-size distribution.  She presented her research at the 2010 Geological Society of America Meeting in Denver and The Association of American Geographers Westlakes Division Meeting in Chicago.

David Burney
David worked on a PRF funded project analyzing dunes on the Central Sand Plain of Wisconsin.

Emily Butteris
Emily worked on a WGNHS project analyzing Glacial Lake Oshkosh sediment.

Eli Caywood
Eli worked on a a PRF funded project analyzing dunes on the Central Sand Plain of Wisconsin and presented his research at the 2008 National Conference on Undergraduate Research in Salisbury.

Natalia Chavez
Natalia participated in the 2011 DUGG REU project analyzing dune and shoreline evolution along Lake Michigan and presented at the 2011 Geological Society of America Meeting in Minneapolis.

Shane Degan
Melissa worked on several  projects in the Geomorphology laboratory.

Amy Delbecq
Amy participated in the 2012 DUGG REU project analyzing dune and shoreline evolution along Lake Michigan and presented at the 2012 Geological Society of America Meeting in Charlotte.

Henry Dodge
Sustainable Development, College of the Menominee Nation
Henry participated in a 2011 WiscAMP project assessing the effects of invasive earthworms on tree growth in the sustainably managed Menominee Forest of northern Wisconsin.

McKaylee Duquain
UW-Madison
McKaylee participated in a 2012 WiscAMP project assessing the effects of invasive earthworms on tree growth in the Chequamegon National Forest in northern Wisconsin, and collecting and analyzing cores from old-growth eastern hemlock trees from Porcupine Mountain Wilderness State Park, that were used to update chronologies developed in the early 1980s.

Leon Fowler
Sustainable Development, College of the Menominee Nation
Leon participated in a 2011 WiscAMP project assessing the effects of invasive earthworms on tree growth in the sustainably managed Menominee Forest of northern Wisconsin.

Jessica Fenske
Jessica worked on a Geological Society of America Gladys W Cole Award funded project in the White River Badlands.

Nick Flinner
Nick worked on a number of projects in the TREES Lab including the analysis of tamarack tree-ring samples to detect past larch sawfly outbreaks, an assessment of earthworm impacts on the maple forests around Bay Lake, Minnesota, and chronology development from old-growth longleaf pine trees in Florida. Nick also participated in DUGG during the summer of 2010 where he gained experience using ground penetrating radar and conducting particle size analysis. Upon graduating from UW-Platteville, Nick is pursuing a M.S. degree in Geography at Indiana State University working with Dr. Jim Speer.

Brittany Frisch
Brittany assisted with the preparation and analysis of white spruce samples collected in the tundra-boreal ecotone of northern Manitoba. Her work helped describe the age structure and spatial distribution of two white spruce stands in upland and lowland settings and was a coauthor on Becky's poster at the 2010 AAG.

Leonardo Gamboa
Leo participated in the 2012 DUGG REU project analyzing dune and shoreline evolution along Lake Michigan and presented at the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science Meeting in Seattle.

Nicole Grabos
Nicole participated in the 2010 DUGG REU project analyzing dune evolution along the shores of Lake Michigan and presented at the 2010 Geological Society of America Meeting in Denver.

Eric Grazia
Eric participated in the 2010 DUGG REU project analyzing dune evolution along the shores of Lake Michigan and presented at the 2010 Geological Society of America Meeting in Denver.

Matt Hanson
Matt participated in the 2010 DUGG REU project analyzing dune evolution along the shores of Lake Michigan and presented at the 2010 Geological Society of America Meeting in Denver.

Josh Hess
Josh worked with Molly to measure tree-ring samples collected from white spruce growing at Arctic Treeline in northern Manitoba in order to gain a better understanding of how changing climate conditions affect forest growth and landscape evolution in the Arctic.

Christina Hefron
Christina participated in the 2012 DUGG REU project analyzing dune and shoreline evolution along Lake Michigan and presented at the 2012 Geological Society of America Meeting in Charlotte.

Daniel Hobbs
Daniel participated in the 2011 DUGG REU project analyzing dune and shoreline evolution along Lake Michigan and presented at the 2011 Geological Society of America Meeting in Minneapolis.

Allison Hudack
Allison worked with whitebark pine tree-ring samples collected in the Eagle Cap Wilderness to create an 1,100 year long tree-ring chronology. She presented her results at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers in Washington, D.C.

Brody Knaak
Brody helped analyze the basal area increment of trees growing in northern Manitoba and participated in a 2011 WiscAMP project assessing the effects of invasive earthworms on tree growth in the sustainably managed Menominee Forest of northern Wisconsin.

Michaela Kim
Michaela participated in the 2012 DUGG REU project analyzing dune and shoreline evolution along Lake Michigan and presented at the 2012 Geological Society of America Meeting in Charlotte.

Steve LaBarge
Steve has worked with both sediment and tree rings in his time at the TREES Lab. He has experience collecting tree-ring samples, analyzing red spruce, maple, and white pine tree-ring samples, and conducting particle size analysis. You can see some of Steve’s presentations online.

Katherine Lidbury
David worked on a PRF funded project analyzing dunes on the Central Sand Plain of Wisconsin and presented at the Geological Society of America North Central meeting in Lawrence.

James Markham
James analyzed cores collected from old-growth red spruce trees growing on Ironbound Island off the coast of Maine and near Acadia National Park. The data he developed were used to update chronologies originally sampled in the early 1980s.

Meaghan McGuire
Meaghan worked on several  projects in the Geomorphology laboratory.

Bethany Meskel
 Bethany participated in the 2010 DUGG REU project analyzing dune evolution along the shores of Lake Michigan and presented at the 2010 Geological Society of America Meeting in Denver.

Bennett Morris
Bennett worked on a a PRF funded project analyzing dunes on the Central Sand Plain of Wisconsin and presented his research at the 2008 National Conference on Undergraduate Research in Salisbury.

Ray Nechvatal
Ray participated in the 2012 DUGG REU project analyzing dune and shoreline evolution along Lake Michigan and presented at the 2012 Geological Society of America Meeting in Charlotte.

Christian Neumann
Christian participated in the 2011 DUGG REU project analyzing dune and shoreline evolution along Lake Michigan and presented at the 2011 Geological Society of America Meeting in Minneapolis.

Maura O’Brien
Maura participated in the 2011 DUGG REU project analyzing dune and shoreline evolution along Lake Michigan and presented at the 2011 Geological Society of America Meeting in Minneapolis.

Rachel Oien
Rachel participated in the 2011 DUGG REU project analyzing dune and shoreline evolution along Lake Michigan and presented at the 2011 Geological Society of America Meeting in Minneapolis.

Nathan Petesh
Nathan worked on several  projects in the Geomorphology laboratory.

Elizabeth Polk
Elizabeth worked on several  projects in the Geomorphology laboratory.

Rebecca Puta
Rebecca worked on a project analyzing proglacial lake sediments in the Baraboo Hills and presented her research at the 2009 Geological Society of America North Central Meeting in Rockford.

Brock Reeson
Brock assisted with the preparation and analysis of white spruce samples collected in the tundra-boreal ecotone of northern Manitoba.

Jacob Ruiz
Jacob participated in the 2011 DUGG REU project analyzing dune and shoreline evolution along Lake Michigan and presented at the 2011 Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science Meeting in San Jose.

Colleen Smith
Colleen analyzed cores collected from old-growth white pine trees growing at several sites in Acadia National Park that were used to update chronologies developed in the early 1990s.

Brandon  Soldner
Brandon worked on several  projects in the Geomorphology laboratory.

Alison Swantez
Alison worked on a Geological Society of America Gladys W Cole Award funded project in the White River Badlands.

Courtney Targos
Courtney participated in the 2011 DUGG REU project analyzing dune and shoreline evolution along Lake Michigan.  She returned as the project assistant in 2012 and worked on an independent project analyzing ground penetrating radar of barrier beach systems.  She has presented her research at the 2011 & 2012 Geological Society of America Meetings in Minneapolis and Charlotte, and the North Central Division Meeting in Dayton.

Jill Thalacker
Jill worked on a PRF funded project analyzing dunes on the Central Sand Plain of Wisconsin and presented his research at the 2008 National Conference on Undergraduate Research in Salisbury.

Sara Timmerman
Sara assisted with the preparation and analysis of white spruce samples collected in the tundra-boreal ecotone of northern Manitoba. Her work helped describe the age structure and spatial distribution of two white spruce stands in upland and lowland settings and was a coauthor on Becky's poster at the 2010 AAG.

Becky Trewartha
Becky studied growth patterns in white spruce trees growing in contrasting lowland and upland settings along the tundra-boreal ecotone of northern Manitoba. She presented her results at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers in Washington, D.C.

Sharri Valosek
Sharri assisted with the preparation and analysis of white spruce samples collected in the tundra-boreal ecotone of northern Manitoba. Her work helped describe the age structure and spatial distribution of two white spruce stands in upland and lowland settings and was a coauthor on Becky's poster at the 2010 AAG.

Brennan Waupoose
Sustainable Development, College of the Menominee Nation
Brennan participated in a 2012 WiscAMP project assessing the effects of invasive earthworms on tree growth in the Chequamegon National Forest in northern Wisconsin, and collecting and analyzing cores from old-growth eastern hemlock trees from Porcupine Mountain Wilderness State Park, that were used to update chronologies developed in the early 1980s.

Matt Weisenberget
Matt worked on several  projects in the Geomorphology laboratory.

Molly Wright
Molly worked to measure tree-ring samples collected from white spruce growing at Arctic Treeline in northern Manitoba in order to gain a better understanding of how changing climate conditions affect forest growth and landscape evolution in the Arctic.

Jody Wycech
Jody participated in the 2010 DUGG REU project analyzing dune evolution along the shores of Lake Michigan and presented at the 2010 Geological Society of America Meeting in Denver.

Aaron Young
Aaron worked on a project analyzing sediment associated with a Mammoth Tooth in Colorado.

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