Dr. Scott LaPoint, our Director of Research, chats with our outgoing postdoctoral fellow Dr. Hanna Makowski and our incoming postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Jennifer Wall, about their research experiences and plans going forward.
Scott: Wow Hanna, I can’t believe it’s been nearly two years since you started here. You’ve accomplished a lot. Tell us briefly what you’ve discovered and how you know.
Hanna: It’s hard to believe how many times I’ve looked up at the tree canopy in the last two years! But now I can confidently say that individual trees are either early or late to leaf out in the spring or drop their leaves in the fall, regardless of year-to-year environmental variation, elevation, or even tree size. Individuals are consistently early or late, year after year. And, for sugar maples, this early or late trait is associated with genetic variation!
Scott: Awesome. So you combined field work, lab work, and some sophisticated analyses. The trifecta! Which part was the most challenging and which part are you eager to do more of (or never again)?
Hanna: Haha, the best thing about being an evolutionary ecologist is cycling between being in the field and in the lab, being equally excited to get back to the other. I think all things have their challenges. I had a lot of challenges with experiments, equipment, and an epidemic during my PhD – so after pushing through all of that, I’m ready to take on anything!
And, not to be totally cheesy, but I felt incredibly supported by Black Rock Forest and the Reinmann and Carnaval labs at CUNY, so it made approaching challenges with a positive “ok, now how do we fix this” attitude easy.
The genetic results I have from the sugar maples are very preliminary and there are a lot of next steps, so I think sitting down at a computer and really getting into analyses is what I am eager to focus on. Oh, and not just sugar maples either, I have samples from the oaks too, so that’s another avenue we can explore!
Scott: Totally cheesy… Ha! I’m surprised you aren’t sick of looking at treetops with binoculars, after staring at 553 trees! Your time at Black Rock Forest ends in just a few months Hanna. What’s your next adventure?
Hanna: My time officially ends, but I’m expanding this project, so you guys are definitely not seeing the end of me! I am starting as a Climate Fellow in the Environmental Institute at the University of Virginia. I’m joining the Blumstein and Bergland lab, combining evolutionary genetics, tree physiology, and stakeholder engagement. I’ll be working to develop sugar maple into a cutting-edge model system for population genomic analyses and coordinating with forest stakeholders to use that genomic data to create planting guidance for conservation measures.
While I was working on sugar maple genetics at BRF, I noticed patterns that suggest there are three separate post-glacial expansion routes for sugar maples. Serendipitously, there are three major tree research institutions – Black Rock Forest, Holden Forest and Gardens, and Morton Arboretum – all at a similar latitude, each within a different genetic lineage. This provides some incredibly unique research opportunities and an exciting next step in my research career that will lead to a more wholistic understanding of forest persistence with climate change.
Scott: We’re happy to have you back any time. Keep sciencing! Any advice for Jen on how to survive Black Rock Forest and your first postdoc?
Hanna: Haha, “surviving” Black Rock Forest sounds so intense – from what I’ve learned about Jen, she is well positioned to thrive at Black Rock Forest and as a postdoc. My general first postdoc advice: going into something new, be ready to listen and take in different ideas and perspectives. Your world is going to open as you step out of the bubble of your graduate lab, but also feel confident in what you know, what your data shows, and your opinion and perspective. You trained for 4-5 years to be an expert, and you learned way more than just your specific dissertation topic. So don’t feel like you need prove yourself. You’re here for a reason. BRF recognizes you’re going to do awesome things, so just be you and do the best science you can do!
Jen: Thanks Hanna! I’m really excited to be here and will be sure to keep your thoughts and experiences in mind as I continue in my career here at Black Rock Forest. I’ve done a lot of work within the realm of behavioral ecology, but this is my first real dive into movement-specific models and questions. I’m looking forward to seeing how this project progresses.
Scott: Jen, you earned your Bachelor’s degree at the University of Maryland and then your PhD at the University of Montana. Two big schools and departments! What differences do you see between your time in those atmospheres and little ‘ole Black Rock Forest?
Jen: I think every organization can feel as big or as small as the community you surround yourself with. At larger universities and organizations, the plethora of options often leads to an element of anonymity within those communities. With Black Rock Forest, your community is built into the organization itself, and I think that really helps to develop meaningful connections. I’ve gotten a chance to tour a day-in-the-life of all of the major branches of Black Rock Forest, from Research to Education to Conservation and to really learn what makes Black Rock Forest special to the region. There’s a strength to the community of smaller organizations that often fosters more interdisciplinary collaboration, and I think I’m really fortunate to get to be a part of it all here at Black Rock Forest.
Scott: How flattering! Your research interests have taken you, and your camera, to some amazing places. Can you share one of your pictures that captures an incredible memory?
Jen: You know, the funny thing about wildlife photography is that often the most incredible encounters are the ones that are worth pausing to soak in the moment and so you’re never quite camera-ready, so to speak. Between my favorite photos and my favorite memories, there isn’t as much overlap as you’d think. So, here’s a two-for-one: one inferior photo coupled with one of my favorite memories and one really cool photo with a less eventful story, both from my work in Alaska.
It was the middle of July during my second summer in Alaska. We had traveled over 40 miles along a dirt road heading into Denali’s backcountry. The cloud banks hovered against the ground, covering the world in a thick, white, hazy mist. After the ennui of a never-ending white expanse for hours, the clouds broke for a brief moment in the valley below us, lifting the haze off the ground and revealing thousands of caribou. The herd seemed to stretch on for miles – everywhere we looked, there were more caribou wandering about and grazing. I turned to my colleagues, and they all had the same slack-jawed expression I did as we reveled in how unreal the moment seemed. This went on for about 10 minutes as we continued down the road. But, as quickly as they had parted, the clouds filled back in, merging with the ground and leaving us all in stunned silence. I did have the wherewithal to close my jaw at some point and try to snap a few photos that will never do the moment justice. In this one, you can just see the mist hovering over a small portion of Denali’s caribou herd that day. After talking to others about what we saw, we learned that we were the only lucky ones to see the herd from the road that summer, and in my three years of driving that road every day for four months, I’ve never seen something like it again.
Scott: Sounds NatGeo-esque! I’m jealous…
This second photo doesn’t have nearly as good of a backstory, but features a collared pika, one of the animals I spent months hiking through Denali’s backcountry to research. We encountered this individual after hiking up and over the barren remnants of an old landslide to an alpine meadow. Given the hike up, we didn’t expect to see any animals, but we were pleasantly surprised to find this little guy right near our research site for the day. Pictured here, this pika is acting as a sentinel for its community, keeping watch for any potential dangers, and having spotted us, is preparing to call out a warning.
Scott: I’m so terrible at taking pictures, that my best work is with our camera traps. Speaking of which, you’re the first postdoc here focusing on wildlife ecology. You’ve only been here a few months, but what have you been working on and what are your goals for the next two years?
Jen: You have gotten some great camera trap photos that I’m hoping to make use of while I’m here! I have two main research projects I’m tackling. This first is a continuation of the Hudson Highlands Wildlife Connectivity Project, where I’m hoping to pool together all of the amazing research data here at BRF, from biotelemetry to camera trap photos, to build a better picture of how our wildlife are interacting with and moving across the landscape throughout the Hudson Highlands region. My goals are to develop maps and other tools to quantify behavioral patterns and identify potential barriers to movement, so we can identify ways that facilitate more connections and increase the resiliency of our landscapes.
My second project was a bit more serendipitous in the making. Black Rock Forest has been monitoring deer in the forest for decades, but climate change has made traditional surveys less reliable. Simultaneously, there have been some recent methods proposed to quantity deer populations through camera trap photos. So I have been diving into the possibility of using our cameras to multi-task and not only provide data for our connectivity project (and your best photography…), but also monitor deer more sustainably within Black Rock Forest.
Scott: I’m looking forward to that but I’m biased!
Scott: Well, thank you Hanna for being an excellent research team member and for teaching us way more about tree relatedness than I ever knew before. And welcome aboard Jen! We’re all excited to learn from both of you, here and beyond!