Audrey Hales - Fear to Hope

  Dr. Atkinson joined us in class to discuss his ongoing Fear to Hope project and research. The mission of the project is to shift people’s headspace about climate change from fear to hope and simultaneously conduct research about how Atlantic white cedar trees react to increased levels of salinity. It was super interesting to hear his passion and excitement for the project, and his enthusiasm was contagious. We learned that the Atlantic white cedar trees are slowly dying along eastern coast lines because of rising sea levels increasing the salinity of their waters, creating ghost forests. This greatly impacts their ecosystems and other living things depending on these Atlantic white cedar trees. This is an issue at the Great Dismal Swamp, and Dr. Atkinson proposed a recommendation to the park service to build dams and levees for an estimated two million dollars to avoid a fire and protect the trees. The park did not listen to his recommendation, and later on there was a big fire that burned all the trees down and cost approximately 12 million dollars. This research is ongoing on campus and can be viewed outside of Mcmurran in front of the great lawn, which was inspired by Maya Lin’s display in Madison Square. 

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