Dear Geographers and Sustainers,

We have two very cool courses focused on what we can learn about the history of people and places from "natural archives."  Natural archives, as opposed to written archives, allow us to learn about the history of people and places before written records, and in places where no one kept records.  What we can learn from these archives is sometimes amazingly detailed and exciting.  The records are of utmost importance in understanding climate change and human interactions with Earth, and for conservation planning.

One of our courses on natural archives is Geography 431, Environmental History from Lake Sediments (which I teach and some of you have taken!), and the other is Geography 432, Environmental History from Tree Rings.  Geography 432 has not been taught for awhile, but we are pleased that Dr. Matthew Kerr will be teaching it this semester. 

In a non-pandemic world, he would be planning field work coring trees and similar.  Because of the pandemic, this Spring's offering will have to be mainly virtual, but he has some ideas for a bit of outdoor field work you might do in your own neighborhood.  And it turns out that several universities teach courses like this remotely, so there must be a way!  What you learn in this course will complement your major in Geography or Sustainability and you will never look at a tree the same! 

Please see attached flyer and consider adding this course to your schedule!

And, happy holidays to all! 

Sincerely,

Sally Horn