Walking into the Livingston County Museum, Geneseo residents found illustrative posters on the walls, a long wooden canoe suspended in the air and an interesting presentation about nature’s newest findings. Two Geneseo professors revealed some of those newest findings at a presentation on Sunday Sept. 16.
Assistant professor of geography Stephen Tulowiecki and professor of geography David Robertson have studied the history of Genesee Valley oak trees with student researchers. With the project’s funding from the National Science Foundation, their main objective is to find information about the land’s composition and about the initial Native American use of the land.
With the vast ecological and climactic changes these forests have undergone throughout the years, the geographers have set out to inquire about whether the decline of oak trees is a result of human or environmental influence.
To introduce the analysis, the geography professors played a video for audience members to show the importance of studying oak trees and the challenges researchers face when following historical changes. The clip illustrated the process of research and examination in scientific findings.
An unnamed student scientist featured in the video emphasized the importance of creativity when conducting research.
“[We need to] make a lot of assumptions ourselves and we have to do that to the best of our abilities,” the student said. “So, at times I feel sort of like a geographical detective. We have to try and recreate and see how they change over time.”
Since this land composition was originally Native American soil, Robertson, Tulowiecki and their students have attempted to analyze whether the declining population of oak trees is due to its previous human treatment and behavior.
“To infer environmental and Native American influences on forced composition prior to European American arrival by developing quantitative models of tree species distribution using land survey records and archival based course history,” Tulowiecki said.
In order for these analysts to understand the previous conditions of the landmark, they read and analyzed original land survey records.
The journals are from Europeans who described the miles of Genesee land hundreds of years ago. Each page in these notebooks describes a land form and any information about its physical features including its soil, trees and its scarcity.
The first land survey was conducted by European Americans. These field notes contain descriptions of the tree species as well as the soil conditions that they found as they were surveying.
While the researchers aim to learn more about oak tree history, many of the audience members learned about methods of data source and historical records that are unknown to many. With the new documentation that describes the land and the history, the research will help to preserve both the oak trees and the larger environment.