Atlas Dwyer

Contributing Writer

On Thursday, Sept. 17, 2024, the earth sciences department (ESCI) at The College of Wooster hosted the first meeting in an annual seminar series, where two ESCI seniors showcase their I.S. research every Thursday. It allows the department (in conjunction with the Woo GeoClub) to further its goals of outreach to the wider student population and give its seniors an opportunity to practice presenting scientific topics to a general audience.

The two presenting seniors on Sept. 17 were Amanda Flory ’25 and Lilly Hinkley ’25. Flory presented first, introducing the audience to her I.S. topic focused on the field of dendrochronology, the study of tree rings. Tree rings are the layers within a tree’s trunk that aid in recording its age: each year that a tree grows, another layer is added. These layers also provide environmental context for the tree’s local geography and climate, as the rings will differ based on ice storms, earthquakes, droughts and volcanic eruptions. Flory explained how tree rings from Southeast Alaska might be used to determine the extent and persistence of major volcanic eruptions and how they influence global climate patterns. She decided on researching this topic after a visit to Alaska.  

Flory is examining rings from yellow cedar trees in her study. She decided on this kind of tree because of its extensive chronological data range, with an average lifespan of 100-1500 years. This lifespan provides scientists with a massive amount of climate and volcanic data. Additionally, yellow cedar trees are highly sensitive to the summer temperatures found in Flory’s research site and are more likely to record smaller anomalies or climate events. 

“I thought that was a great opportunity,” Flory said. “We decided on using Alaskan tree rings and looking at that with the PDO [Pacific-Decadal Oscillation].” The PDO is a long-term driver of climate patterns in the North Pacific Ocean, characterized by phases of warm, damp air or cool, dry air over the Gulf of Alaska. The cooler periods can be severely disrupted by volcanic activity. These disruptions are what Flory’s I.S. intends to analyze.

Next, Hinkley presented her I.S. research. Hinkley is investigating submarine iceberg geometry, focusing on how the geometry of an iceberg can be used to estimate the total underwater ice mass it took from its parent glacier. A glacier is a massive accumulation of snow, ice and other organic materials that freeze over long stretches of time. Icebergs are huge chunks of ice that break off from glacial formations and drift on the ocean surface. 

To accomplish this, Hinkley examined ice-penetrated radar data from 12 fjords across Greenland and analyzed the glacial formations inside each one. She then visualized them as radargrams — a 2D representation of radiometric data. After optimizing the radargrams, Hinkley found the keel depth (the lowest point of the glacier), as well as the left and right boundaries of each glacier.  

Hinkley’s study found that there were notable differences in glacial shape and depth depending on whether they were in northern or southern fjords, averaging around 100 km in depth overall. Glacial formation also seemed to have a strong impact. Glaciers ending in cliff faces created narrower and deeper icebergs, while glaciers terminating in floating ice shelves created wider and shallower icebergs. Hinkley wants to look further into the stability of these glacial formations and investigate how keel shape relates to ocean waters separating into distinct stratification, or layers. 

When asked why she decided to focus on icebergs, Hinkley said, “This summer, I did an REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) at Cornell. I thought [the research] was really interesting, and since I was doing the research already throughout the summer and had to come up with a presentation and an abstract for AGU (American Geophysical Union) in the fall, I just decided to continue working on it.”

 Abroad and off-campus study helped direct both students toward their current I.S. projects. “Going to Alaska was pretty interesting,” said Flory. “It was really educational to see how field research actually works, and spending a week specifically working on research, meeting people, getting those connections.” Similarly, Hinkley stated, “I think getting to work at Cornell … seeing how their department works, working with different mentors … being able to try something new [but] still in my field of interest, but doing something I’ve not done before was really cool.”

When asked what their goals were after I.S. after their respective journeys at Wooster were complete, Hinkley said, “I would like to publish [my research], if possible. Presenting at different conferences like AGU or GSA … would be a really good opportunity to expose other people and myself to different research fields … I’d like to get better at writing, also.” 

Flory shared similar sentiments with her peer. 

“I would like to gain research skills … for graduate school and learn how to manage research with other things in my life, too,” Flory said. “I think I want to enjoy the learning process and the ups and downs. I want to enjoy even the worst parts. ESCI rocks.”