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The new grant funding will deepen an ongoing collaboration with scientists at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the University of St. Andrews and will develop new connections with scientists in Australia and New Zealand. 

Because of his international collaborators, this project will not involve much field work directly for Druckenbrod. But it will provide the opportunity, he says, to apply new approaches and scientific methods while gleaning information from existing samples and collections. 

“Tree rings have been traditionally assessed by measuring their width, which leads to a lot of insight about the past environment,” Druckenbrod says. “We’re now looking at how they absorb and reflect light — a different way of accessing or quantifying a climate signal.”

Three ������ý���� students will assist Druckenbrod with primary data analysis as he pushes ahead into new territory: Robby Arpaio, a junior majoring in marine sciences, Stessie Chounoune, a junior majoring in environmental sciences, and Gabby Banyacski, a sophomore majoring in environmental sciences. 

The scope of the three-year project will give these students the opportunity to conduct research over an extended period of time in collaboration with premier research institutions like Columbia. Their involvement may also include working on publications and conference presentations.

“I’m still not exactly sure what I want from a career, but I definitely know I have an interest in the environment," says Banyacski, who is also a member of ������ý����'s Green Team, a group of student volunteers working to improve campus sustainability. "I’m really excited to be able to experience what research can be and see if it's something I want to continue pursuing. It's possible I'll be able to experience this project from start to finish."

Druckenbrod has been collaborating with other scientists since he began studying the environment at the University of Virginia, where he earned a doctorate in 2003. He has worked closely with partners on major historical sites in the Eastern United States, including Monticello and Mount Vernon, which were the agricultural plantations of Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, respectively. 

The importance of scientific collaboration, Druckenbrod says, continues to grow. “The problems we need to tackle are so complex and involve so many disciplines, they are best answered with a team of scientists. At ������ý����, collaboration is also a great way to generate connections for students.”

The imperative to act in solving climate change has been evident to Druckenbrod since he was a graduate student. “There's always been an urgency, but it has increased over the past couple of decades,” he says. “It has come to the point where the effects of climate change are more evident and more pronounced than ever. Personally, it makes me motivated as both a researcher and a teacher to not only contribute to the science but also to help people understand how the world is changing. There is a great opportunity here to make a difference.”