http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu Thu, 23 May 2013 21:18:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2013/05/13/climate-and-conquest-how-did-genghis-khan-rise/ http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2013/05/13/climate-and-conquest-how-did-genghis-khan-rise/#comments Mon, 13 May 2013 18:29:08 +0000 Kevin Krajick http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/?p=33146 Eight hundred years ago, relatively small armies of mounted warriors suddenly exploded outward from the cold, arid high-elevation grasslands of Mongolia and reshaped world geography, culture and history in ways that still resound today. How did they do it? ]]> http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2013/05/13/climate-and-conquest-how-did-genghis-khan-rise/feed/ 0 http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2013/03/28/ill-go-on-a-cross-date-if-you-show-me-some-rings/ http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2013/03/28/ill-go-on-a-cross-date-if-you-show-me-some-rings/#comments Fri, 29 Mar 2013 01:04:08 +0000 Guest Blogger http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/?p=35286 Ever since I've started learning to cross-date tree core samples, I've learned I have a type. I prefer my tree cores to be black oaks, middle-aged, with some nice big rings to show me. Alright, fine, I can deal with some smaller rings every now and then. As long as they’re some nice marker rings. Unfortunately, the trees don’t seem to be trying to impress me.]]> http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2013/03/28/ill-go-on-a-cross-date-if-you-show-me-some-rings/feed/ 0 http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2013/02/28/are-you-using-this-idea-for-your-thesis-research/ http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2013/02/28/are-you-using-this-idea-for-your-thesis-research/#comments Fri, 01 Mar 2013 01:53:00 +0000 Neil Pederson http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/?p=34728 “Are you using this idea for your thesis research?” I heard this as I stood in front of a classroom full of old-growth forest ecology students. The question had come from Neil Pederson, who was sitting directly in front of me. He was asking this question because I had just spent the past 12 minutes discussing the intricacies of land snail biology and ecology that would make them great organisms to use for ecological modeling in regards to disturbance.]]> http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2013/02/28/are-you-using-this-idea-for-your-thesis-research/feed/ 0 http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2012/09/21/dipping-your-feet-in-the-water-a-first-years-experience-with-fieldwork/ http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2012/09/21/dipping-your-feet-in-the-water-a-first-years-experience-with-fieldwork/#comments Fri, 21 Sep 2012 14:07:48 +0000 Guest Blogger http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/?p=30765 My feet are soaking wet and I’m playing a game of Marco Polo, but I’m nowhere near a pool. It’s my second day on the job. It’s my second week of college. I have no idea what to expect.]]> http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2012/09/21/dipping-your-feet-in-the-water-a-first-years-experience-with-fieldwork/feed/ 0 http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2012/09/06/epic-wetness-in-the-greater-new-york-city-region-and-what-broadleaf-trees-have-to-say-about-it/ http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2012/09/06/epic-wetness-in-the-greater-new-york-city-region-and-what-broadleaf-trees-have-to-say-about-it/#comments Thu, 06 Sep 2012 12:32:12 +0000 Neil Pederson http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/?p=30071 2012 is turning out to be an exceptional year in the eastern US. Starting out with what was essentially a #YearWithoutaWinter, followed by a heat wave in March, a hot summer, Macoun and Cortland apples coming in 2-3 weeks early, and the continuation of a severe drought in the Southern US that expanded into the Midwest [...]]]> http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2012/09/06/epic-wetness-in-the-greater-new-york-city-region-and-what-broadleaf-trees-have-to-say-about-it/feed/ 3 http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2012/06/17/finally-some-true-turkish-delight-discovery-of-some-tasty-oaks/ http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2012/06/17/finally-some-true-turkish-delight-discovery-of-some-tasty-oaks/#comments Sun, 17 Jun 2012 15:53:32 +0000 Neil Pederson http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/?p=28096 After a few days of mild frustration, the sampling of potentially old umbrella pine lifted our spirits and put us in a good frame of mind to conduct our last day of research in the temperate rainforest region of northeastern Turkey. We headed out of Borçka and met with a forest officer in charge of forests [...]]]> http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2012/06/17/finally-some-true-turkish-delight-discovery-of-some-tasty-oaks/feed/ 0 http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2012/03/18/charismatic-megaflora-what-do-old-trees-look-like/ http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2012/03/18/charismatic-megaflora-what-do-old-trees-look-like/#comments Sun, 18 Mar 2012 18:01:04 +0000 Neil Pederson http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/?p=24105 Charismatic megaflora? What kind of a tree might that be? As with many things, one person's charismatic megaflora is another person's tree. For myself, a tree that would draw and hold my attention as a younger person/student is very different than my current definition of a charismatic tree. ]]> http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2012/03/18/charismatic-megaflora-what-do-old-trees-look-like/feed/ 4