The Southeast Alaska Keck Team of 2025 Begins Work on the Dendrochronology of Red Cedars

Guest Blogger: Lynnsey Delio, The Keck Geology 2025 team has been working in the Wooster dendrochronology lab for the first week of research. The team cored the oak tree in front of Scovel on day 1 for some practice coring. They also made use of the woodshop in Scovel Hall and practiced sanding and mounting cores. 

Dexter, Lynnsey, Lev, and Landon coring the oak tree in front of Scovel Hall. 

Lev with a core reveal!

The team has also been working with programs COFECHA and CooRecorder in the computer lab to mark the tree rings on red cedars from Southeast Alaska. They have been working to create an optimized red cedar tree ring series for the area, dating back centuries. This data can be used to compare to other tree ring series and look for climate signals and responses. These climate responses can be analyzed from a global climate perspective to understand the correlation between dendrochronology and global climate phenomena.  

To accurately date the cedar cores, the team used cores from previously dated red cedars in Southeast Alaska to correlate them to the undated samples. Some of these previously dated cores included logged trees that were intended for use in totem poles. 

The team and Nick in the computer lab working with the dendrochronology programs. 

A close-up of one of the red cedars marked by CooRecorder. 

Some of the oldest red cedars in the area were taken from dead trees. Red cedars are naturally rot-resistant and can stand dead for centuries. Because of this, the Keck team actually dated a core to the year 1130. Dating this far back in history will give our team and others access to climate information far beyond the observed record.  

During one of the cooler days of the week, the team piled into Nick and Dr. Wiles’ cars for an afternoon in Wooster Memorial Park. There, they got lots of practice coring the hemlocks in the park. 

The team watching as Nick explains the wonderful art of coring trees. 

Lev and Nick taking a core from “Big Boy.” 

Landon with a boulder as Dr. Wiles takes a detour from dendrochronology and explains the geomorphology of Wooster Memorial Park. 

The team testing out their boots before venturing into the Alaskan rainforest (they work!).

Source: https://woostergeologists.scotblogs.wooster.edu/2025/07/02/the-southeast-alaska-keck-team-of-2025-begins-work-on-the-dendrochronology-of-red-cedars/