I like to think of Dr. Neil Pederson as a detective. We met in his office at the Harvard Forest Long Term Ecological Research site (HFR-LTER), on the second floor of one of their many beautiful buildings in what feels like a college campus. Multiple sections of tree trunks sit here and there, polished so that the tree rings are clearly visible. Post-it notes and circular stickers mark years of particular interest, perhaps documenting a flood or a fire.

From his office in Massachusetts, Pederson and I travelled across time and space as he showcased cores from the nearby southeast U.S. and as far as Asia. Trees have the magical ability to describe the past, but also have a lot to say about the here and now.

Read the entire blog on the LTER website!