Piecing together Patagonia's ancient vegetation

Fossil site in Patagonia, Argentina.

Most people hardly notice what's on the ground beneath their feet. But to researchers like Regan Dunn, a graduate student studying paleobotany at the University of Washington, fallen leaves provide invaluable clues to understanding how climate change impacted life on earth - and how our actions today will shape the future.

Regan is part of a team led by Caroline Strömberg, Burke Curator of Paleobotany, that is studying 40 to 18 million-year-old plant and animal fossils found in Patagonia, Argentina. “This was a time with major climate change and some extinction events, so we really want to understand how vegetation was affected by these changes.”

To understand the impact of climate change on Patagonia’s vegetation, they set out to reconstruct what types of vegetation existed in ancient Patagonia. To collect data, Regan visited Costa Rica - which has a modern climate similar to that of ancient Patagonia.

Science News Roundup: Mega crocs, mega fires and enamel-sporting crayfish!

Does this mean crayfish should brush?

A University of Iowa scientist has announced the discovery of the largest "true crocodile" in East Africa. At 27 feet long, Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni probably could have swallowed the 4-foot tall humans who lived alongside (but not too close!).

Analysis of a genetic database of horses indicates that domestic horses originated in the steppes of modern-day Ukraine, southwest Russia and west Kazakhstan and expanded out from there around 160,000 years ago. The herds were repeatedly restocked with wild horses as they spread across Eurasia, possibly by taking mares from the wild.

A Visit to the Herbarium

If you follow the Burke Museum’s blog regularly, you probably read the recent blog about my trip to the Burke’s Fisheries collection. Last week, I went on another behind the scenes tour to the Burke’s Herbarium.

The Herbarium has approximately 625,000 specimens that range from vascular plants, lichen, algae, mosses and fungi. The Burke Museum’s Herbarium has a primary focus of the flora of the Pacific Northwest. An average of 700 people from all over the world visit the Herbarium each year to access its unique collections, and the research involving these specimens can help answer important questions that affect us all.

Botany Curator Richard Olmstead holding algae specimens

What are a few of the many ways we can learn from herbia specimens? Burke Curator of Botany Richard Olmstead and Herbarium Collections Manager David Giblin analyze specimens collected over time to compare changes in floral life from natural disasters, human impact and climate change. From 2005 – 2009, David led a series of botanical surveys (i.e. collecting trips) in the San Juan Islands to create a baseline understanding of the plant diversity found on small islands throughout the archipelago. Plant life in coastal areas may be severely impacted under various climate change scenarios, and the findings from these trips can serve as a benchmark against which future changes can be compared.

David’s team of students, volunteers and fellow scientists visited approximately 90 islands in the San Juans, and one of the highlights was the discovering a previously undescribed species of paintbrush. The years of hard work from Burke Museum staff and community members can help future generations address the world’s changing environments."

Photo 2: a map of forays that the Burke Museum Herbarium has conducted since Herbarium staff started the forays in 1996. The Burke Museum partners with many different organizations to conduct these collecting trips. Here is a key to the different colors of thumbtack that represent these different types of forays:
-Red: University of Washington forays
-White: National Park Service forays
-Blue: Cedar River Watershed forays
-Green: General collecting trips

Posted By: Andrea Barber, Communications

Earth Day!

Posted by: Sarah Tollefson, Operations Manager (and Burke Sustainability Action Committee chairwoman)

Every day is earth day, but the official 39th annual Earth Day is coming soon on Wednesday April 22nd, 2009. The Burke Museum challenges you to do one green thing and make it part of your daily life.

There are many fabulous happenings all over town this weekend as well as on the day proper. You can get out and active with a work party in the Arboretum and Climate Day for Kids at the Olympic Sculpture Park. Or, enrich yourself sedentarily with all-day environmental programming on UWTV.

On the UW campus, the Earth Day Melange is on Wednesday the 22nd. The UW Green Coalition, a network of environmental student groups at the UW, is organizing the main celebration on campus.

• 10am-2pm – Fair on the Hub Lawn: Free food, music, booths, green art gallery, electric car.

• 10am-2pm – Electric Car Show in Red Square: Display provided by Seattle Electric Vehicle Association.

• 3-5pm – Social at the Waterfront Activities Center: Connect with fellow environmentally-minded people and enjoy free food.

• 6pm – Guest Speaker & Film in Odegaard 220: Jerry Heinlen CEO of Yakima Products, Inc., followed by a screening of The 11th Hour.

More Earth Day happenings:

• via Grist magazine: http://www.grist.org/article/2009-03-15-celebrate-earth-week-seattle/

• via WA Dept of Ecology: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/earthday/2009events.htm

• via Earth Share: http://www.esw.org/event/2009/04/18/day/all/all/1

Happy Earth Everybody!

Earth Hour this Saturday

Next Saturday, March 28, at 8:30 pm, spend an hour in the dark. The World Wildlife Fund has organized a global effort to turn off the lights in homes and businesses across the world for one hour. The purpose? To send a message to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhangen in late 2009 that the world's citizens want governments to adopt policies that will take action against global warming. For more information, visit the Earth Hour web site or watch the video below:



Come back after the weekend and share your stories about Earth Hour!

What are citizen scientists?

Posted by: Karin Hoffman, Communications

For over 50 years, citizen scientists from around the Northwest have been contributing a wealth of information that may help scientists better understand global climate change, and some of that information has been stored at the Burke Museum. In addition to housing over 70,000 bird specimens, the Burke is also a repository for 12,000 file cards gathered by staff and volunteers over many years that document ecological data of over 100 bird species. The study of plant and animal life cycle events in relation to climate change is known as phenology. Increasingly scientists are turning to volunteers to help identify and understand changing environmental trends, and the Burke Museum has a long history of working with such volunteers.

What can you do to help? Become a citizen scientist! Check out the National Phenology Network to volunteer. While they currently only monitor plants, they will soon expand their efforts to include animals and physical phenomena.

For more information about citizen scientists and the Burke’s role in recording their findings, read these recent articles: The Tacoma News Tribune, Seattle Times

Photo: Robert Faucett, Burke ornithology collections manager, with part of the museum's egg collection. Photograph by Ken Lambert, courtesy Seattle Times.

March of the Magellanic Penguins

Posted by: Julia Swan, Communications



New research conducted by Dee Boersma, a University of Washington professor of biology (and a Burke Museum member!) shows that climate change doesn't only affect the well-being of animals living on the poles. Boersma has found that Magellanic penguins, living on the coast of Argentina, are also struggling to reach food supplies. Read all about the research here.

Congrats to Braided River Publishing

Posted by: Karin Hoffman, Communications

The book that inspired the Burke’s current exhibit called The Last Polar Bear: Facing the Truth of a Warming World has just been awarded a 2008 National Outdoor Book Award in the category "Nature and Environment." Braided River’s book featuring stunning photographs and insightful essays on the plight of the polar bear, and the threats to bears Arctic habitat, has brought the reality of climate change to the forefront of the global community.

The Last Polar Bear: Facing the Truth of a Warming World is now on exhibit at the Burke Museum until December 31, 2008. This exhibit provides visitors the opportunity to view 40 large-format photographs and learn the effects climate change has on not only polar bears but all species that share the Arctic environment.

I really did get my picture taken with a giant polar bear!

Check out photos from After Hours at the Burke, including photos with Snowflake the giant polar bear, the UW's Polar Science Center, and more:

Last Polar Bear Summer Camp: A Recap

Posted by: Keely Gnagy and Tim Stetter

What do you get when you cross a dozen middle school students with cameras, a polar bear exhibit, and researchers on the UW campus? Fantastic photography exhibits about environmental issues! The students joined Burke Education staff during the week of July 14 for a summer camp based on the current Burke exhibit, The Last Polar Bear: Facing the Truth of a Warming World. During the camp, the students learned about the basics of climate science, some of the challenges we are likely to face because of it, and what we can do about it.

One of the things we can do is raise awareness about an issue that is important to us, just like Steven Kazlowski, the photographer of “The Last Polar Bear,” did by taking photographs to bring attention to the plight of the polar bear in the warming Arctic. Using disposable cameras, what they learned throughout the week, and their imaginations, the campers created their own exhibits focused on topics such as recycling, transportation choices, native and non-native plants, human eco-footprints, and the power and beauty of nature.

The Burke’s collection was a fantastic resource for the campers. They were able to touch polar bear fur and stand nose to nose with a polar bear skull from the Mammalogy Collection. We saw angler fish, sharks, and sun fish at the Burke’s incredible Fish Collection with tour guide Rachel Schoen, a graduate student in Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. And we were able to use artifacts from Arctic culture, like snow goggles and the intestine material used to make rainproof gear, to imagine the life of a person living in the Arctic environment.

We also learned a lot and had a great time visiting other research centers and talking to scientists on the UW campus. Dr. Kevin Rennert from the Department of Atmospheric Sciences taught us about climate change and the Arctic. We learned about ways plants adapt to climate with Fleur Beckwith, a graduate student at the Botany Greenhouse. We visited the Applied Physics Lab and talked with Dr. Mike Steele, an oceanographer at the Polar Science Center. And we learned about cameras and photography from professional photographer Joe Burnett.

On Friday afternoon, the students displayed their exhibits in the Burke Room. Friends and family attended a reception in their honor. One visitor commented, “I wish I was a kid so I could be in this camp!”

What an awesome week! And what incredible photography exhibits. It was an honor to spend the week with students who are so motivated to learn and to make a difference.

- Keely and Tim

A Fresh Perspective on Climate Change

Posted by: Julia Swan

The Burke is preparing to host almost 40 climatologists, documentary filmmakers, and photographers next week. No, we’re not gearing up for a major conference or convention—we are actually waiting for the arrival of middle and high school students, passionate about the environment, who will attend two great new summer programs: Climate Quest (for high school) and The Last Polar Bear Summer Camp (for middle school).

Climate Quest students will take a University of Washington science and policy class on climate change and produce mini-documentary films capturing their ideas and solutions. Program highlights include taking a field trip to the Cedar River Watershed to meet climate scientists, participating in a live videoconference with Climate Quest students at Western Washington University, and sharing their videos on a national website for youth, www.climatequest.net.

Middle school students in The Last Polar Bear Summer Camp will learn about the basics of climate change, impacts on the arctic ecosystem, and actions that people can take. As a culminating project, students will take their own photos and create a photography exhibit documenting their thinking on climate change, which will be on view at the museum on Friday, July 18 from 2-4 pm.

Its gonna be very cool…or hot (depending on the summer weather)…having these young minds in the museum for a week, brainstorming about ways to tackle climate change. I for one am excited to hear their ideas!

- Julia

Steven Kazlowski shares polar bear tales on KUOW

Posted by: Julia Swan

KUOW aired a fantastic interview with Seattle wildlife photographer Steven Kazlowski on today's Sound Focus.

In it, Steven shares some interesting and captivating stories about his very real encounters with the largest land carnivore on earth--the polar bear. He has been in much closer proximity to a wild polar bear than most people ever (hopefully) will and his accounts are fascinating.

Steven also has a very unique perspective on the politics of climate change and how the polar bear has recently become the face of this global issue, which he discusses with Sound Focus's Dave Beck.

If you missed the show, never fear, for KUOW is quick to put a podcast version of the interview online. You can find the podcast of "People and Polar Bears" here.

Meet Steven in person Saturday, June 28 at the Burke Museum's opening of The Last Polar Bear: Facing the Truth of a Warming World. Steven will be giving guided tours of the exhibit at 10:30 am and 12:30 pm.

- Julia

Facing reality, finally

Posted by: Julia Swan

Yesterday, the Interior Department announced its decision to list the polar bear as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. This action came as a result of intense lobbying from environmentalist groups, recommendations from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a court order from a federal judge to make an immediate decision, and overwhelming evidence that the Arctic sea ice on which polar bears hunt and live is rapidly disappearing.

Although the polar bear is the first species to be granted federal protections because of global warming, the repercussions of the decision on entities that contribute to the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere remains to be determined. At this point, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne has stated that the polar bear decision will not impact regulation laws, oil exploration, or other activities that can contribute to global warming.

As for the remaining 20,000-25,000 polar bears currently living in the Arctic, the designation of threatened species status upon the largest living land carnivore on earth is both heartbreaking and hopeful. Perhaps the polar bear will join the list of dozens of other once-threatened species that, through concerted human efforts to protect and preserve, have experience a major revival.

- Julia

Photo top left: A polar bear sow and her cubs on the tundra (coastal area, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge), photograph by Steven Kazlowski/www.lefteyepro.com. On view in The Last Polar Bear: Facing the Truth of a Warming World, June 28 – Dec. 31, 2008, Burke Museum, Seattle.

Photo bottom right: Sow with cub on the pack ice of the frozen coastal plain (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge), photograph by Steven Kazlowski/www.lefteyepro.com. On view in The Last Polar Bear: Facing the Truth of a Warming World, June 28 – Dec. 31, 2008, Burke Museum, Seattle.

Wilderness Conference coming up

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham

How do we preserve wilderness for future generations in a world where environmental and social change is occurring more rapidly than ever?

If you are interested in meeting the many people who have created and protected the wilderness areas of this region or if you want to learn more about how change impacts local wildlife, you should check out the 2008 Wilderness Conference, April 3 – 5.

From sessions on global warming, to bridging political divides through environmentalism, to indigenous perspectives on wilderness, there’s a lot to take from this event.

Of special interest to Burke fans:

Steven Kazlowski, the photographer behind the Burke’s upcoming exhibit The Last Polar Bear, will be there signing books with publishers The Mountaineers Books. Stephen Brown, editor of Arctic Wings, on which the Burke’s upcoming fall photography exhibit of the same name is based, will be featured as the Saturday night Banquet Speaker.

Details on registering can be found online at the conference home page. It’s not too late to register and there are some affordable options.

A number of the Burke staff will be attending the kickoff event on Thurs., April 3 at Kane Hall on the UW campus – a presentation by award winning photo-journalist Gary Braasch, author of Earth Under Fire: How Global Warming is Changing the World. See you there!

- Rebecca

On thin ice

Posted by: Rebecca Durkin

If we don’t act now, “climate change is going to deal with us on its own terms, and we’re not going to have the options to deal with it on our terms,” says wildlife photographer Steven Kazlowski in his latest interview with KPLU’s environment reporter Liam Moriarty.

Kazlowski, the wildlife photographer behind the Burke’s upcoming environmental exhibit, The Last Polar Bear: Facing the Truth of a Warming World, talks about the devastating changes to the melting arctic ecosystem that he has seen firsthand tracking and photographing polar bears for eight years.

If you have ever wondered what it’s like to wake up to find a polar bear in your tent, take a listen.

- Rebecca

Is the Polar Bear endangered?

Posted by: Rebecca Durkin

We’re opening an exhibit in June about the impact of global warming on polar bears in Alaska – and with the status of the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act currently under review by the federal government, we’ve been keeping a close eye on the debate raging between climatologists, environmentalists, wildlife scientists, land developers, Alaskan residents, and government officials over its protection.

Some parties expect the protection of polar bears to do for global warming awareness and reform what the endangered status of the bald eagle did for pesticides reform, while others think it will wrongfully cripple Alaskan development. This issue is loaded with conflicting priorities and expectations, summed up nicely in NPR’s brief report by Elizabeth Arnold today. Take a listen to this crash course in the debate: “Polar Bear Isn’t Endangered.”

- Rebecca

Photo (c) Steven Kazlowski,www.lefteyepro.com. On view in The Last Polar Bear: Facing the Truth of a Warming World, opens June 8, 2008 at the Burke Museum.

Focus the Nation

Posted by: Karyn Gregory

January 25th, 2008 saw the kickoff of Focus the Nation, a program dedicated to raising environmental awareness in America’s youth. Various programs are to be held throughout the week at multiple institutions, culminating in a synchronous nation wide teach-in on Jan 31. The University of Washington and Burke Museum are joining the national teach-in with an innovative panel called Climate Change Impacts on Indigenous Populations, moderated by former Burke curator Dr. Steve Harrell. The talk will be held in HUD 209A on the UW campus at 3pm. Come on by and hear what the panel has to say.

Focus the Nation at UW includes 11 panel discussions, an exhibit hall with over 40 participating organizations, and culminates at 7 PM with a panel at Kane Hall which includes Jay Inslee, Fred Jarrett, Greg Nickels, and Ron Sims, moderated by Steve Scher.

For more information on UW’s involvement, check out their page.

-Karyn

The Hunger

Posted by: Karyn Gregory

In a tale that sounds like it came from a grade B scifi/horror film, comes this gem about radiation-eating fungi:

"Since the 1986 meltdown, at the Chernobyl Atomic Energy Station, the numbers of 'black fungi', rich in melanin, have risen steeply. [Researcher] Casadevall speculated that the fungi could be feeding on the radiation that contaminates the ruin of the nuclear reactor."

Essentially, the mold uses melanin (yes, the same melanin found in human skin pigment) to transform radiation into energy. The implications of this discovery are staggering. Not only could this hold the key for an alternative energy source, but the fungus may also be the answer for tackling nuclear waste.

Wow!

-Karyn

(via apostropher)

Dr. Leakey Podcast is Up!

Posted by: Rebecca Durkin

If you weren’t one of the 555 people who came last week to see Dr. Richard Leakey’s UW talk, Climate Change and the Future of Life on Earth, you’ll want to check out our latest podcast.

The podcast picks up at the end of Leakey’s two-hour presentation when he opens the discussion up to the audience to take questions. It’s a candid peak into the brain of one of the world’s most influential and controversial conservationists.

It’s always exciting when a big name comes into town, and Leakey’s visit did not go unnoticed. Check out the Seattle PI interview and the Seattle Times article.

Were you at the talk? Leave a comment and let us know what you thought.

- Rebecca

Greener Campus

Posted by: Karyn Gregory

Since the Burke Museum shares a campus with the University of Washington, their news is often our news. Last week, UW President Mark Emmert signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, “pledging that all three UW campuses will record its emissions of greenhouse gases and implement policies to decrease them.” Between 2000 and 2005, the University cut back gas emissions by 9 percent. Not too shabby.

Today, the Burke Web site is launching a new resource for information concerning climate change on both local and global levels.

In the coming months, the Burke Museum will offer exhibits, educational programs, and environmental forums designed to engage audiences in an ongoing discussion about climate change and global warming solutions.

-Karyn