Mario Williams

Mario Williams

Jun 20, 2017

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Paleoecological training in the BEAST Lab!

Hi everyone!

Thank you very much for your contributions to our project. Your love for science and generous support will ultimately make this work possible! Over the past few weeks, I have been working with Jacquelyn to develop both my lab and fieldwork skills in preparation for our investigation into Jamaica’s ecological past. I am receiving training in a variety of research techniques, such as lake sediment coring and pollen analysis, which will be used in my graduate research.

We visited Pushaw Lake, a large and shallow lake located approximately 15 minutes away from the UMaine campus in Orono, and successfully collected several sediment cores using a Livingstone piston corer. We observed different sediment layers within the collected cores, ranging from dark-brown gyttja with high levels of organic matter and plant macrofossils to bluish-gray, fine-grained glaciomarine clays. These sediment layers reflect the varying climatic conditions that existed in Maine over the past >12,000 years, and provide a long-term record that can be used to understand how Maine’s landscapes changed during the most recent glacial-interglacial transition. We will assess a similar lacustrine paleorecord for Jamaica to better understand long-term linkages between climate, humans and the environment on the island.

Behold the wonder of the lake sediment core!


Two thumbs up for science!

I have also been developing my pollen identification skills in the Paleoecology Lab at the UMaine Climate Change Institute. I am using published pollen keys and reference collections to learn palynological terminology, and to become familiarized with the process of differentiating between pollen and spore types based on size, shape and surficial features. For example, pine (genus Pinus) pollen grains are bisaccate and have two bladders attached to a central body, which makes them resemble Mickey Mouse ears! Grasses (family Poaceae), including major cereal crops such as rice, corn and wheat, generally produce large, spherical, monoporate pollen, which means that there is a single pore on the surface of each pollen grain. As part of my training, I am using these lab resources to identify fossil pollen from sediment samples collected from Alton Bog, a shrub-dominated peatland in Maine that formed on poorly drained glaciomarine sediments. Palynological analysis is used in a broad diversity of fields, ranging from archaeology and botany to forensics and medicine. For this project, we will use palynological methods to assess when humans first settled Jamaica, and the response of the island’s vegetation to past natural and human-caused disturbances.

Here, a palynologist will sit quietly and ponder the mysteries of past worlds.


Building a personal pollen guide with sketches and descriptive notes for each observed grain.

Please stay tuned for more updates on the #jamaicapaleo project from our team here at the BEAST Lab (Biodiversity & Environmental change Across Space and Time). With your commitment to making this project a reality, we have passed the 60% mark for our crowdfunding campaign! Woot woot! As we push towards reaching our final funding goal, please consider:

1) Sharing our project on your preferred social media site to let the world know how pumped you are about this research! Here is the short link for the project on Experiment: https://experiment.com/jamaicapaleo

2) Mentioning the project to your friends and colleagues at the office, in school, or perhaps while you’re enjoying your favorite cups of coffee. ‘Expert’ estimates suggest that if each of our donors motivated a single friend to contribute to our project, then we would achieve our funding goal in no time!

3) Increasing your donation, as all contributions you make no matter the size will have an immense impact on the eventual outcomes of this project! As Jamaicans would say in our traditional dialect, “Every mickle mek ah muckle”, which means that “Every bit counts!”.

Thanks so much for your continued help and support as we navigate this process. We look forward to receiving your feedback!

Cheers,

Mario

2 comments

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  • Paola Lombardo
    Paola LombardoBacker
    Great! Thx for the update! The LL Bean Maine boots while training in Maine add a nice touch too!
    Jun 21, 2017
  • Denny Luan
    Denny LuanBacker
    TIL what a palynologist does!
    Jun 20, 2017

About This Project

Jamaica is a highly biodiverse island in the Caribbean, but its ecological resources are threatened by climate and land-use changes. To conserve Jamaica’s flora and fauna, we need a better understanding of how the island’s species responded to past climate and human impacts. Funds raised through this campaign will help us collect sediment cores to develop a 10,000-year long environmental record of vegetation, fire, climate, and human impacts in Jamaica.

Blast off!

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