Dr. Brian Schubert小蝌蚪APP檚 internationally recognized research is coming out of the woodwork.
Schubert, an associate professor in the 小蝌蚪APP小蝌蚪APP檚 , leads its stable isotope laboratory. Faculty and student scientists analyze the chemical composition of wood by measuring oxygen isotopes in the growth rings of trees.
The process enables researchers to study past climate change; it also has traditionally required time-consuming chemical pretreatment of samples that are widely used to obtain accurate measurements. 小蝌蚪APP淢ethods for getting good measurements take a lot of time,小蝌蚪APP Schubert explained, 小蝌蚪APP渟o we小蝌蚪APP檝e been examining ways to simplify the steps and streamline the chemistry.小蝌蚪APP
That means ascertaining which, if any, wood or fossils from different periods in Earth小蝌蚪APP檚 history yield valid data without being pretreated. And, while the stable isotope laboratory houses samples ranging from fossils millions of years old excavated from Siberian sediment to wood slivers culled from living trees, 小蝌蚪APP渨e were missing samples that were hundreds of years old,小蝌蚪APP he said.
Schubert 小蝌蚪APP渇illed the gap小蝌蚪APP for his study with field work much closer to home than Siberia 小蝌蚪APP at the J. Arthur Roy House, the oldest building on campus. The Roy House, built in 1901, is the main home of the , a hub for scholarly investigation of Louisiana小蝌蚪APP檚 people and history. It attracts academics and scholars from across the world.
Schubert was drawn to the center by a recently completed renovation that restored the house to its former grandeur. That happened after he tuned in to a segment about the project on , the NPR station on campus. One phrase in particular caught his ear 小蝌蚪APP 小蝌蚪APP渙ld growth trees.小蝌蚪APP Schubert reached out to the center, inquiring about the possibility of obtaining a sample for the lab.
Request granted, he retrieved a block of longleaf pine hewn from an unsalvageable second-story porch column by a carpenter. The reclaimed wood小蝌蚪APP檚 freshly sawed sides revealed a beautiful, tight pattern of old growth tree rings ideal for study. 小蝌蚪APP淚t was the perfect piece of wood and it was just 200 yards away. The timing worked out perfectly,小蝌蚪APP he said.
So did Schubert小蝌蚪APP檚 study. Findings were recently detailed in 小蝌蚪APP,小蝌蚪APP an academic journal published by the European Association of Geochemistry. Researchers concluded that chemical pretreatments are unnecessary in living or recently felled trees. 小蝌蚪APP淪uch applications are required only when studying very old wood, millions of years old,小蝌蚪APP Schubert said.
The determination is significant, he added: 小蝌蚪APP淚t will allow for higher throughput and higher-resolution sampling of archeological wood. And scientists will be able to test samples at less cost.小蝌蚪APP The discovery also means that the stable isotope laboratory will be able to better examine weather events that impact the region. including hurricanes, floods and droughts.
小蝌蚪APP淢ost of our work has involved fossils from China, the Arctic, Siberia 小蝌蚪APP and that tells us about large scale changes in climate across broad regions of the world. But, if we want to get a record of climate relevant to Louisiana, we can now do that at really high resolution,小蝌蚪APP Schubert said.
小蝌蚪APP淪o, our next piece of detective work will be trying to figure out where the tree that produced this block of wood was felled, because it was likely sourced not far from here,小蝌蚪APP he added.
Photo caption: UL Lafayette faculty and student scientists analyze the chemical composition of wood by measuring oxygen isotopes in trees小蝌蚪APP growth rings in the stable isotope laboratory. The work has yielded clues about climate change and, most recently, more efficient, cost-effective research methods. Photo credit: Doug Dugas / 小蝌蚪APP