University of Louisville Tree-Ring Laboratory

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About 

The UofL Tree-Ring Laboratory, aka the “Dendro Dabblers” conduct broad and multi-disciplinary research projects focused on various applications of tree-ring science to questions in climatology, ecology, archaeology, geomorphology, human-environment interactions and more, across varied forest ecosystems, from high-elevation, to eastern deciduous, urban and others. The laboratory is led by Dr. Maegen Rochner as PI and a team of predominantly undergraduate student researchers, who conduct local to regional projects as part of independent studies and paid assistantships. Currently, the lab is focused on research projects fitting within three broad categories: (1) working with novel metrics from tree-rings to investigate paleoclimate and environmental change, including disturbance and extreme events, in North America; (2) exploring the utility of tree-ring data from archaeological materials beyond dating historic structures and artifacts; and (3) investigating applications of tree-ring research in urban settings. These research trajectories are now supported by two NSF funded projects. To date, the lab has hosted 32 student and other researchers (30 undergraduate researchers in various capacities, one master’s student and one postdoctoral researcher). If interested in learning more, or in becoming a part of the lab, contact Dr. Rochner at maegen.rochner@louisville.edu with your questions.  

Team 

Dr. Maegen Rochner, Principal Investigator

maegen.rochner@louisville.edu
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Our Work

  • Tree-Ring Science and Applications in Climatology, Ecology, Geomorphology
  • Tree-Ring Dating and Dendroarchaeology
  • Climate and Environmental Change
  • Biogeography
  • Forest Ecology and Disturbance
  • Mountain Environments and Treeline Ecosystems
  • Urban Trees and Forests 
  • Human-Enviornment Interactions  
  • High-resolution, multi-species reconstructions of Greater Yellowstone Region paleoclimates using tree-ring anatomy (funded by NSF P4Climate)
  • Paleo-perspectives on Kentucky’s hydroclimate and geohazard history – new insights from muds, trees and models (Project 2: CLIMBS (Climate Resilience through Multidisciplinary Big Data Learning, Prediction and Building Response Systems) (funded by NSF EPSCOR)
  • Southeastern Archaeological Timbers Project (SeARCHT)
  • Longleaf Pine Tree-Ring Network (LTRN)
  • Post-Prescribed-Fire Regeneration Patters, Berea College Forestry, KY 
  • Rochner, M.L., Moriarty, K.J., and Weatherbee. S. Dendrochronological analyses of tree growth and climate response across an urban-rural gradient, Louisville, Kentucky. Submitted to: Urban Forestry and Urban Greening. 
  • Maxwell, J.T., Au, T.F., Kannenberg, S.A., Harley, G.L., Dannenberg, M.P., Ficklin, D.L., Robeson, S.M., Férriz, M., Benson, M.C., Lockwood, B.R., Novick, K.A., Phillips, R.P., Rochner, M.L., and Pederson, N. 2024. Asymmetric effects of hydroclimate extremes on eastern US tree growth: Implications on current demographic shifts and climate variability. Global Change Biology, 30(8), e17474. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.17474 
  • King, K.E., Harley, G.L., Maxwell, J.T., Rayback, S., Cook, E., Maxwell, S., Rochner, M.L., Therrell, M., Bregy, J., Bergan, E., and Foley, Z. 2024. Reconstructed late summer maximum temperatures for the southeastern United States from tree ring blue intensity. Geophysical Research Letters, 51(13), e2024GL109099, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL109099 
  • de Graauw, K., Rochner, M., van de Gevel, S., Stachowiak, L., Collins-Key, S., Henderson, J., Merrill, Z., and Hessl, A. 2023. Applications of Dendroarchaeological Data for Understanding Paleoenvironmental Change: Opportunities and Challenges. The Holocene, https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836231200437 
  • Rochner, M.L., Patterson, T.W., Heeter, K.J., and Harley, G.L. 2023. Increased growth synchrony of red spruce in response to acid deposition recovery and climate change across its southern range extent, southeastern USA. The Southeastern Geographer, 63(1), 78–97.
  • Harley, G.L., Therrell, M.D., Maxwell, J.T., Bhuta, A., Bregy, J.C., Heeter, K.J., Patterson, T., Rochner, M., Rother, M.T., Stambaugh, M., Zampieri, N.E., Altman, J., Collins-Key, S.A., Gentry, C.M., Guiterman, C., Huffman, J.M., Johnson, D.J., King, D.J., Larson, E., Leland, C., Nguyen, H.T., Pederson, N., Puhlick, J.J., Rao, M.P., Rodriguez-Caton, M., Sakulich, J.B., Singh, N., Tucker, C.S., van de Gevel, S.L., Kaiser, A.L., and Ahmad, S. 2023. The Longleaf Tree-Ring Network: Reviewing and expanding the utility of Pinus palustris Mill. dendrochronological data. Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment, 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1177/03091333221147652 
  • Blomdahl, E.M., Speer, J.H., Kaye, M., Zampieri, N.E., Rochner, M., Currey, B., Alving, D., Cahalan, G., Hagedorn, B., Li, H., Oelkers, R., Pelletier, L., Thapa, I., Willson,  K., Woodward, B.D., DeRose, R.J. 2022. Drivers of forest change in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Journal of Vegetation Science, 33(4), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.13141
  • DeRose, R.J., Merrill, Z., Rochner, M., and Bekker, M. 2022. Variable demographic patterns interact with disturbance and climate to shape limber pine population viability. H5II Conference Proceedings. https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/h5ii/ 
  • Collins-Key, S., Rochner, M., Stachowiak, L., and Schneider, E. 2021. Using dendroecology to strengthen the historic integrity of Cumberland Homesteads Tower, Crossville, Tennessee. Tree-Ring Research, 78(1), 45–55. https://doi.org/10.3959/TRR2021-11
  • Stachowiak, L.A., Rochner, M.L., Schneider, E.A., Harley, G.L., Collins-Key, S.A. and Bonawitz, H.A. 2021. Tree-Ring based reconstruction of historical fire in an endangered ecosystem in the Florida Keys. Fire, 4(4), 79. https://doi.org/10.3390/fire4040079
  • Heeter, K.J., Harley, G.L., Maxwell, J., Wilson, R., Abatzoglou, J., Rayback, S., Rochner, M., and Kitchens, K. 2021. Tree-ring blue intensity based temperature reconstructions for the low-to-mid latitude temperate zones of western North America. Quaternary Science Reviews, 267. 107064. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.107064
  • Rochner, M.L., Heeter, K.J., Harley, G.L., Bekker, M.F., and Horn, S.P. 2021. Climate-induced treeline mortality during the termination of the Little Ice Age in the Greater Yellowstone Ecoregion, USA. The Holocene, 31(8), 12881303. https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836211011656
  • Heeter, K.J., Rochner, M.L., and Harley, G.L. 2021. Summer air temperature for the Greater Yellowstone Ecoregion (770–2019 CE) over 1,250 years. Geophysical Research Letters, 48 (7), e2020GL092269. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL092269
  • Vestal, J.P.R., Torreano, S.J., Rochner, M.L, Stockton, L.J. 2019. Dendrochronological Dating of Rebel’s Rest (40FR512), Franklin County, TN, USA. Dendrochronologia, 56, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dendro.2019.05.007 
  • Rochner, M.L., Merrill, Z.A, and Smith, L.G. 2019. Dendrochronological Investigation of the Knob Creek Cabin at President Abraham Lincoln’s Boyhood Home, Hodgenville, Kentucky, USA. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 25, 400–408. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.04.018 

University of Louisville Tree-Ring Laboratory

A&S Department of Geographic and Environmental Sciences

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Miller Information Technology Center Room 202

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