Emma's first blog post! As spring is... well, springing here in Virginia, it's time to track phenology.
For my PhD, I am interested in understanding the internal mechanisms involved during dormancy release in Northern red oak. To do this, I first collected dormant buds back in February, before the minimum chilling threshold was met. This threshold is necessary for trees to resume growth once environmental conditions become favorable. Now, as the seasons change, I’ve returned to these same trees to collect more bud and twig tissue during the first stage of phenological transition: bud swelling. Collecting samples specifically before bud burst, when buds are actively expanding in the spring, can tell us which plant compounds are driving dormancy release. Ultimately, understanding these drivers will allow us to better predict how phenology will shift in future climate scenarios. Fun stuff! - Emma
