Twitter is for the trees – WCVB Boston

Twitter is for the trees

Harvard Forest is home to a tweeting tree

Updated: 1:29 PM EDT Oct 15, 2019

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WHO TALKS OR, RATHER, TWEETS. CONVERSATIONS ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE INEVITABLY LEAD TO TALK OF TREES. AND NOW, THANKS TO RESEARCHERS AT HARVARD FOREST AND PETER CHAM, AT LEAST ONE TREE IS TALKING BACK. IT TWEETED THAT IT IS RAINING HEAVILY NOW. 5.4 MILLIMETERS IN THE LAST HOUR, WHICH IS A LOT. SHAYNA: YOU HEARD RIGHT, THIS TREE HAS A TWITTER ACCOUNT, AND BY INTERPRETING DATA FROM THESE MONITORS, THE TREE GENERATES TWEETS PERFORMANCE MORE THAN 7000 FOLLOWERS. LETS GET EXPLANATION. >> TIM AND I WORKED TOGETHER TO COME UP WITH OVER 100 DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS THAT THE TREE MIGHT SCAN THROUGH AND SAY -- IS THIS IMPORTANT THING HAPPENING? IF SO, I WILL SAY SOMETHING ABOUT IT. CHANA POPPY YOUNG ACT TO VEST HAVE MADE INTERNET -- SHAYNA: YOUNG ACTIVISTS LEAD HEADLINES, LIKE GRETA THUNBERG ERG. THIS 100-YEAR-OLD TREE CAN OFFER A VERY DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE. >> 100 YEARS OF RESEARCH IN THE DATA ARCHIVES, SO WHEN THIS TREE TALKS ABOUT BEING HOT, IT REALLY KNOWS THAT IT IS HOT COMPARED TO THE PAST 50 YEARS. SHAYNA: TRUE TO TWITTER, NOT ALL THE POSTS ARE CLIMATE-FOCUSED. IT GOSSIPS ABOUT THE NEIGHBORS, LOVES TO TALK ABOUT ITS KIDS, ACORNS, AND EVEN DISHES ABOUT DINNER. >> HOW ARE YOU? THE TREE RESPONSE, IT IS 59.9 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT RIGHT NOW, SO I WILL SPEND THE DAY MAKING FOOD. SHAYNA: ONE TREE WORTH THAT THE FOLLOW, BUT RESEARCHERS HOPE YOU WILL NOT MISS THE FOREST FOR THE TREES. >> IT COULD BE ANY TREE. WE CHOSE A RED OAK TREE BECAUSE IT IS ONE OF THE MOST ABUNDANT SPECIES. >> IT IS A PIVOT POINT TO HELP PEOPLE FOCUS IN ON THE TREES IN THEIR LIVES. SHAYNA: OK, SO NOT MANY TREES HAVE TWITTER ACCOUNTS, BUT EVERY TREE HAS A STORY, AND WHEN IT IS TIME TO READ THOSE STORIES, NEIL PETERSON IS THE RINGMASTER. >> I THINK EVERYONE KNOWS YOU CAN COUNT THE RINGS OF A TREE TO TELL HOW OLD IT IS. WE CAN HAVE PRECISE DATES TO BETTER INFORM US ABOUT HOW THINGS WORK, HOW SOCIETIES GREW, COLLAPSED, ADJUSTED. SHAYNA: AND SOLVED MYSTERIES. WHEN A BOAT FRAME WASNT COVERED DEEP BENEATH THE FOUNDATION OF THE FORMER WORLD TRADE CENTER IN NEW YORK, PETERSON WAS ON THE TEAM THAT GOT THE CALL -- WHEN A BOAT WAS COVERED DEEP BENEATH THE FOUNDATION. DATA SHOWED US THAT THE TREES LIKELY ORIGINATED FROM EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA AND DATED TO THE EARL 1700S. SHAYNA: THEY DEDUCE THAT THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR ERA BOAT WAS LIKELY USED AS LANDFILL TO EXPAND LOWER MANHATTAN. >>A TREE FALLS IN THE WOODS AND THERE IS NO ONE TO HEAR IT, DOES IT MAKE A SOUND? TREES CAN TELL US THE ANSWER. RIGHT HERE BETWEEN MY TWO FINGERS IS 60 YEARS. AND WHAT HAPPENED RIGHT HERE IS 1938 HURRICANE THAT KNOCKED DOWN ALMOST 80% OF THE FOREST. THEN THIS TREE WAS RELEASED FROM COMPETITION. AND IT JUST EXPLODED IN GROWTH OVER THE LAST 80 YEARS. SHAYNA: TREES CAN ACT AS THEIR OWN STORYTELLERS GIVING INFORMATION ABOUT THE PAST, WHILE THIS INTERACTIVE SIMULATOR OFFERS VALUABLE INFORMATION ABOUT OUR POSSIBLE FUTURES. HERE IS HOW IT WORKS. YOU MAKE DECISIONS THAT REPRESENT YOUR VISION OF THE FUTURE AND THEN WATCH REAL TIME A MAP SIMULATES THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR CHOICES INTO THE YEAR 2060. MORE GREEN MEANS MORE FORESTS, WHILE RED REPRESENTS FORCED DECLINE. HARVARD FOREST DIRECTOR DAVID FOSTER. >> TODAY DURING GLOBAL CHANGE, MANY PEOPLE FEEL THAT THE BIG DECISIONS ARE OUT OF THEIR HANDS. YET HERE IN NEW ENGLAND, THE SINGLE BIGGEST DRIVERS OF CHANGE IS FLOOD. WE AS INDIVIDUALS, INDIVIDUAL TOWNS AND STATES, ARE DOING TO OUR LAND. SHAYNA: ROUGHLY 212,000 PRIVATE OWNERS CONTROL 75% OF THE FORESTS IN OUR STATE, MEANING INDIVIDUAL CHOICES HAVE A HUGE IMPACT ON OUR COLLECTIVE FUTURE. >> THAT FOREST IS A GIFT OF HISTORY THAT DELIVERS TREMENDOUS VALUES TO ALL OF OUR LIVES. SHAYNA: SO WHATS NEXT FOR THE TWEETING TREE? SAY HABLA ESPAOL? THATS RIGHT, FOREIGN LANGUAGE TWEETS ARE COMING SOON, STARTING WITH SPANISH AND FRENCH. AND THERE ARE MORE TREES LOOKING TO TWEET. A SYRUP-LOVING MAPLE TREE MAY BE COMING TO YOUR TWITTER FEED. ALSO IN THE WORKS, A DO YOURSELF KIT THAT WOULD ALLOW HOME OWNERS TO SET UP THEIR OWN TWEETING TREE. HARVARD FOREST DOES WELCOME VISITORS, BUT THEY ASK THAT YOU DONT SEEK OUT THE TWEETING TREE. IT HAS MANY SENSORS AND WIRES THAT COULD EASILY BE DISTURBED. UP NEXT, NICOLE ESTAPHAN IS OFF ON A CLIMB >> I

Twitter is for the trees

Harvard Forest is home to a tweeting tree

Updated: 1:29 PM EDT Oct 15, 2019

Harvard Forest is a 4,000 acre living research facility located in Petersham, MA where students, scientist, and professionals explore topics ranging from conservation and environmental change, to how we interact with and change the earth.A Witness Tree is a hundred-year-old Red Oak tree that generates its own Tweets need I say more?Harvard Forest Senior Investigator Neil Pederson can learn a lot about a tree by reading its rings. He was part of a team of researchers that analyzed wood from a boat found under the foundation of the former World Trade Center in New York. Watch a brief story about the discovery here. How do the choices we make today effect what our State will look like in 40 years? Find out with the New England Landscape Futures Explorer.

Harvard Forest is a 4,000 acre living research facility located in Petersham, MA where students, scientist, and professionals explore topics ranging from conservation and environmental change, to how we interact with and change the earth.

A Witness Tree is a hundred-year-old Red Oak tree that generates its own Tweets need I say more?

Harvard Forest Senior Investigator Neil Pederson can learn a lot about a tree by reading its rings. He was part of a team of researchers that analyzed wood from a boat found under the foundation of the former World Trade Center in New York. Watch a brief story about the discovery here.

How do the choices we make today effect what our State will look like in 40 years? Find out with the New England Landscape Futures Explorer.

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Twitter is for the trees - WCVB Boston