https://research.unl.edu/blog/onetime-ucare-student-benes-now-mentors-two-students-in-research/
UCARE Student Participants: Jasmine Pham & Joe Stalder
Project Mentor: Jim Benes
Jasmine Pham, Jim Benes & Joe Stalder examine charcoal samples from the Nebraska Sandhills
Overview: This project involves describing and analyzing a sediment core taken from Dewey Marsh in the Nebraska Sandhills. We are looking at how the environment has changed based on the stratigraphic record, with a particular interest in how the history of fires in the region has changed over time. To do this, we will be conducting a grain size analysis, counting the amount of charcoal present in the core, running a LOI test, extracting macrofossils, and determining the age of the sediments using Carbon-14 and OSL dating techniques.
Initial Core Description (ICR): Using the Munsell Soil Charts, Joe and Jasmine assess the color and depth of the layers (bed zones), describing the approximate composition of the layers and the boundaries between the layers.
