Dangling from a giant crane in the woods of southwest Washington, a team of UW scientists are trying to decipher the ecological riddles found in the tops of centuries-old fir trees.

At the UW’s Wind River Canopy Crane Research Facility, researchers are busy examining the little-understood tree canopies of temperate woods. Located in the heart of the Pinchot National Forest near the Columbia River, the 10,000-acre Wind River Experimental Forest has been the crane’s home since 1995. At 285 feet, the 190-ton structure is the world’s second largest research crane, and is part of the most extensive program of its kind in the world, according the UW Office of News and Information. It’s a joint effort between the Pacific Northwest Research Station, operated by the USDA Forest Service, and the University of Washington, which oversees day-to-day operations.

The crane hoists a metal gondola high into the treetops in a forest full of old-growth Douglas, grand and Pacific silver fir trees, along with Western red cedar and western white pine, some of which grow to heights of 180 to 220 feet. For more photos of the forest, go here. A “crane cam” can also be found here. An even more fascinating video from ScienCentral can be found here.

Although research on trees and temperate forests has been taking place at Wind River for nearly a century, it was only recently that scientists like the UW’s Ken Bible have been able to get reliable, safe access to the tops of the towering firs. Along with research colleague Jerry Franklin, a professor in the College of Forest Resources, Bible has been working on a project to examine pine cone production and photosynthesis in the tree tops.

As seen in this recent article from The Seattle Times, Bible and Franklin are especially interested in the role mature forests have to play in absorbing carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas that’s driving global warming. Some of their research indicates that older forests serve as useful sinks for CO2, and may counteract the effects of warming more efficiently than younger, less dense forests.

Furthermore, temperate forests and even firs are not perfectly understood, explained Bible. “We know next to nothing about Douglas fir, and it’s the species we know the most about,” he said in the article.

Their other work has indicated that the 500-year-old forest is more biologically active than previously believed, as shown by the analysis of new branch buds.

But the only way Bible and Franklin can conduct their research is via crane.

“If you want to measure these kinds of things, you need to be able to get up in the tops of the trees and out at the ends of the branches where processes like photosynthesis are really going on,” said Franklin in the Times’ story.

“The canopy crane gives you that ability,” he said.

(above photo from The Seattle Times)

 

(photo courtesy of the University of Washington)

Yoky Matsuoka, an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE), has won a $500,000, “no-strings-attached” prize for her work with the CSE’s Neurobotics Laboratory. She has also been named to Popular Science’s “Brilliant Ten,” an annual list of the most influential researchers in the United States.Matsuoka earned the cash award from The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation as part of the MacArthur Fellows program. These so-called “genius awards” are given to “talented individuals have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction,” according the foundation’s Web site. Fellows are nominated by their peers and chosen by an anonymous group of about 12 leading figures in the arts, sciences and humanities; usually 20 to 30 Fellows are selected each year, with 756 named since June 1981.In Matsuoka’s case, she won on the basis of her original research into the intersection between robotics and neuroscience. Her lab examines how the central nervous system uses signals to control the movement of the human body. The goal is to mimic this often little-understood process to create more advanced, lifelike robotic prosthetics for disabled people.

A team of UW scientists has genetically modified poplar trees to soak up dangerous chemicals in the ground and air by absorbing them into their roots, stems and leaves.

The preliminary results of the researcher’s efforts were released in a paper found in this week’s edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the abstract of which can be can be found here. Several science news outlets have also reported the study.

The trees break the pollutants down into harmless byproducts that don’t harm the environment in a process called phytoremediation.

By inserting a gene ordinarily found in rabbit livers into the trees’ genetic material, a group of researchers enhanced the poplars’ natural ability to breaks down carcinogens, or cancer-causing molecules.

This rabbit gene (cytochrome P450 2E1) helps the trees increase their production of an enzyme that serves as a catalyst for the elimination and removal of carcinogens like trichloroethylene (an industrial solvent), vinyl chloride, carbon tetrachloride, benzene and chloroform.

The genetically-modified poplars remove up to 91 percent of pollutants from a liquid solution, nearly 53 times faster than unmodified trees. The transgenic trees also removed 79 percent of trichloroethylene from the air of a sealed container after a seven-day experiment, a photo of which can be seen here.

While these “transgenic” poplars (Populus tremula x Populus alba) are only inches high and reside in test tubes, the scientists hope to eventually plant them near Superfund sites, locations identified by the government as being exceptionally polluted.

They would serve as an inexpensive way of reclaiming previously abandoned areas.

But there are some concerns about the idea of changing the poplars’ genetic code, with some researchers fearing that the trees may spread the rabbit gene to wild poplars or harm insects and animals.

Stuart Strand, one of the lead researchers on the phytoremediation project, is quick to acknowledge these concerns.

“Some fears are unfounded or sort of silly, such as ‘frankenplants’ with bunny heads in flowers or other cartoonish ideas… but we are concerned about the possibility of spread of the genes in the poplar population,” he said, calling the uncontrolled release of the gene “undesirable.”

More work remains to be done to ensure that temporary, immediate compounds created by the breakdown process don’t harm wildlife, he said.

Stuart pointed out that the poplars were chosen because they flower infrequently and in a controllable manner, and because the type of poplar they are working with does not grow from fallen branches.

Caution is key to genetic research, he said.

“The questions will always be: what is the purpose, the expected result? Is it useful or informative in someway? Is it safe?”

Five freshmen and sophomores used computer software to analyze images from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) in 2005 and 2006. The Sloan Survey is an ongoing project to create a three-dimensional survey of a quarter of the night sky — or a million galaxies and quasars — using a 2.5-meter telescope at the Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico.

The students, who at the time were participating in the UW Department of Astronomy’s Pre-Major in Astronomy Program (or Pre-MAP), were supposed to be looking for supernovae. These exploding stars are key to solving such cosmic puzzles as stellar evolution and the size of the universe.But instead of exploding suns, the students found asteroids in their assigned viewing field.

While initially frustrated, the students decided to use the opportunity to actively hunt for the elusive space rocks, recording information on the orbits and color of the asteroids. Both sets of data are useful for determining if the asteroids contain similar material and if they came from a larger object. They tracked the movement of the asteroids through the star field over periods of several minutes, as seen in this image. 

“We were all given about 50,000 objects to analyze,” said Kathryn Smith, one of the students on the Pre-MAP team and now a sophomore majoring in environmental studies. She said that this data was then submitted to the Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center at Harvard University for verification.

After three years, if enough additional data is collected, each asteroid can be named by its discoverer. Beyond simply getting the chance to name asteroids, the students gained valuable research experience.

The exposure to serious science at such an early point in their academic careers is invaluable, said Eric Agol, assistant professor of astronomy and the program’s faculty advisor.

“In astronomy it is almost a requirement now to have some undergraduate research experience to be accepted to a graduate program,” he said. “So we are giving these students the necessary preparation for the more complex research that is taken on as a graduate student.”

The students agree, but added that the relationships and contacts were just as valuable as the research time. “I loved the entire experience, said Kenza Arraki, now a junior majoring in physics and astronomy.

“It was wonderful to have been introduced to such a close community during my first quarter at the UW,” she said.

“The ties that I made with my peers as well as grad students and faculty have helped me find more opportunities for my future than I anticipated.”

More information on the students’ discoveries can be found here, in the UW’s press release.

Speaking of which, I want to welcome you all to my little patch of cyberspace. Each week, I will highlight some of the truly cutting-edge work being done by the research teams here at the UW in the dozens of departments, labs, centers, programs and ongoing projects that are littered across campus, sometimes right under our proverbial noses.

As one of the top research schools in the nation, there’s more than enough good science being conducted by our peers everyday to fill pages upon pages of newsprint. For example, did you know that in 2005 the federal government gave the UW $663 million in research grants, placing it second only to John Hopkins University?* Or that over 150 patents were filed by UW researchers in 2006?*

I will be facing the unenviable task of cherry-picking only a handful of stories that piques my interest, and, I hope, yours, in an attempt to shed some light on the hard work of UW researchers. Specifically, I will be examining one or two stories on a weekly basis, relying upon as much feedback from researchers or actual primary sources as possible.

I will also rely on a variety of Web sites and science blogs (such as University Week and the Cosmic Log) for inspiration. I am writing with the assumption that you, the reader, are a fan of science, and so I won’t shy away from some of the technical details. That being said, however, I will do my best to keep the content interesting and free from overly-done “techo-speak.” On a final note, I am always open for suggestions and feedback, and welcome your thoughts.Until science strikes again,