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Out of Thin Air: Using Scent to Talk about Forest Succession and Atmospheric Science

Research Open House 2020

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00:00 / 00:00
Jean Brennan
Alison Chen, MS Package Design ’20
Shiao Ann Chang, MS Package Design ’20
School of Design, Graduate Communications Design
Seed Grantee 2019-2020

Forests pre-logging smelled different from today’s forests, and that smell is ever-changing as forest succession and climate change march on. This research uses essential oils from fragrant plant species to map forest succession in Prospect Park, Brooklyn—from old-growth to current and future scenarios. Out of Thin Air is a sensory teaching tool to talk about the delicate complexity of our forests in a warming climate and was developed in conversation with faculty at the University of Michigan Biological Station.