Carly Ramacher

Undergraduate Fellow, Forest Biodiversity Team

Why is tree identification so interesting to you? 

“I don't really know how to put it into words. I just like it. It is fun to go up to a tree, and know what it is and what exactly you're looking for: different leaves, bark, and buds. I just find it really interesting.”

Carly Ramacher has done work with Dr. Jonathan Myers’ lab before, but this summer they decided to join Team Forest at Tyson to learn more. 

“I did seed sorting for so long; I wanted to get a feel for the other things that I could do on the same team. I wanted to learn what the ForestGEO plot [Smithsonian Forest Global Earth Observatory] looked like and learn the team's process of data collection. During the fall semester of last year, I took Stan [Braude]'s class and got really interested in trees. Some of that class was measuring trees, so I was already somewhat familiar with it.”

Taking Dr. Stan Braude’s class on Woody Plants of Missouri prepared Carly immensely for the work they do in the field. In fact, many members of Team Forest have gratefully remarked that Carly has great identification skills.

“In Stan’s class, we had to learn 80 different tree species by appearance, which is a lot more than we have in the ForestGEO plot, or at least frequently seen in the ForestGEO plot. The trees that I learned to identify before are the same trees that I am seeing here: I am familiar with them.”