Phenology is the study of how cyclical seasonal phenomena related to plant and animal life are influenced by climate. Studying these cyclical occurrences is one of the keys to managing invasive species like the wooly adelgid and keeping it from destroying local species like hemlock trees. Students created the Finger Lakes Phenology trail s a tool to help hikers and citizen scientists get a better understanding of the world around them and how to make phenological observations.
Story produced by Katie Adler, PhD candidate in Civil and Environmental Engineering; Ian Kranz, an undergraduate senior in Electrical and Computer Engineering; Janice Lee and Emma Williamson, TST BOCES New Visions Engineering High School Seniors, at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Instruction provided by STEM SRL Connected Educators Julie Nucci: Adjunct Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Cornell University, Nancy Coddington: Director of Science Content, Services, and Programming, WSKG, and David Syracuse: TST BOCES New Visions Engineering High School Teacher. This video was created as a part of ENGRG 3360: Developing STEM Storytelling Skills with WSKG Public Media and the PBS NewsHour at Cornell University in the S2019 semester.