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Forest service


When David Greenberg ’92 came to Skidmore in 1988, he knew he wanted to study biology. Even as a child, he says, he felt like a biologist as he dug around in the dirt and collected insects. He sur- rounded himself with books on all sorts of animals, espe- cially dinosaurs. His annual visits to the Museum of Natu- ral History with his brothers were more like pilgrimages. At Skidmore he found other passions, such as music and philosophy, and he worked on Salmagundi with English faculty members Peg Boyers ’75 and Marc Woodworth ’84. But the research he was able to do as a biology student kept him on a singularly focused path. After Skidmore he studied at the Uni- versity of California at Santa Barbara and received a PhD in ecology, evolution, and marine biology in 2002.


Currently in England, Greenberg holds a two-year split appointment at Oxford University and the University of Leeds, where he is working on the Rainfor project, studying the relationship between tropical forests and climate change. He says, “In the Amazon we have a large network of 250 census plots scattered across the basin, and in each plot we measure the size of every tree every one to two years. From this we can estimate how much wood is contained in the plot, and thereby how much carbon is stored there.”


Results so far indicate that stored car- bon has increased dramatically. “Because


of all the CO2 we pump into the atmos- phere, the trees are working overtime to split that chemical compound, the end re- sult being that they’re growing signifi- cantly faster due to their increased carbon intake.” Greenberg’s concern: “If climate change occurs from carbon dioxide build-


ing up in the atmosphere, and adding car- bon alone would fuel climate change even more, imagine the climate impact of deforestation with these large trees hold- ing so much carbon.”


success in showing companies that they can also profit from presenting a more “green” image. And Ecuador recently agreed not to cut the Yasuni Forest to get at the petroleum reserves underneath, in


DAVID GREENBERG ’92 IS PROVING THE VALUE OF REDUCING DEFORESTATION. When he finishes his work in the UK,


ORGANIZATIONS WORKING TO PROTECT THESE


COMPANIES THAT THEY CAN ALSO PROFIT FROM PRESENTING A MORE “GREEN” IMAGE.


FORESTS HAVE HAD SOME SUCCESS IN SHOWING


he’s interested in joining the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, Italy. The FAO does a lot of global forest monitoring, and its Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation pro- gram has UN backing to pay countries with vast forests not to cut them down. Green- berg hopes his research skills can help UN offi- cials determine which countries have the most trees with the most stored carbon.


“It can be difficult to


compete economically with multinational corporations that can pump loads of cash into developing countries,” he says. “A huge issue right now is the burning of forests in Indonesia for palm agriculture— palm oil is in high demand for use in an amazing number of processed foods and household products.” Organizations work- ing to protect these forests have had some


exchange for $3.6 billion (about half the market value of the oil), money the UN is raising from other nations. Greenberg’s work requires a lot of time in the lab and on the road. He hasn’t yet done site work in South America, but his research into carbon sequestration by trees also includes sub-Sarahan Africa, and he plans to visit Gabon and South Africa. For now, Greenberg is enjoying his time in England. While his wife, Helene Schneider ’92, and their cats remain state- side, he is (“reluctantly”) getting used to the English climate while cycling around the countryside. At work, he says, he’s for- tunate to be surrounded by smart and in- teresting people, all of them hoping that their work will have a significant impact on our understanding of climate change. —Robin Adams ’00


EDITOR’S NOTE


For more exemplars of creative thought at work, see http://cms.skidmore.edu/ctw


SPRING 2012 SCOPE 27


STEPHANIE MILLNER


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