Dr. Katrina Freund
This week’s featured scientist is Dr. Katrina Freund Saxhaug. Dr. Freund Saxhaug is a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Adrian Hegeman’s lab in the Department of Horticulture at the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Sciences. Although her primary research is in plant metabolomics, Dr. Freund Saxhaug volunteers for the long-term phenology project known as Experiment 268 at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve. Under the guidance of Dr. Rebecca Montgomery from the Department of Forest Resources at the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Sciences, she tracks the seasonal changes of 80 individual plants of 26 different species at Cedar Creek. In addition to regularly recording these observations, she curates the data, digitizes old handwritten phenology records from Cedar Creek, and is exploring ways to expand the collection of phenological data at Cedar Creek.
Resources:
Q&A: https://z.umn.edu/KatrinaQ_A
The Montgomery Lab website: http://ecophys.cfans.umn.edu/
Minnesota Phenology Network: https://mnpn.usanpn.org/home
Backyard Phenology: https://phenology.umn.edu/
Katrina volunteers with the Montgomery Lab out at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve. Her current research there focuses on the long-term collection of phenological data at six sites on the property. Hear Katrina explain what phenology is and why it is important in the video linked below. Feel free to check out our YouTube channel while you’re at it!
Just because you’re inside doesn’t mean you can’t explore the outdoors! Take a virtual hike at Cedar Bog Lake, an aquatic habitat that lies in a swampy matrix of white cedar swamp within the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Reserve. Check it out at z.umn.edu/cbl_spring.
Looking for a fun activity for younger audiences? Want to study nature on your own? Check out the phenology-related activities at the links below!
Header Photo by James Balensiefen