Bend Belluno Sister Cities Cultural Exchange

BEN ARRIVATA                   DI                       EVENTI                       SCAMBI                   METTE IN EVIDENZA              CONTATTO

Dr. Franklin's Sabbatical Dedicated to Forestry Collaboration

During the month of May 2024, the third-year classes of the forestry path of the Iis A. Della Lucia were able to take some lessons with Professor Rebecca Franklin, an expert in dendrochronology at the Cocc - Central Oregon Community College of Bend (Oregon, USA) in Belluno thanks to the twinning activities between the cities and the Rotary Clubs of Belluno and Bend.

Dendrochronology can be imagined as the discipline which, by observing the rings of a wooden carrot, intends to reconstruct the history and life of the tree in its environment; there are numerous connections with climate trends and, inevitably, with the problem of climate change. The students of the Institute, supported by the profs. Lorenzo Tarasconi, Simone Toigo, Matteo Gazzola, and Silvia De Battista carried out two dendrochronology elections, mainly in English, with Professor Franklin. The first practical lesson was carried out in the forest granted to the Institute by the municipality of Borgo Valbelluna, in the Le Fosse di Lentiai area: during the experience, woody carrots were collected from a group of trees. The second lesson was carried out at the institute in the biology laboratory, during which the collected samples were observed under the microscope.

Front page article in Belluno newspaper highlighting Rebecca Franklin's teaching of forestry concepts to Italian students

A first result was the determination of the age of the sampled trees. Particular attention was then paid to the thinnest rings, those in which the tree, for various reasons, grew less than in other years. By associating the year with each ring, it was possible to identify correspondences, i.e. different trees all grew little in certain years. The motivation for this correspondence was the subject of comparison and discussion between students and teachers, particularly when they were looking for further correspondences with the trend of annual temperatures and precipitation.

 The experience was greatly appreciated by the students in various aspects», as Professor Tarasconi underlines. In addition to consolidating and applying their knowledge of the English language, the students were able to learn through practice the basic notions of dendrochronology, a topic addressed marginally in the institute's programmes. The institute thanks the Rotary Club of Belluno and Professor Rebecca Franklin for the opportunity offered with the hope that there may be subsequent collaborations or twinnings between the two educational institutes in Italy and the United States".

Rebecca Franklin, Ph.D. Department of Forestry
Central Oregon Community College returns after a successful collaborative and teaching exchange with colleagues and students in Belluno, Italy.