Climate Change Institute adventure

    Professor Dave Putnam had the chance to present some of the research he has conducted at the Deboullie Ecological Reserve during a recent visit by officials with the Climate Change Institute of the University of Maine.     Putnam, a science professor and archaeologist, and his son Aaron Putnam, a Ph.D. student affiliated with the Climate Change Institute, offered a presentation about Deboullie – a 7,253-acre ecological reserve located in the north Maine woods that is managed by the Bureau of Parks and Lands, Maine Department of Conservation – and later took the group to the area so they could see the rock glaciers the two have identified there. According to David Putnam, these are the only rock glaciers known in Maine and the only low-elevation rock glaciers in the northeastern U.S.
    The Orono-based Climate Change Institute studies the variability of the Earth’s climate and strives to better understand the impact of climate change on humans and ecosystems. Every fall, the CCI takes a three-day field trip with graduate faculty, students, spouses and guests to a location of interest. This year, the organization asked the Putnams to lead the trip into Deboullie.
    The group was able to visit and examine a number of late glacial features – including tills, moraines, striated bedrock surfaces and the existing rock glaciers – to consider the nature of deglaciation and the cause and nature of continued permafrost in northern Maine.
    Putnam said the trip could not have been possible without the support of many people. The Maine Forest Service provided boats as well as rangers, including District Ranger Bill Greaves, Ranger Justin Carney and Ranger Tom Martin, to transport the group around the lakes and woods of Deboullie. Several UMPI faculty members, students and alumni also provided assistance, including Dr. Jason Johnston, Dr. Chunzeng Wang, Jason Perry, Jennifer Prokey, Adam Michaud and Jeff Kimball.