Into the Wild

Late in the 19th century, Adirondack Park was established as a "forever wild" forest preserve. It hasn't been logged or sprayed or managed in any way for over a century. A vast, untouched wilderness, the Adirondacks are perfect for collecting data on long-term change in the forests of the Northeast. James Bedison, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science, calls himself "an outdoorsy person." "I mountain bike, ski, camp, hike. You name it: I do it outside," he says. For his dissertation research, Bedison hiked into the "Dacks" to study the effects of pollution and global warming.