AFRICAN DENDROCHRONOLOGICAL FIELDSCHOOL

Welcome to the ADF website

The 4th Annual African Dendrochronological Fieldschool will be held in Livingstone, Zambia, November 2nd - 11th, 2024. 

For more details, visit the ADF 2024 page. 

About the African Dendrochronological Fieldschool (ADF)

Environmental challenges are adversely affecting Africa’s forest resources. The continent’s forests cover is estimated at 23% of total land area, offering a number of ecosystem services. Challenges affecting the forests also affect the services that these resources provide, subsequently affecting the continent’s economy and people’s livelihoods. Dendrochronology is one field of science that can help solve some of the environmental challenges. However, applications of Dendrochronology have been limited in Africa due to various reasons including limited number of experts to support the activities. Through the African Dendrochronological Fieldschool, the training aims to impart basic scientific knowledge to participants on the techniques and application of tree-ring science to understand and solve various environmental problems affecting the forests. The training will focus on building skills in sample collection, preparation, and tree-ring measurements, crossdating, chronology building, and interpretation of results. At the end of the training, it is expected that trainees will be able to apply tree-ring science to reconstruct climate, estimate forest productivity, and determine pollution patterns associated with various activities. 

Following a model from the North American Dendroecological Field School (NADEF), the ADF provides an intensive learning experience in dendrochronology over 10 days. There have been 3 prior annual trainings in tree-ring science on the continent of Africa and the 4th one will be held in 2024. Participants range from new initiates in the field to seasoned veterans with over 20+ years of experience. The target audience includes graduate students, scientists, researchers, and forest managers from around the globe. Master's and PhD students are particularly encouraged to participate. Previous experience in field or laboratory-based tree-ring techniques is not required. Group leaders of the fieldweek are among the top scientists in their respective fields of study as related to global environmental change. 

Gain | field experience

Attain | knowledge on all things dendrochronology via daily lectures

Receive | one-on-one instruction

How is the ADF organized?

A few days before fieldschool starts, group leaders spend a few days scouting the region for respective projects. During the fieldschool, we spend the first day taking a tour of the local area and listening to engaging lectures from experts familiar with the local region. Each team of group leaders also explains their proposed projects so that you as the participants can be thinking about which group you'd like to join. Each group then spends 1-2 days conducting fieldwork, followed by four days of laboratory preparation and analyses. We also have a series of evening presentations and workshops during the week with topics ranging from different applications of dendrochronology to how to sharpen and care for an increment borer. On the last day of the fieldweek, the groups get back together to present their findings to the other participants. In the past years, we've included the following evening lectures/demonstrations:

What benefits are gained from the training?

ADF provides a unique, comprehensive training in dendrochronological methods including project inception, data collection, tree-ring sample processing, measurement, and analysis, and presentation of results. The training provides a platform for researchers from around the globe to interact and create networks. Participants will gain knowledge from experienced scientists from around the globe. The training will enable participants to explore new approaches to multi-disciplinary research. This training is project-based and the results may be published via the website or in peer-reviewed journals. In some cases, the results may be used as basis for proposals to funding agencies. The publications from this training can also be core parts of theses or dissertations for graduate students. The training will provide a hands-on learning environment, transferring skills that can immediately be used in individual projects after the training.