I've been asked to give a presentation at a workshop to be held in Alberta in March. The workshop will revolve mainly around the use of tree rings and other natural 'proxy' records to water issues in the Canadian Prairie provinces.
I'll be presenting material drawn from the last chapter of my doctoral dissertation, and will talk about the strengths and limitations of tree-ring records as indicators of past drought. The audience will include between 50 and 100 water managers from the region, and for many of them, the workshop will be their first exposure to tree rings and other forms of paleoclimatology. I think it will be in their best interest (and mine) that the scientific presentations focus more on big-picture ideas and less on technical details and methodology.
With an eye towards getting my point across more effectively, I've worked up a set of slides in the 'Presentation Zen' style. I've included more photos than I have in previous presentations, and have also tried to swap out complex journal-style diagrams and replace them with simpler graphics.
I'm excited (and a little nervous) to see how the presentation is received - I imagine its style will be quite different from the other talks in the workshop. I've posted the slides at Slideshare.net, and would appreciate any comments or suggestions - the workshop is not for another six weeks, so I have plenty of time left to tweak or change my plans.
9. The tree-ring record of summer
drought in the Canadian Prairies
Scott St. George
David Meko Greg Pederson
Martin-Phillippe Girardin David Sauchyn
Glen MacDonald Jacques Tardif
Erik Nielsen Emma Watson
Submitted to the Journal of Climate, January 2008
19. “
The trees composing the
forest rejoice and lament with
its successes and failures and
carry year by year something
of its story in their annual
rings.
”Douglass
A.E.