Heart of Oak

R. Bruce Allison MS’82, PhD’92 leads an investigation into the center of a three hundred-year-old tree

Using electronic sensors to perform an acoustic tomography scan, R. Bruce Allison MS’82, PhD’92 (center) leads an investigation into the center of a three hundred-year-old tree on campus. Allison is an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, and he’s working with Joelle Baird x’12 (left) and Shan Gao (standing) to diagnose possible decay within trees. The tree they’re examining here is the President’s Bur Oak, which has stood on Observatory Hill since long before there was a UW. The sensors enable Allison to determine the density of the wood and generate an image of the inside of the tree’s trunk.

Published in the Fall 2010 issue