Jim Benes, a doctoral student in geography, studies fire history of the northern Great Plains, including multiple sites in the Nebraska Sand Hills.
Most afternoons, in a lab in Bessey Hall, Benes is busy processing charcoal samples. He analyzes fire history by taking cores from lakes or wetlands and then processing and sieving the charcoal particles within the core, centimeter by centimeter.
“The charcoal particles can tell you a lot about the reconstructed fire history,” Benes said “It’s a common phrase in paleo-research — the past is the key to the present.”
Benes specifically studies fire history of the northern Great Plains, including multiple sites in the Nebraska Sand Hills. Recent events like the fires in Lancaster County and Halsey National Forest demonstrate an urgent need to know more.