AAG and Spring 2018 Research

Following a year of publishing two papers (JCR and Atmosphere), the end of spring semester brought exciting new opportunities for research and collaboration. Every year in April 2018, the American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting takes place, and this year it was in my home state at New Orleans, Louisiana! Closer proximity to home meant cheaper travel costs, and thus I could spend more time learning about tree rings (as a colleague put it, "AAG is my chance to binge on all things Tree Ring since LSU doesn't have large tree-ring program"). Dr. Grant Harley, David Baird, and I were also able to host AAG tree-ring scientists at Le Citron Bistro. We have discovered that this restaurant is dated to the 18th Century when it was first built as a Jesuit plantation in the New World. We have confirmed it as second-oldest structure in the city of New Orleans built circa 1762 (Only the Ursuline Convent in the French Quarter pre-dates the Jesuit plantation at 1745, though some believe that Lafitte's Blacksmith Bar may be even older!).

We hope to publish that research soon, especially considering its interesting past with Jesuit history. Stay tuned for a future blog post about the publication, and meanwhile take a look at the structure today!