Beloved copper beech at Mount Holyoke College tells stories after its demise

SOUTH HADLEY — In 1904, a Mount Holyoke College botany professor, Asa Kinney, planted a copper beech on the campus in honor of his new daughter, Elizabeth Kinney.

The tree continued to grow for 120 years, including the time Elizabeth herself attended Mount Holyoke, stretching skyward to over 80 feet and gaining the nickname “the million-dollar tree.”

Last year, the copper beech was critically damaged in a storm, requiring it to be taken down, to the dismay of many on campus. But its demise presented an unusual opportunity.

This semester, students in Prof. Kinuyo Kanamaru’s class studied sections of the tree to determine how climate change may have affected plants in the Pioneer Valley. The class used a dating technique called dendrochronology, in which patterns can be observed by examining the tree’s rings.

Christian Feuerstein, the college’s director of public affairs and media relations, said that the copper beech became part of the college’s “living laboratory.”

Kanamaru, a visiting assistant professor in geology, is a sedimentologist who focuses her research on climate change, referring to herself as a paleoclimatologist. She said the project was spurred by students who wanted to know if the excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was resulting in happier trees.

The class of 13 students sawed and polished sections of the tree into “cookies” to examine the effects of climatological information throughout the copper beech’s life. Events like a particularly cold winter in 1958 and Hurricane Irene in 2011 were labeled on the corresponding rings. These weather events, while severe, were brief and didn’t show a change in the width of tree rings on the copper beech.

The students did notice that over time, the growth rings started to become much narrower, with the wood becoming more brittle over the last 25 years. This change is believed to be caused by the tree facing long-term stress due to warming temperatures from climate change.

Kanamaru said that when a tree is under stress, it is more vulnerable to fungus infections or bugs, affecting the overall health of the plant because the cell walls become thinner. Dark fungus spots can be seen on the copper beech, providing further evidence of its declining health.

“This was a very personal story for the copper tree,” said Kanamaru, who is hoping to continue this work with students by examining other trees in the area.

The students are just as eager to continue this research, either at Mount Holyoke or after graduation.

Sasha Logocki, a sophomore and an environmental studies major, said that she was on the college’s tree planting committee. She said she was interested in seeing firsthand how climate change affects trees.

“You hear, ‘Oh, it’s affecting the environment,’ but how exactly is it doing that?” Logocki asked. “Climate change isn’t just a concept; it’s happening right here on campus.”

Alyssa Solleder, a junior, said that they are interested in seeing how climate change impacts ecosystems and that with this experience they were able to see the copper beech as a “proxy” for other plants.

Liesl Geissler, a sophomore and an environmental science major, was one of the students who presented the project to attendees at Mount Holyoke’s Summit on Feminist Leadership in Climate Justice this year. She explained that the inquiry taught her that rings can also be counted in violins or wooden bowls, giving her perspective that dendrochronology is something embedded in our daily lives.

Geissler said the tree served as a symbol of community for the college, recalling that she often met classmates for picnics at the “chatting bench” under the copper beech.

After the tree was cut down, it still served as a point of connection with graduates who approached her at the summit, finding the corresponding rings for the years they graduated.

“Getting to hold it, pick it up and feel its rings was something that was so special to me,” Geissler said.

Chloe Broadwell, a senior in STEM, said that work with the copper beech helped her imagine a future in science. “It’s made it simpler, but more approachable,” said Broadwell, “and has given me more confidence to do more research in the field after I graduate.”

Each student interviewed said that their experiences in Kanamaru’s class motivated them to continue climate research. Kanamaru said the project would be presented to the college in a glass case, telling the story of the copper beech for “generations to come.”