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Grace Brush's field of
streams
When 18th-century trappers trekked through the forests of what is
now Baltimore, their minds were on money. They collected beaver
pelts because the fur fetched high prices from clothing makers in
Europe. At the same time, their hunting habits may have
dramatically changed the landscape, altering the flow of local
streams and the mix of vegetation nearby.
Today, more than two centuries after the
decimation of the beaver population, Hopkins scientist Grace
Brush is digging into the mud beside Baltimore-area streams to
find signs of how humans changed the ecology of a region once
dominated by dense forests and meandering waterways. By studying
the pollen, seeds, tiny animals and chemicals preserved in
sediment, Brush hopes to learn how natural resources were
affected by the people who hunted animals, farmed the land and
finally turned Baltimore into a bustling metropolis.
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Reaching out to the community
Before construction began on the new Cancer Research Building in
East Baltimore, Sean Hackett and his fellow employees on the
eighth floor of Wilmer had an unobstructed view of downtown and
the Inner Harbor.
But even with the new structure taking away
some of the scenery, from almost anywhere on his floor Hackett
can't help but notice the city that lives and breathes beneath
him--both the parts that shine and those that have fallen on hard
times.
Full story...
The Gazette
The Johns Hopkins University
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3003 North Charles Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21218
(410) 516-8514
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