SnowCones 1

Pine cones are not abnormal. However, 30,000-year-old ones are. Part of the project we are working on this summer in the conservation department is trying to find a solution that will conserve these astoundingly aged cones for even longer (if you can believe it). It sounds interesting in thought but when actually putting in the work, it becomes increasingly tedious. Kathryn and Megan have already been working on this project since 2019 and dipped two different species of pinecone into several different solutions. Every two weeks we must take all the 10 boxes of 80 cones out and weigh/physically identify each and every single one. It is not exactly difficult but it was a bit dull when it got to around Pinecone Number 56. Overall though I think it's extremely interesting to think that scientists can form a depiction of what the environment and scenery looked like 170,000 years ago, solely based on the fossils of aged plants and seeds. I would like to personally partake in an excavation site one day and view the detailed process of excavating and transporting the discoveries.