Tree coring and Dendrochronology with Associate Professor and Chair of Environmental Studies, Justin Becknell, and Shawn Fraver, Forest Ecologist and Professor at the University of Maine. Plein Air Retreat artists make the most of Allen painting and sketching outside scenes. Colby Alumni, friends, and family venture to Eastern Egg Rock and learn about puffins from Ornithologist and founder of Project Puffin, Stephen Kress. 

Photos by Rachel Hernandez ’27.

Tree coring allows scientists to measure a tree’s rings, which can tell them its age, past historical events, and weather conditions.

Plein Air painting, meaning “in the open air,” involves careful consideration of light and attention to detail to create beautiful works, like those above, in oil, watercolor, and more.

Stephen Kress, seen above with the microphone, studied puffins on Eastern Egg Rock starting in 1973 with the formation of Project Puffin and is responsible for the Atlantic Puffins’ return to using the island as a breeding site.