At present, Dr. Drohan is finishing a study on sugar maple decline in northern Pennsylvania. Through the 1980s and into the 1990s, thousands of acres of sugar maple exhibited high mortality and crown dieback. This problem was not unique to the US Canada too was experiencing a similar problem.
Forest decline is an important economic and social issue in Pennsylvania.
The timber industry, the fourth largest industry in the state, provides jobs for many people in and out of the state and in industries indirectly associated with the timber industry. Sugar maple s maple syrup industry and brilliant fall color changes are also important to the state s agricultural and tourism industries. At present he is designing a study that will examine soil development in wind-throw terrain. Soils and Archeology Figuring out how long certain soil-forming processes take to occur can be difficult. Dr. Drohan is using artifacts and their time of deposition in conjunction with a specific soil feature to study the respective time frames of soil formation and artifact deposition.