During Short Term, Chris Hertz ’09 of East Burke, Vt., a student in “Introduction to Hydrogeology” with Associate Professor of Geology Beverly Johnson, uses a Dutch corer to take a sediment core from the Sprague River marsh at Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area. The cores reveal the marsh’s historical carbon cycle — the movement of carbon between living organisms and the non-living environment. Knowing the past, says Johnson, helps researchers understand how recent human activities, like global warming, deforestation, and overfishing, impact marine ecosystems.