Witness Tree Sensorium

Nestled within Harvard Forest in Petersham, Massachusetts, stands a 110-year-old red oak, the Witness Tree. Its historical significance comes from its endurance through climatic shifts. Equipped with sensors and cameras, it's a project led by Tim Rademacher, Clarisse Hart, and Taylor Jones. Data on growth, leaves, and sap feed its Twitter, @awitnesstree, a relatable conduit for its wealth of information in the tree's first person perspective. The LIDAR scan data used in this visualization was provided by Schaaf Lab, UMass Boston. Tim Rademacher's inspiration was TreeWatch, aiming to translate technical data into personal narratives. This living archive, supported by climate data since 1964, enhances its context and engagement on climate change. The interactive 3D data visualization, created by Yiou Wang, uses tabular and pixel data as a lens to capturing the sensorial affect of the tree's unique journey, bridging climate awareness and data understood as perspectival phenomena.

2023.