Ghost (Forest) Stories: Unearthing History and Climate Change (2024-2025)
This project team examined how history and ecology intersect to shape North Carolina’s coastal wetlands, with a focus on the Albemarle Peninsula. Drawing inspiration from the rapid emergence of “ghost forests,” areas where rising seas and saltwater intrusion have killed stands of freshwater trees, the team asked how past human and natural activity informs current community responses to climate change. Using archaeological, archival, ecological and oral history sources, the group sought to place today’s environmental shifts into the broader story of long-term landscape change.
Over the course of the academic year, the team developed expertise in historical research, ecological analysis and digital storytelling. Students drew on oral history archives, Duke Library and Forest History Society collections, and ecological databases to build a timeline of forest loss, replanting cycles and infrastructural impacts on wetlands. A highlight of the project was a field trip to coastal communities, where students met with residents and visited ecological sites, adding lived experiences to their research.
The team’s primary output was an ArcGIS StoryMap, a multimedia platform combining maps, data visualization, audio and narrative text to communicate the history and future of ghost forests. The resource, designed for community members, museums and educators, highlights both the vulnerability and resilience of coastal landscapes.
Timing
Fall 2024 – Summer 2025
Team Outputs
Ghost (Forest) Stories: Unearthing History and Climate Change (Interactive display presented at the Fortin Foundation Bass Connections Showcase, Duke University, April 16, 2025)
This Team in the News
Ghost (Forest) Stories: Uncovering the Past to Understand a Changing Coast
Image: Emily Ury measures soil salinity in a ghost forest, by Emily Bernhardt/Duke University