Dendrochronologist and founder of the University of Arizona’s Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, Andrew Ellicott Douglass, was an early adopter of amateur moviemaking technology. 

From the 1920s through the 1950s, Douglass used 16mm and 35mm film to document significant breakthroughs in scientific practices and research as they happened. Recording his academic undertakings in astronomy, climate science, and especially the tree-ring record, he illuminated the chronology of human settlement in the southwestern United States. 

The University of Arizona Libraries Special Collections was awarded a prestigious Recordings at Risk grant from the Council on Libraries and Information Resources to preserve and digitize films created by Douglass.  

To celebrate the opening of the online collection, The Films of Andrew Ellicott Douglass: Astronomer, Archaeologist and Father of Tree-Ring Dating, Special Collections presents a panel discussion about preserving these unique materials and their importance to both the study of science on film and the scholarly fields in which Douglass was an innovator.

Panelists

• Dr. Oliver Gaycken, Professor, English and Film Studies, University of Maryland
• Amanda Howard, Archival Assistant, University of Arizona Libraries, Special Collections 
• Dr. Charlotte Pearson, Associate Professor, University of Arizona Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research 
• Trent Purdy, Multimedia and Digital Collections Archivist, University of Arizona Libraries, Special Collections
• Dr. David Frank, Director, University of Arizona Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, will moderate the discussion