Sally P. Horn

Where do you work?

I teach geography courses at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee, and I do research in Central and South America and the Caribbean.

What do you do?

I teach courses and do research focused on understanding the Earth’s varied landscapes and the way they have changed over time.

I am especially interested in changes in vegetation and fire regimes brought about by people (both modern and prehistoric) and by changing climate. Evidence of such changes is sometimes preserved in landscapes, but you have to look closely—and sometimes also get lucky—to find and understand the field evidence.

I spend much of my field time digging holes in the ground, and in the bottoms of lake basins, to recover ancient soils and sediments. I bring these back to my lab and study the plant remains and other indicators of environmental history preserved within them.

Pollen grains, charcoal fragments, diatoms, and other plant fossils provide information about past vegetation, climate, and fires; volcanic ash and other sediment components reveal the geological history of study sites. Ceramic fragments and stone artifacts within soil and sediment cores, or excavated nearby, document human use of landscapes.

What inspired you to do what you do?

My fascination with landscapes and their history led me to pursue a career in geography. How did different places and regions of the world become as they are today? What roles have natural disturbances, climate, geological history, and human activity played in creating the landscapes we see? These are the sorts of questions that I find most interesting—and that I ask in my teaching and research.

I enjoy being outdoors, and the fieldwork I do is a source of great enjoyment and inspiration. Many of my study sites are in remote areas that haven’t received much scientific attention, so there is an aspect of exploration and adventure to my work that I find very rewarding.

I am also inspired by the possibility of applying some of what I learn about past human activities and past climate to issues of future global change and the conservation and management of biotic diversity.

Besides your work, what other interests do you have?

Many of the interests I’ve had since childhood—photography, hiking, botany, collecting rocks—are a part of the work I now do (which is another of its attractions for me). Outside of work, my interests center on my husband and children and their activities.

What keeps you interested in your work?

I am always learning new things in my work, and my teaching gives me a chance to share them with others. These two things keep me interested in my work.

What goals have you set for yourself?

I am going to upgrade my computer skills beyond DOS 3.3.

What resources can you suggest to the layperson interested in your field?

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazine often touches on issues of vegetation and climate history, and their interrelationships with human activity. Among scientific journals that focus on these issues, I especially recommend Quaternary Research and The Holocene. Scanning a few recent issues of these journals would provide interested readers with a very good feel for the breadth and directions of research in these areas.

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