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April 30, 2015

Sensor Networks and the Arrival of Spring

Harvard Forest stream weir

The field wireless network at Harvard Forest was recently expanded to enable (near-) real-time data from four stream gages, two wetland gages, and a snow pillow. Data from these stations and the Fisher Meteorological Station are collected, processed, and uploaded to our website every 15 minutes along with 30-day graphs of selected variables. The graphs, which contain about 3,000 data points

April 20, 2015

Bullard Spotlight: Wyatt Oswald on Reconstructing Past Environmental Change

Oswald and Day at hemlock hollow

Bullard Fellow Wyatt Oswald, an Associate Professor of Science at Emerson College in Boston, has been affiliated with the Harvard Forest for more than a decade. Working closely with Harvard Forest collaborators David Foster and Elaine Doughty, he analyzes lake-sediment cores to reconstruct past environmental changes.

During his Bullard Fellowship, Oswald has synthesized various types of paleoecological data

April 14, 2015

International Scholars in Residence at Harvard Forest

Harvard Forest ecologist Aaron Ellison and visitor Shah Khalid

In April, 4 international visitors from 3 continents arrived to conduct research at the Forest in collaboration with HF ecologists Aaron Ellison and Audrey Barker-Plotkin, and Director of Conservation Innovation, Jim Levitt.

Visitor Shah Khalid studies and teaches Botany at Islamia College in Peshawar, Pakistan. He was awarded a scholarship from the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan

March 23, 2015

HF Director to Address Forest Futures at Regional Symposium

"Climate Change and the Future of Plant Life" flyer

On March 26, HF Director David Foster will join other noted scientists to discuss "Climate Change and the Future of Plant Life" in a regional symposium hosted by the New England Wild Flower Society.

Speakers will present a new report on the state of New England's plants; information on climate-induced species adaptation, migration, and loss; and

March 23, 2015

Harvard's 'Wired' Forest Featured

Harvard Forest barn tower

The latest issue of IEEE Spectrum Magazine features, in layman's terms, the ins and outs of Harvard Forest's high-tech research infrastructure. Describing our myriad long-term ecological research experiments, writer Mark Harris quips, "If a tree falls in the Harvard Forest, rest assured that a gadget is positioned to hear it."

March 6, 2015

'Scenarios to Simulation' Workshop Explores Regional Landscape Change

A group of people working together at a workshop called "Scenarios to Simulations"

Last month, as part of the Scenarios, Services, and Society Research Coordination Network (S3 RCN), the Harvard Forest and the Science Policy Exchange collaborated with Dartmouth College to help convene a unique land-change workshop, "Scenarios to Simulations."

The workshop brought together academics to explore scientific methods for translating narrative scenarios of future landscape change into numeric estimates. Their work

March 5, 2015

New Study: A Carbon Surprise in Old-Growth Forests

Rebecca Walker, Jennifer McGarvey, and Stevie Gildehaus at Belt Woods

Most forests in the eastern U.S. are young and growing fast. A new study published this week in the journal Ecology  shows the potential for younger forests to maintain their valuable carbon 'sink' capacity for many decades to come -- but not in the way you might expect. 

To explore the potential for young forests to store carbon over time, HF

February 24, 2015

Bullard Spotlight: Hannah Buckley and Bradley Case on Forest Spatial Patterns

HF ForestGEO plot

Our Charles Bullard Fellowship Program draws scholars from around the globe. This year, Hannah Buckley and Bradley Case from New Zealand's Lincoln University are at the Forest working toward a better understanding of the links between forest spatial patterns and processes.

In collaboration with HF senior ecologist Aaron Ellison, they are using new methods in spatial

February 20, 2015

2015 Harvard Forest Ecology Symposium

Fungi at Harvard Forest

The 26th annual Harvard Forest Ecology Symposium will be held Tuesday, March 17th from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

February 23, 2015

250 Years in a Hemlock Forest

Bob Marshall hemlock rings - Harvard Forest

A detailed case study in the journal Rhodora, authored by 4 Harvard Forest colleagues and a Summer Research Program alumnus, explores 250 years of land-use history in the Simes Tract of Petersham, where scientists began the long-term Hemlock Removal Experiment in 2005.

Historical documents,

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