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June 10, 2019

New Grant: Gypsy Moth, Carbon Storage, and Tree Mortality

Gypsy moth caterpillar

A Harvard Forest-led research team has received a $99,000 Rapid Response Research grant from the National Science Foundation to study the factors underlying widespread oak tree mortality across southern New England in the wake of an ongoing, multi-year outbreak of invasive gypsy moth. 

It has been more than thirty years since gypsy moth has caused such a high level of tree

May 29, 2019

HF Scientists Featured in "Poetry in America" Course for Teachers

Poetry in America for Teachers logo

This spring, 194 K-12 teachers from around the nation enrolled in an online course featuring three Harvard Forest ecologists discussing poems related to their research. The online course is part of the Poetry in America project, created and directed by Harvard professor Elisa New -- a public television series and multi-platform digital initiative that brings poetry into classrooms

May 20, 2019

HF Graduate Students Earn Plant Biology Research Awards

Students standing in the woods making observations.

Two Harvard Forest-affiliated graduate students have won research awards from the New England Botanical Club, to support their proposals to study the impacts of global change on garlic mustard invasions and the survival and diversity of native trees.

April 4, 2019

Bullard Spotlight: Tom Sherry on the Evolution of Bird Communities

An illustration of a bird.

Charles Bullard Fellow Thomas Sherry, who studies terrestrial bird migration, community structure, and conservation at Tulane University in New Orleans, used his six-month residency at the Forest to begin a book on the co-evolution and community-driven specialization of tropical birds and insects.

His unique integration of evolutionary approaches with ecological processes like predator-prey interactions and interspecific competition has led to

March 26, 2019

Study: Land Conservation Boosts Local Economies

A bicyclist in the woods surrounded by fall foliage.

Land conservation modestly increases employment rates, a traditional indicator of economic growth, according to a new study of New England cities and towns, led by scientists at Harvard Forest, Amherst College, Highstead, and Boston University.

The study, published in Conservation Biology, is the first of its kind, estimating the local net impacts of both private and public land conservation

March 1, 2019

Harvard Forest Ecology Symposium to Celebrate 30 Years of LTER Research

Harvard Forest eddy flux tower

On March 19, 2019, the Harvard Forest will live-stream its annual Ecology Symposium, with a special look back on the history of the Harvard Forest Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) program as we move into its fourth decade. Talks and panel discussions will feature lead investigators from the first decade of LTER that began in the 1980s – including

February 28, 2019

Study: Decades of Tree Rings Extend Today's High-Tech Climate Stories

A person taking a sample from a tree.

Satellite imagery, carbon dioxide measurements, and computer models all help scientists understand how climate and carbon dynamics are changing in the world’s forests. But the technology powering these high-tech data only stretches back about thirty years, limiting our picture of long-term change.

A new study in Nature Communications co-authored by HF Senior Ecologist Neil Pederson with scientists from Columbia University,

February 26, 2019

Museum Event to Discuss Dam Removal in New England

Construction equipment in a dam.

More than ten thousand dams were built on New England rivers over the past four centuries. In the past twenty years, intentional removal of these structures has become common throughout the region, motivated by public safety, maintenance costs, and the desire to restore passage for migratory fish.

Scientist Noah Snyder, Harvard Forest Bullard Fellow and Associate Professor at

February 22, 2019

Study: Recent Land-Use Trends Limit Carbon Potential

A map of the New England states.

Over the next 50 years, land-use change in New England (both forest harvest and land development) will have more of an impact on forest dynamics than climate change.

And, if recent trends in regional land use are maintained, the landscape will fall far short of its potential to store carbon, explains a new paper in the journal Global Environmental Change, by HF

February 15, 2019

Improvements to Harvard Farm Include Public Art Sculpture

Three triangular structures.

Travelers on Route 32 in Petersham will soon see improvements to the Harvard Farm, formerly the Petersham Country Club property, now a working cow pasture, ecological research site, and outdoor classroom owned by the Harvard Forest.

Some changes are small and aesthetic: the Harvard Forest Woods Crew has been clearing brush and pruning dead tree branches to beautify the view from

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