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December 18, 2024

Jan 25: Join us for all things tree rings!

Image shows a black and white picture of a cross-section of a large hemlock analyzed by Bob Marshall on the Adams Fay Lot (1924). Photographer unknown.

Event: Tree Rings at Harvard Forest

Saturday, January 25th
11 AM – 12 PM 
Meet at the Fisher Museum (directions)
324 N Main St, Petersham, MA 01366 

Image shows a graphic with text, including information noted on this webpage, plus a description of activities: "meet the tree ring lab; tree coring demo; tour of the lab; learn</body></html>

December 16, 2024

Diversity vs. Heterogeneity: New Insights from Animal Gut Microbiome Scaling

Image shows three scales in terms of grain and extent, from microbe's eye. By Zhanshan (Sam) Ma and Aaron Ellison.

Diversity and heterogeneity are two related but distinct ideas that describe biological communities. As part of his recent heterogeneity research through the Bullard Fellowship at Harvard Forest, Dr. Zhanshan (Sam) Ma collaborated with Aaron Ellison, Harvard Forest Associate, to examine the differences between these two phenomena by studying animal gut microbiomes (AGMs). Recently

December 10, 2024

Applications now open: Harvard Forest Summer Research Program in Ecology

Image shows 2024 SRPE students with  proctor, Teressa Alexander, and Program Coordinator, Ben Goulet-Scott.

Applications now open!

The Harvard Forest Summer Research Program in Ecology is an immersive research experience connecting undergraduate students to mentors and researchers in the pursuit of scientific inquiry. Each year, 15-25 undergraduates from across the US live and work at the 4,000-acre Harvard Forest for 11 weeks. Students work with a research mentor in interdisciplinary team-based projects focused on how ecosystems change over

December 3, 2024

Reflecting on a Vibrant Fall Season of Harvard University Visitors

Image shows Harvard University students atop a Harvard Forest research tower. By Clarisse Hart.

Each fall, Harvard Forest comes alive as dozens of student groups visit to experience our immersive research facilities against the backdrop of glowing autumn foliage. With approximately 1,000 student visitors annually, the forest buzzes with activity, hosting everything from academic courses and extracurricular organizations to house retreats and orientation programs. This seasonal influx invigorates the Harvard Forest community and inspires

December 3, 2024

Benton Taylor (OEB) to Explore How Warming, CO2, and Drought Shape Forest Carbon Storage

Image shows a rotting tree stump on the forest floor. By David Foster.

Benton Taylor, Assistant Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University and Faculty Fellow at the Arnold Arboretum, has launched an ambitious research project at Harvard Forest to examine how temperate forests respond to climate change. Supported by his National Science Foundation Career Grant, Taylor’s study, the Forest Responses to Warming Atmospheric CO2 and Drought (FORWARD) experiment, will investigate

November 26, 2024

Approaching Ecosystems as Family Networks: Studying the Decline of Red-Tailed Hawks

Image shows Keshia De Freece Lawrence, left, leaning against a tree. Neil Pederson is leaning against a different tree to the right.

Keshia De Freece Lawrence, Harvard Forest’s Indigenous Education Specialist, is conducting research to investigate the decline of red-tailed hawks. Her work is inspired by years of observing an alarming number of dead hawks along roadsides. De Freece Lawrence, a member of the Ramapough Lenape tribe, combines her academic background with her Indigenous heritage to approach the issue holistically, viewing the

November 26, 2024

Schoolyard Ecology Program Launches Giving Campaign

Image shows several students collecting data outside.

For 20 years, the Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology community has brought young people outdoors to collect scientific data in their local environment and has given teachers the support they need to teach real science with real data.

Image shows a picture of a student's hands holding a salamander with a blue backdrop and Giving</body></html>

November 13, 2024

Boston Globe: Neil Pederson, Other Experts Answer Key Questions About Drought Conditions

Image shows autumnal scene, including senescing leaves and former pasture land. By David Foster.

The Boston Globe recently dug into the effects of the current drought, speaking with Neil Pederson, Harvard Forest Senior Ecologist.

While we often think late-season dry spells are less problematic than during peak growing season, they can significantly impact next year’s growth.

Discussing how trees form buds in the fall, Pederson states, “what they are actually doing is setting

November 12, 2024

New Study Reveals Unexpected Soil Carbon Response to Nitrogen and Warming

Image shows a research sign at the Harvard Forest soil warming plots. By David Foster.

A recent study reveals the nuanced relationship between warmer temperatures and increased nitrogen deposits in forest soils, both of which are influenced by fossil fuel emissions. Published

October 30, 2024

Immersive Global Change Ecology Course Expands Experience of First-Years

Image shows the 2024 First-Year Seminar students at the Swift River in Petersham.

Dave Orwig, Senior Forest Ecologist at Harvard Forest, isn't your typical Harvard instructor. A leading researcher examining - firsthand - a variety of disturbances to forests across the northeast, Orwig is acutely aware of these threats, affecting individual tree species, complex vegetative communities, and the web of organisms that rely upon them. Summers spent conducting research at remote, threatened old

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