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October 16, 2012

New Grant to Aid Research on Soil Microbe DNA

Serita Frey collecting soil samples

The Joint Genome Institute of the U.S. Department of Energy recently granted Harvard Forest researchers Jeffrey Blanchard (UMass), Kristen DeAngelis (UMass), Linda van Diepen (UNH), Serita Frey (UNH), and Jerry Melillo (MBL) a Community Sequencing Program award.

The award will cover the processing costs for sequencing 3 terabases of microbial community DNA and RNA gathered from Harvard Forest soils.

October 16, 2012

Study Offers Alternatives for Forest Management after Storms

The Harvard Forest hurricane pulldown area

A Harvard Forest study soon to be published in the journal Ecology highlights 20 years of data from a forest disrupted by a major hurricane simulation in 1990. Although post-storm management strategies generally involve removal of dead and damaged trees, the Ecology study suggests that forests recover more readily when they are left alone.

October 16, 2012

International Conference: Solving Small-scale Forestry Issues

International conference field trip group co-organized by Harvard Forest

In an international conference co-organized by Harvard Forest researcher and University of Massachusetts professor David Kittredge, more than 90 specialists from 18 different countries convened at UMass Amherst in late September to share research results, identify future research themes, and discuss solutions inherent to small scale forests and forestry that can benefit landowners, society, and the

October 5, 2012

Harvard Forest Post-Doc Earns Prestigious Banting Fellowship

Baltimore checkerspots butterfly

Greg Breed, a Harvard Forest post-doctoral fellow, has begun a 2-year fellowship at the University of Alberta to continue his research on butterfly population dynamics. Banting fellowships are granted by the Canadian federal government "to build world-class research capacity by recruiting top-tier Canadian and international postdoctoral researchers at an internationally competitive level of funding."

Learn more from the

October 1, 2012

MassLIFT-AmeriCorps Orientation and Trail Project at the Forest

Trail crew team 2012

Twenty MassLIFT-AmeriCorps members started their year of service this September with a four-day orientation at the Harvard Forest.  The MassLIFT (Massachusetts Land Initiative for Tomorrow) program, founded and led by Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust, trains and supports its members to sustain and often initiate conservation-related projects across Massachusetts.

The September orientation included a tour of

September 19, 2012

Highlights from the 2012 Summer Research Program

Summer research students

32 undergraduate students spent summer 2012 at the Harvard Forest, hard at work with their mentors on research projects related to climate change, wildlife, water quality, biodiversity, biogeochemistry, and conservation. While most students participated as part of the Summer Research Program in Ecology, two students were Leadership Fellows from the SEEDS program of the Ecological Society of

September 18, 2012

Museum Series to Feature Harvard Forest Keynotes

Dave Orwig and David Foster

A public event series at the Harvard Museum of Natural History will feature lectures by several Harvard Forest researchers this fall. 

September 19, 6:00pm
Forest Invaders! How Invasive Species are Reshaping the Wooded Landscape of New England
Panel discussion by Dave Orwig and David Foster

November 15, 6:00pm
Woodlands and Waters, Forests and Faucets: A look at

September 5, 2012

Harvard Forest Welcomes New Bullard Fellows

Cedar trees in Holyoke,Ma

The seven Charles Bullard fellows arriving at the Forest this fall will spend the academic year collaborating with Harvard researchers to investigate topics ranging from seed dispersal and biophysical modeling to sustainable forestry.

Learn more about this year's fellows.

The mission of the Bullard fellowship program is to support advanced research and study by individuals who show promise of making an

August 29, 2012

Special Exhibit "First Contact" to Open Sept. 23

Image from First Contact taken at Harvard Forest

Through digital projections, landscape photography, high-definition video, and forest audio recordings taken at the Harvard Forest, overlaid with historical voiceover texts and music, First Contact will immerse visitors in the experience of 17th century peoples as they struggled to reconcile opposing notions about land use.

The multimedia exhibit will open in the Fisher

August 19, 2012

New Study: Massachusetts Butterflies Responding to Climate Change

The Giant Swallowtail butterfly on a purple flower

A partnership between Harvard Forest scientists Greg Breed, Elizabeth Crone, and Sharon Stichter of the Massachusetts Butterfly Club has led to a new study in Nature Climate Change.

The researchers analyzed 19 years of data from nearly 20,000 trip accounts logged by the butterfly club's amateur naturalists. The resulting data show strong shifts

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