Summer Research Program Earns Diversity Award

The Organization of Biological Field Stations, representing more than 250 research centers around the globe, has granted the Harvard Forest its 2014 Human Diversity Award. The award highlights our Summer Research Program, now in its 25th year of training undergraduates from around the country in ecology and conservation. The award notes the program's strengths in:

• Inclusive outreach methods that reach a wide range of applicants
• Creating an inclusive and nurturing environment for program participants, and
• Tracking program outcomes with the aim to improve program diversity, sensitivity, and effectiveness.

The Harvard Forest is proud to accept this award on behalf of the many research mentors, program administrators, funders, and project partners (ESA SEEDS, CCURI) who help diversify our program and improve student experience every year.

This year's summer program culminated in a well-attended final research symposium on August 7. Those 22 students will now join a well-connected group of program alumni, who regularly go on to co-author scientific papers and deliver national presentations about their summer work. Surveys show that the vast majority of our alumni attend graduate school and launch careers in environmental fields including ecological research, science education, and environmental policy.

• Explore our Summer Research Program blog.
• Learn more about the Harvard Forest Summer Research Program.