Winter Interns Advance Harvard Forest Research and Education Initiatives

In January, Harvard Forest hosted six Harvard University students for Wintersession Internships across a variety of disciplines.

Collectively discussing their work to the Harvard Forest community at a Lab Group on January 22, the interns presented on the research projects listed below.

Research on Environmental Education: Schoolyard Ecology and STEM Identity
Aditya Bhayana; Harvard Kennedy School

“Draw a picture of a scientist doing science,” instructed Aditya Bhayana at the start of his presentation. This preamble mimicked surveys completed by K12 students earlier this year, which served as part of Aditya’s dataset. Working with Katharine Hinkle (Harvard Forest Manager of Youth Education), Aditya examined qualitative sociological and educational research to better understand how Schoolyard Ecology students characterize the identity of scientists, giving insight into how high-level scientists develop their identity early on.

Investigating Long-Term Temperate Forest Dynamics
Eve Farrell; PhD, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology

What is the timescale for forests recovering biomass volumes that were present before harvesting? Working with Danelle Laflower (Harvard Forest Research Assistant), Jonathan Thompson (Harvard Forest Director in Residence), and Audrey Barker Plotkin (Harvard Forest Senior Ecologist), intern Eve Farrell analyzed a unique dataset across a 23,000-hectare plot within the Quabbin Watershed to better understand long-term changes in tree demographics, forest structure, and carbon uptake among different sites.

Environmental Workforce Development Projects in Boston
Hailey Akey (Harvard College ’27)

Working with Ann Lewis (Schoolyard Data Mentor and Tour Guide) and advancing priorities in a Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery Seed Grant (FY2025), Hailey Akey conducted research that will inform the creation of a sustainable environmental workforce development program within the Boston region. The research will advance the Environmental Workforce Development Grant’s objectives by identifying the functions, mandates, and characteristics of existing programs.

Mapping Land Access for the Nipmuc Community
Spurty Kamath; Graduate School of Design

With active citizens across several bands, the Nipmuc are the ancestral stewards of central Massachusetts, including Harvard Forest’s 4,000 acres. Under the leadership of the Hassanamisco and Chaubunagungamaug Nipmuc Councils, and with support from Emily Johnson (Stakeholder Engagement Coordinator), intern Spurty Kamath collated statewide data and created GIS resources to increase knowledge about rematriated land and to facilitate information-sharing across the Nipmuc community.

Re-Centering Indigenous Perspectives in the Fisher Museum
Sophia Isabelle Rey (Harvard College ’27) & Lana Romanova (PhD; Art, Film, and Visual Studies)

World-renowned for their artistry and instructive value, the dioramas of the Harvard Forest Fisher Museum have been a source of academic understanding on the natural history and landscape change of the Northeast US for generations. Expanding this narrative through a grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services, a new exhibit will complement the existing dioramas to incorporate Indigenous history and ongoing influence of settler-colonialism.

Led by Tyler White (Graduate School of Design), Nipmuc community member Nia Holley, and Clarisse Hart (Director of Education and Outreach), interns Sophia Rey and Lana Romanova conducted curatorial research examining historical land-settling processes, collecting examples of contemporary design that reclaim Indigenous histories of land stewardship, and identifying metaphorical barriers that might serve as reference points for the new exhibit.