The New England Center for Ecological Synthesis (NECES)

A New Initiative - 2007

Advisory Committee | History | Current Facilities | On-line Resources | Active Initiatives

Mission statement

Ecology and conservation integrate a spectrum of biological, physical and social sciences, span broad scales of time and space, and rely on diverse resources including digital data bases, physical archives, and library collections. Harvard Forest plans to develop NECES as a facility that fuses its unique digital and archival collections on the New England landscape in an integrated resource that serves as a regional and national center and a model for synthetic research and education. The Center, which will be both a building and a platform accessible to distant users through the internet, will include:

• Quantitative, cartographic, photographic, and descriptive materials from Harvard Forest 100-year history of field, laboratory, and controlled experiments;
• Historical and pre-historical records of ecological and cultural change centering on southern New England and the northeastern U.S.;
• 20,000 volumes on the history, ecology, conservation and environment of New England;
• A comprehensive information system of all research over the past 20 years;
• Real-time access to on-going observations and measurements of physical and biological processes in the 1200-ha Harvard Forest field laboratory and classroom.

Advisory Committee

• Judy Warnement – Director, Harvard Univ. Botany Libraries and Harvard Forest Library
• Sheila Connor – Horticultural Research Archivist, Arnold Arboretum Horticultural Library and Harvard Forest Archivist
• Martha Mahard – Visiting Assistant Professor, Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Science
• Jerry Melillo – Director, Marine Biological Laboratory - Ecosystems Center
• John Aber – Vice President for Research, University of New Hampshire
• Billie Turner – Professor of Geography, Clark University
• Jack Larkin – Chief Historian, Old Sturbridge Village
• Ex Officio: David Foster, Aaron Ellison, Emery Boose, Julie Pallant, Glenn Motzkin

The Centennial Development of NECES

Current Facilities

The NECES initiative will help substantially expand the existing physical and electronic resources based at the central facility at harvard forest. The current facilities include:

The Archives include both electronic and physical records.

Electronic data includes scientific datasets generated by Harvard Forest staff, visiting scientists and students, the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program, and a variety of outside collaborators. Global access to electronic data and information about Harvard Forest is provided via the Harvard Forest website, with links to the larger LTER network of 26 sites.

Harvard Forest has already begun providing many resources on-line. These have been compiled in a comprehensive format for current visitors and off-site researchers. The expansion of these services is an on-going process.

Physical records are housed in the Harvard Forest Archives, a climate-controlled four-room facility adjacent to Shaler Hall. The Archives holdings include research files, forest inventories, forest stand and plantation records, maps, climate records, student theses and dissertations, photographs, slides, aerial photographs, correspondence, property records, administrative files, course notes, and regional information relevant to research conducted at the Harvard Forest. Specimens such as tree cores, forest soils, and leaf litter are stored separately in the Sample Archive room. The archive facility includes tables and workspace for researchers, flatbed and slide scanners, a photocopier, wireless and wired network access, a zoom transfer scope for map analysis, and an aerial photograph stereoscope for aerial photo interpretation. The Archives are open to anyone with a valid scientific or educational purpose for their use.

The Harvard Forest Library is a collection of monographs and periodicals related to the study of forest ecology, with an emphasis on the Northeast deciduous forest. The collection is searchable online through Hollis the Harvard University Library catalog. The Library retains all publications from the USDA Northeast Forest Experiment Station, the majority of those from the Southern and North Central Stations, and selected publications from other regions.

On-site accommodations are available for visiting researchers and groups. Conference facilities include: meeting space and short term housing for groups from 1 to 125.

Active Initiatives

• Harvard University Library Digital Initiative
  The Harvard Forest Archives has received an $100,000 grant from the Library Digital Initiative (LDI) at Harvard University to begin the process of making archive materials more accessible. The LDI project focuses on creating a catalog of Harvard Forest archive materials and initially populating the catalog with current research files. The initiative also supports the conversion of frequently used resources (slides, photos, research records) into a digital format. These resources will be made available on-line for public use.
• National Science Foundation Field Station and Marine Labs Proposal
  The Harvard Forest request for FSML support will thoroughly renovate a large brick complex that currently houses the document archives, maintenance garage, plant physiology field work space, and sample repository to create the new New England Center for Ecological Synthesis (NECES). The Center will occupy the entire building (3,560 ft², or 330 m²) and will include space with varying levels of security and access including:
  • Open access areas: General research; conference room which may also serve as shared working space for up to 4 visiting researchers; a reading/small group discussion room; and an accessible bathroom; and
  • Secured areas: staff office; mobile and stationary display of archive, library and research materials; work space/storage area for materials being processed by staff.