Summer Research Program Accepting Applications

The 2020 Harvard Forest Summer Research Program is an 11-week research experience connecting undergraduate students, mentors, and the Forest's wider community of researchers to pursue scientific inquiry in an immersive field station setting. Participants gain experience in the full scientific process by working in diverse collaborative teams, developing data science skills, and building professional networks to launch careers that will make a difference in the world. Applications are due by Feb. 7, 2020.

Learn More & Apply
 

News & Highlights
January 21, 2020

Study: Climate (Not Humans) Shaped Early Forests of New England

Openland and stone wall

A new study in the journal Nature Sustainability overturns long-held interpretations of the role humans played in shaping the American landscape before European colonization. The findings give new insight into the rationale and approaches for managing some of the most biodiverse landscapes in the eastern U.S.

December 19, 2019

Climate Teaching Tool Co-Produced by Local Teacher & HF Scientist

screenshot of Data Nugget website showing title (A window into a tree's world) and image of scientist Neil Pederson extracting a tree-ring core from the trunk of an evergreen tree

A new teaching tool for middle, high school, and university classrooms guides students in using Harvard Forest tree-ring data to answer questions about local climate change. The lesson plan was produced by Elicia Andrews, a teacher at Quabbin Regional High School in Barre, MA, who also participates in the Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology Program. Andrews was supported in

December 16, 2019

Study: Invasive Insects Increase Likelihood of Logging on Private Land

close-up on the ends of 20 cut logs stacked in winter snow, some with tracking numbers spraypainted on them

A new study in the journal People and Nature, led by a team of scientists from Harvard Forest, UMass, and Duke University, surveyed hundreds of forest landowners in New England and found that future invasive insect outbreaks could increase the likelihood of forest harvest on private land. 

Based on survey responses, the team grouped landowners into three types, characterizing their

December 1, 2019

Harvard's "Wired Woods" Featured in Resilient Forest Series

A research tram on cables glides over the top of dense, green vegetation in a recently clear-cut forest.

Harvard Forest land and research is the newest focus of a year-long multimedia series on resilient forests by Northern Woodlands.

Listen as Harvard Forest Senior Ecologist and Deputy Director Aaron Ellison walks radio producer Erica Heilman through our "wired woods," and up to the top of our 92' research tower, discussing how scientists use experimental forests to measure change over time.

October 11, 2019

Harvard Forest Co-Presents Award for Academic Conservation Excellence

In a special event today, the Harvard Forest, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, and Highstead Foundation, along with their partners in Academics for Land Protection in New England (ALPINE), recognized the University of Massachusetts Amherst with the Charles H.W. Foster Award for Academic Leadership in Land Conservation.

The event also honored the high-impact career of longtime UMass

October 3, 2019

NYT Op-Ed Poses Wood Building & Forest Conservation as Climate Solutions

Common Ground High School

An op-ed in the New York Times, co-authored by Harvard Forest director David Foster, points to new forest management standards, increases in wood building projects, and protection of existing forests from development as untapped climate solutions in New England and around the world.

The piece was written with colleagues Frank Lowenstein from the New England Forestry Foundation and

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Wildlife Cam

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Raccoon
Raccoon at Night
Turkeys with young grazing
Turkey with Young Grazing
Young Moose Browsing
Moose Browsing
Deer Browsing
Deer Browsing
Wildlife Trail Cameras at Harvard Forest - Feb/March 2016
Wildlife Trail Cameras at Harvard Forest - Feb/March 2016
Wildlife Trail Cameras at Harvard Forest - February 2016
Wildlife Montage - February 2016

Webcams

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EMS Tower
Witness Tree
Harvard Forest Common Garden
NEON Bottom of Tower
Below Canopy
Harvard Farm North
Hemlock Tower SW
Little Prospect Hill Tower
Barn Tower 2
Hemlock Tower NE
Barn Tower
Harvard Farm South
Neon Top of Tower

Real Time Data

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8. Snowpack
3. Wind Speed
1. Temperature & Humidity
4. Precipitation
2. Radiation
5. Stream Discharge
7. Water Temperature
6. Wetland Water Level

Events at Harvard Forest

  • Wednesday, January 22, -
    Paulo Freire Charter School
  • Friday, January 24 - Saturday, January 25
    Harvard University Kirkland House Faculty Deans' Retreat
  • Spring Seminar Series
  • Future Events

Initiatives & Partner Organizations

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