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December 2019

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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.