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February 28, 2019

Study: Decades of Tree Rings Extend Today's High-Tech Climate Stories

A person taking a sample from a tree.

Satellite imagery, carbon dioxide measurements, and computer models all help scientists understand how climate and carbon dynamics are changing in the world’s forests. But the technology powering these high-tech data only stretches back about thirty years, limiting our picture of long-term change.

A new study in Nature Communications co-authored by HF Senior Ecologist Neil Pederson with scientists from Columbia University,

February 26, 2019

Museum Event to Discuss Dam Removal in New England

Construction equipment in a dam.

More than ten thousand dams were built on New England rivers over the past four centuries. In the past twenty years, intentional removal of these structures has become common throughout the region, motivated by public safety, maintenance costs, and the desire to restore passage for migratory fish.

Scientist Noah Snyder, Harvard Forest Bullard Fellow and Associate Professor at

February 22, 2019

Study: Recent Land-Use Trends Limit Carbon Potential

A map of the New England states.

Over the next 50 years, land-use change in New England (both forest harvest and land development) will have more of an impact on forest dynamics than climate change.

And, if recent trends in regional land use are maintained, the landscape will fall far short of its potential to store carbon, explains a new paper in the journal Global Environmental Change, by HF

February 15, 2019

Improvements to Harvard Farm Include Public Art Sculpture

Three triangular structures.

Travelers on Route 32 in Petersham will soon see improvements to the Harvard Farm, formerly the Petersham Country Club property, now a working cow pasture, ecological research site, and outdoor classroom owned by the Harvard Forest.

Some changes are small and aesthetic: the Harvard Forest Woods Crew has been clearing brush and pruning dead tree branches to beautify the view from

February 6, 2019

Harvard Forest Map Collection Digitized for Public Use

A map of Harvard Forest.

A partnership with Massachusetts Digital Commonwealth has led to the digitization of 600+ maps from the Harvard Forest Archive: local property maps, forest inventories, detailed maps of damage from the 1938 Hurricane, even winter range maps of local snowshoe hares! All the maps are free for download and use under a Creative Commons license.

January 22, 2019

January Interns Create Multimedia Projects for Conservation Community

Interns pose for a picture over tree level during a field walk.
Since 2015, Harvard Forest has hosted a Harvard undergraduate intern for 3 weeks each January, in partnership with the Harvard Office of Career Services' Museum and Arts Fellowship program.

 

This year, the Forest hired three interns to work on a range of multimedia projects for the Wildlands and Woodlands initiative, highlighting the role of universities in land conservation across New
December 6, 2018

New Study Makes 52 Million Tree Records More Accessible to Science

A map of the world highlighting locations of tree ring data banks.

The world's primary archive of tree ring data, which holds more than 52 million cost-free records spanning 8,000 years of history, has gotten a makeover by scientists from four countries committed to making science more accessible.

The co-authors report in the Journal of Biogeography that the International Tree‐Ring Data Bank, developed in 1974 and populated by hundreds of contributing

November 19, 2018

16 Giant Viruses New to Science Unexpectedly Found in Harvard Forest Soils

A sample under a microscope.

A study released today in Nature Communications by biologists at the University of Massachusetts, the Department of Energy's Joint Genome Institute (JGI), and Stanford University reports on the discovery of 16 giant viruses never before seen by science, all found in one small soil sample in the woods at Harvard Forest.

The soil sample - a

November 10, 2018

Applications Open: Mid-Career Fellowship Program

Two researchers in the woods looking at samples.

Note: Applications are now closed.

The Charles Bullard Fellowship program supports 6 to 12 months of advanced research and study by individuals who show promise of making an important contribution, either as scholars or administrators, to forest-related subjects including biology, earth sciences, conservation, economics, politics, humanities, the arts, or law.

Applications for 2019-2020 are open through January 15, 2019.

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November 1, 2018

Public Exhibits Merge Data, Science Communication, & Design

Warming Warning Exhibit

Two art exhibits on view now at Harvard Forest and Harvard University are bringing pressing science issues to the fore and promoting public discussions about future change.

Both exhibits were co-created in a unique collaboration by 2016-2017 Bullard Fellow David Buckley Borden and HF Senior Ecologist Aaron Ellison.

Hemlock Hospice is an 18-piece sculpture exhibit embedded in a long-term research area

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