Author: Emily Johnson

Data Literacy Workshops Help Educators Tell a Story with Schoolyard Data

Posted on by Emily Johnson

This winter the Schoolyard Ecology program hosted two data literacy workshops for participating educators, one in Petersham for western and central Massachusetts educators, and one in Cambridge at the Harvard Natural History Museum for eastern Mass folks. The workshop theme was data storytelling: What is the narrative that your Schoolyard Ecology data is telling? Harvard Forest ecologists provided training, insight, and context for their work. Educators received 1:1 coaching in data entry, graphing, and interpretation of their individual results.

The teachers not only learned the ins and outs of using our publicly accessible database to enter data and generate graphs, but also engaged in big picture conversations on the importance of data literacy in and out of the classroom.  Every year, Schoolyard Ecology instructors enter their students’ observations to contribute to our growing understanding of how climate change is affecting different neighborhoods and communities around the northeast.

Since 2004, the Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology program has supported classrooms in collecting authentic ecological field data in their own local schoolyards.

New Partnership with Blackstone Watershed Collaborative to Support High School Forestry Program

Posted on by Emily Johnson

Harvard Forest is excited to partner with the Blackstone Watershed Collaborative (BWC) to provide educational tours as part of their “Building Worcester’s Future Foresters: Youth Workforce Development in Urban Forestry” grant. This Rooting Resilience award, granted by River Network but currently under review by the federal government, will allow BWC to partner with Worcester Technical High School in piloting a new Urban and Community Forestry track from 2025-2027 as part of their Environmental Technology track. Training 30 students annually over three years, the new program will allow high schoolers to receive the Urban and Community Forester Certification from the Society of American Foresters.

In addition to classroom learning, students will participate in place-based learning through regular field trips across a variety of settings, including urban forests in Worcester, traditional ecological knowledge of Indigenous-stewarded land, and field trips to Harvard Forest. Students will explore hands-on forest management techniques, the history of land use in New England, and study what makes a forest resilient for both humans and nature through Harvard Forest’s long-term ecological research practices.

Harvard Forest is thrilled to support Worcester Technical High School’s new workforce development program and partner with the Blackstone Watershed Collaborative in this initiative. 

Funding for this project is pending federal review. 

New Research from Harvard Forest Reveals How Intense Rainfall Contributes to Future Droughts

Posted on by Emily Johnson

A new study published in Water Resources Research sheds light on how New England’s soils interact with extreme precipitation, revealing a feedback loop that may contribute to future drought conditions. This research began in 2023 at Harvard Forest as part of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program and was led by Sam Jurado, then an undergraduate at Cornell University who was mentored by Dr. Jackie Matthes, a Harvard Forest Senior Scientist. The study continued through the summer of 2024 with support from the NSF Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program and in collaboration with Dr. Matthes leveraging long-term data from Harvard Forest and the National Ecological Observatory Network

Key Findings

The research, Increasing Large Precipitation Events and Low Available Water Holding Capacity Create the Conditions for Dry Land‐Atmosphere Feedbacks in the Northeastern United States, identifies a crucial relationship between precipitation patterns and soil types in New England. Despite the region experiencing intense rainfall events, the study found that these short bursts of rain onto rocky soils leads to rapid drainage through the soil without enough time for water to be retained in upper soil layers effectively. This leads to drier near-surface soils, despite higher overall rainfall, that leads to less evaporation and lower moisture in the atmosphere that could contribute to future rainfall. In contrast, sustained and small to moderate rainfall events allow for more effective water retention in the soil, preserving soil moisture and supporting future rainfall. “It seems counterintuitive, that it can be raining more while the soil is becoming drier, but we found that our rocky, post-glacial soils at Harvard Forest play a critical role in regulating this feedback between the forest and future rainfall,” said Matthes.

Image shows Sam Jurado standing next to a research poster at an AmeriFlux event.

Additionally, the study found that seasonal moisture levels are interconnected—dry conditions in the spring, for example, reduce soil moisture availability in the summer, which in turn decreases the likelihood of stable precipitation patterns during the growing season. “While dry soils are commonly assumed to be a reliable indicator of a lack of recent rainfall, they may also prevent future rain by not releasing enough moisture back into the atmosphere,” explains Jurado. “Dry soils make for dry skies, meaning that when ecosystems experience a water deficit, they become increasingly dependent on water transported by the winds for the rest of the season.”

Why It Matters

This research has critical implications for weather forecasting, water resource management, and agriculture. Understanding how soil moisture influences precipitation feedback loops can improve storm and drought predictions, helping decision-makers anticipate and prepare for water shortages more effectively.

  • Public Water Supplies: Many communities rely on surface water reservoirs that are highly sensitive to drought conditions. A better grasp of precipitation patterns can help water managers make informed decisions earlier, mitigating the impact of water shortages.
  • Agriculture & Gardening: Farmers and gardeners can use this information to anticipate drought conditions, selecting crops that are better suited to drier growing seasons.
  • Forest Resilience: Trees have adapted to drought conditions over millennia, with species that grow deeper roots proving more resilient. This research underscores the importance of studying natural ecosystems to inform climate adaptation strategies.

Looking Ahead

As climate change continues to alter weather patterns, this study emphasizes the interconnectedness of ecosystems across time. Just as winter snowmelt helps stabilize summer atmospheric moisture, our decisions today—whether in conservation, agriculture, or urban planning—can help shape a more sustainable climate future.

Primetime Documentary Leverages Harvard Forest Expertise

Posted on by Emily Johnson

A new BBC/NBC documentary series, The Americas, recently premiered in the US with a first episode featuring a majestic red oak (Quercus rubra) tree next door to the Harvard Forest. The location was not a coincidence. Producers initially contacted the Forest in 2021 based on past filming work hosted here. They were looking for a stand-out autumn tree with clear space around it for collecting drone footage – not easy to find in the dense canopy at Harvard Forest. 

The spouse of a Harvard Forest Outreach team member heard the request and suggested an oak tree from an adjacent property, Cutthroat Brook — a publicly accessible area owned by long-time friends and collaborators of the Forest — sharing with the producers a photo of her daughter in front of the tree in autumn (shown below).

The producers responded – “That oak is INCREDIBLE!” – and the collaboration for the documentary began. Over a period of several years, scientists and students from the Forest answered questions about oak tree physiology, phenology, and more. HF Senior Ecologist Neil Pederson brought his team to core and age the tree (cover photo at top of page), and Professor Crystal Schaaf brought a team from her lab at UMass Boston to scan the tree with LIDAR for additional understanding (see her team below).

Of all the elements included in the 10-part documentary series spanning two continents, actor Tom Hanks, the series narrator, has frequently described in interviews his awe over what he learned from the tree segment of the documentary (see below). We share his awe over the incredible work trees do, and are delighted to see this story reaching the broader world!

Check it out here!

Thompson Lab’s Scenario-based Research Informs New EEA Report

Posted on by Emily Johnson

Over the past two years, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) has consulted with researchers in Harvard Forest’s Thompson Lab to model forest growth, assess the impacts of anticipated ecological disturbances, and analyze potential land management strategies on forest carbon sequestration and emissions. Released last month, The Forest Carbon Study: The Impact of Alternative Land-Use Scenarios on Terrestrial Carbon Storage and Sequestration in Massachusetts investigates how Massachusetts forests can help achieve statewide net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and builds upon the Lab’s contributions to EEA’s 2050 Decarbonization Roadmap’s Land Sector Report.

Released this February, the Forest Carbon Study shows that the best ways to protect carbon storage in forests and help remove carbon from the air over time are to reduce forest loss, help forests recover after major damage, and reduce carbon emissions from logging. The study also finds that managing forests carefully can make them stronger and more adaptable to climate change. While minor in their contributions, planting trees on open land does slightly increase overall carbon absorption.

Read the Executive Summary here or visit EEA’s Forest Carbon Study page for more information. 

Harvard Forest Announces 2025-2026 Charles Bullard Fellows in Forest Research

Posted on by Emily Johnson

The Charles Bullard fellowship program supports advanced research and study by individuals who show promise of making an important contribution to forestry and forest-related subjects including biology, earth sciences, economics, politics, administration, philosophy, humanities, the arts, or law.

Harvard Forest is pleased to announce the upcoming 2025-2026 Charles Bullard Fellows in Forest Research. Over the course of their fellowships, we’ll highlight each Fellow’s work at Harvard Forest, so please stay tuned for more details!

FELLOWINSTITUTIONRESEARCH AREA
Iveren AbiemUniversity of Jos (Nigeria)Examining forest structure & species interactions and their relative contributions to ecosystem services
Kelly AhoMichigan State UniversityAquatic biogeochemistry
Lisa BrooksAmherst CollegeEnvironmental history, tracking eastern coyotes, archival research
nia holleyIndependentLand use history, arts, humanities, retrospective studies, community engagement, and informal STEM education
Daniel JohnsonUniversity of FloridaForest dynamics and forest health
Nancy LoweArt + Science In the FieldDeveloping best practices for recruitment, selection, and facilitation of interdisciplinary art-science residencies
Adam MartinUniversity of Toronto ScarboroughForest ecology and carbon dynamics
Dario Martin-BenitoInstitute of Forest Sciences (Spain)Forest ecology, dynamics, and the carbon cycle
Andrew ReinmannCUNY Hunter CollegeForest ecology and tree ecophysiological controls on the terrestrial carbon cycle
James RiversOregon State UniversityAnimal ecology
Erica SmithwickPennsylvania State UniversityForest ecology, fire science, landscape ecology, climate change

Educator spotlight: Celebrating Janet Gordon’s Retirement

Posted on by Emily Johnson

This month we celebrate the retirement of Janet Gordon, a long time (11 years!) participant in our “Buds, Leaves, and Global Warming” project at Tewksbury High School. Janet has been in education for 20 years. She took over the data collection from a colleague and Tewksbury has contributed a combined 19 years of data. Check out the Tewksbury data on our database. Janet loves the excitement that her students have in the spring and fall to be getting outside and the satisfaction that they experience in contributing to climate change research. Congratulations on your retirement! Thank you for your amazing contributions and your dedication to your student’s learning!

Educator Spotlight: Louise Levy and 15 years of Schoolyard Data!

Posted on by Emily Johnson

This quarter we are putting a spot light on Louise Levy (pictured above on the left). Louise has been in education for around 40 years, with 24 of those being in Massachusetts public schools. She has been collecting data in the Buds, Leaves, and Global Warming project for a full 15 years at Belchertown High School in Belchertown, Massachusetts primarily with 11th and 12th graders. She has also been participating in Our Changing Forests since 2015.

Louise values the Harvard Forest community of educators that she gets to meet and work with at our workshops. The community keeps fueling her passion for bringing her students outdoors and participating in our citizen science projects. Belchertown has a great site for forest studies with a large variety of trees within a short walking distance of the building, and Louise has done a lot over the years to increase the school communities comfort with getting outside for learning. Over the years, they’ve seen moose, bear, fox, star nosed moles, and salamanders galore. As Louise says, “the kids love getting outside. Oh, and the teacher does too!”

Heterogeneity research can be critical for bridging the gap between AI innovations and biomedicine

Posted on by Emily Johnson

On January 19th, Dr. Zhanshan (Sam) Ma, Harvard Forest Bullard Fellow and Dr. Aaron M. Ellison, Senior Research Fellow (Emeritus) in Ecology of Harvard University were invited to present their collaborative research work during the 2024 Harvard-MIT Symposium on “The revolutionary impact and emerging challenges of generative AI in STEM research and education.” Their presentation was titled “Heterogeneity research can be critical for bridging the gap between AI innovations and biomedicine” (https://indico.mit.edu/event/887/contributions/2768/).  In addition, Dr. Ma was invited to join in the panel discussion session of the conference.

In the talk, they showcased how heterogeneity-inspired medical ecology analysis and AI technology have enabled them to propose and test novel hypotheses about human diseases, including proposing and verifying a new hypothesis about bacterial vaginosis (BV) etiology (including diversity-stability relationships), which offers credible evidence to challenge the traditional narrative about this important disease that influences as many as one-third of reproductive-aged women. Their presentation also mentioned innovative results concerning two other important human-microbiome associated diseases that are important for the health of women and children: the etiology of mastitis and risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

The primary messages from their presentation were:

  • Heterogeneity is an essential concept for noticing differences and is fundamental for building our most basic categories, social systems, models, and their causal explanations.
  • Heterogeneity is also a reality in the dynamics of natural and anthropogenic systems, including forests, BV, banking, computer chips, and software.
  • Harnessing heterogeneity is of critical importance for human endeavors, including bridging innovations in AI and biomedicine.
  • The interactions between heterogeneity and AI can be bidirectional: Heterogeneity can be sources of inspirations for computation, while we can use AI effectively to study and deal with heterogeneity.

Examples of the last message, which was particularly relevant for the symposium are:

Educator Spotlight: Dr. Elisa Margarita’s Brooklyn Schoolyard Ecology Outpost

Posted on by Emily Johnson

Dr. Elisa Margarita has been a part of this Schoolyard program since 2015. She collects data with her students from Brooklyn Technical High School for the Buds, Leaves, and Global Warming project in beautiful Fort Green Park in Brooklyn. She is an intrepid educator who works tirelessly to bring authentic research experiences and opportunities to her students. She is a Math for America Master Teacher and a Sloane Award for Excellence in Teaching Science and Math recipient.

Elisa was also recently recognized by Climate Advocates Voces Unidas for being an outstanding mentor. For the past two summers, Elisa has developed a series of seven outstanding lesson plans related to the Witness Tree Project. Learn more about this project and check out lessons below. Thank you Elisa for being an amazing advocate for your students and our program!

Educator Spotlight: Jason Young Joins to Continue Data Collection in Ashburnham

Posted on by Emily Johnson

This year, we welcomed over 10 new educators into our Schoolyard Ecology community. One of them is Jason Young! Though this is his first year working with the Buds, Leaves, and Global Warming project he has been in education for 24 years. He works with 8th graders at Overlook Middle School in Ashburnham, MA. In their schoolyard they have a wide range of planted and naturally planted tree species from Sugar Maple to White Birch, American Beech, and Witch Hazel among others. Jason is continuing the data collection first started at Overlook by long time schoolyard collaborator JoAnn Mossman. This year his student’s found that the Sugar Maples dropped their leaves first, a big change from previous years. Jason values that his students are really doing Science and collecting data and analyzing results that are used by others. Welcome aboard Jason! We are so grateful to you and your students for ensuring the continuation of this long-term dataset.

Educator Spotlight: Mary Reed Inspires Westfield Students

Posted on by Emily Johnson

Mary Reed and her 5th graders at St. Mary’s Parish School have been studying their schoolyard trees in downtown Westfield, MA for 7 years. They have ornamental apple, cherry, sweet gum and birch trees. Their leaf drop results this year were different from previous years, probably due to the drought. She is a very experienced teacher with 30 years in education. She finds real value for her students connecting to nature in a way that they have not before. Mary has lots of wonderful memories over the years in the schoolyard program, she particularly loved bringing her students to the Harvard Forest on a field trip a few years ago when her daughter was interning with our former Schoolyard Coordinator Pamela Snow.