harvardforest, Author at Harvard Forest

Jan 25: Join us for all things tree rings!

Posted on December 18, 2024April 29, 2025 by harvardforest

Event: Tree Rings at Harvard Forest

Saturday, January 25th
11 AM – 12 PM
Meet at the Fisher Museum (directions)
324 N Main St, Petersham, MA 01366

FREE AND OPEN TO ALL!

Come to Harvard Forest for another free public event and meet our tree ring lab crew! Together we will do a tree coring demonstration, tour the tree ring lab, and learn more about the research here at Harvard Forest. By analyzing tree rings of old growth trees, we are able to better understand events of the past and how they impacted our forests. With this information, we might be able to predict how our old growth forests will be impacted in the future.

Includes a short, level walk. RSVP not required. Questions or accessibility considerations? Contact Elodie Eid, Education Assistant.

Diversity vs. Heterogeneity: New Insights from Animal Gut Microbiome Scaling

Posted on December 16, 2024April 29, 2025 by harvardforest

Diversity and heterogeneity are two related but distinct ideas that describe biological communities. As part of his recent heterogeneity research through the Bullard Fellowship at Harvard Forest, Dr. Zhanshan (Sam) Ma collaborated with Aaron Ellison, Harvard Forest Associate, to examine the differences between these two phenomena by studying animal gut microbiomes (AGMs). Recently published in Oikos, the study found that while diversity refers to the number and variety of microbes in a system, heterogeneity describes how those communities differ between hosts. They estimated a global pool of 640,000 microbial species, but only a very tiny portion exists in any one animal. They also discovered that an animal’s evolutionary relationships with other species play a bigger role in shaping these differences than its diet.

The study also showed that diversity and heterogeneity may change over different timescales. Diversity is influenced by short-term changes, like how species move or grow, while heterogeneity is shaped by long-term processes, such as evolution and animal behavior. These findings highlight the importance of understanding diversity and heterogeneity as separate but connected concepts. By doing so, scientists can better study ecosystems and apply these ideas to other natural and human systems.

Applications now open: Harvard Forest Summer Research Program in Ecology

Posted on December 10, 2024April 29, 2025 by harvardforest

Applications for the 2025 summer program will be open from December 9, 2024 – February 7, 2025.

The Harvard Forest Summer Research Program in Ecology is an immersive research experience connecting undergraduate students to mentors and researchers in the pursuit of scientific inquiry. Each year, 15-25 undergraduates from across the US live and work at the 4,000-acre Harvard Forest for 11 weeks. Students work with a research mentor in interdisciplinary team-based projects focused on how ecosystems change over time, especially in response to human and natural disturbance. Learn more about our program and how to apply for summer research opportunities with this webinar presented by Program Director Dr. Audrey Barker Plotkin.

Harvard Forest is Harvard University’s world-class ecological research hub at the nexus of many national and international scientific networks, which Summer Program students leverage to conduct research and build their careers through:

Research: Work collaboratively to solve environmental problems using scientific methods.
Education: Bridge from student to scientist, build marketable skills, learn how to use and understand data
Community: Join scientists at a world-class virtual research hub to expand your network

Program Details for 2025:

The 11-week program dates are May 27 to August 8, 2025
Includes $7,700 stipend, plus full room & board, and travel to/from Harvard Forest
Applications are currently open and are due Feb. 7, 2025. Learn more and apply here.
Questions? See our FAQ or contact hf-srpe@fas.harvard.edu

Benton Taylor (OEB) to Explore How Warming, CO2, and Drought Shape Forest Carbon Storage

Posted on December 3, 2024 by harvardforest

Benton Taylor, Assistant Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University and Faculty Fellow at the Arnold Arboretum, has launched an ambitious research project at Harvard Forest to examine how temperate forests respond to climate change. Supported by his National Science Foundation Career Grant, Taylor’s study, the Forest Responses to Warming Atmospheric CO2 and Drought (FORWARD) experiment, will investigate how changing climate conditions affect forest ecosystems. The factorial experiment will focus on understanding how forests adapt to conditions such as rising temperatures, increased carbon dioxide (CO2), and drought.

Taylor’s experiment will use existing Harvard Forest infrastructure to manipulate certain environmental factors at the field site, leveraging advanced monitoring technology. By installing infrared heating lamps, CO2 systems, and drought simulation equipment, his team will study the individual and combined impacts of warming, elevated CO2, and water scarcity on multiple tree species and their soil microbes. These variables mimic the changes forests are likely to face over the coming decades, helping scientists predict how forests will function in a warming world.

A key goal of the FORWARD experiment is to observe how different tree-microbe symbioses—such as arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM), ectomycorrhizal (EM), and nitrogen-fixing (N-fixer) associations—respond to climate stressors. Taylor’s team is exploring how different factors affect tree growth, soil health, and the forest’s overall capacity to capture and store carbon. The results will provide critical insights into how temperate forests may shift under future climate conditions and how these ecosystems can continue to support the global carbon cycle.

Taylor’s research could have significant implications for forest management and climate policy, offering strategies to preserve forest ecosystems and their role in carbon storage. His work at Harvard Forest exemplifies the importance of long-term, field-based studies in addressing complex environmental challenges and helping shape a sustainable future.

Reflecting on a Vibrant Fall Season of Harvard University Visitors

Posted on December 3, 2024 by harvardforest

Each fall, Harvard Forest comes alive as dozens of student groups visit to experience our immersive research facilities against the backdrop of glowing autumn foliage. With approximately 1,000 student visitors annually, the forest buzzes with activity, hosting everything from academic courses and extracurricular organizations to house retreats and orientation programs. This seasonal influx invigorates the Harvard Forest community and inspires collaborative projects across disciplines.

The visits are a cornerstone of Harvard Forest’s engagement with the university, offering students, faculty, and alumni the opportunity to connect with cutting-edge ecological research and the broader implications of climate change. This fall, notable visitors included Jeff Lichtman, Dean of Science for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), who toured research sites and observed climate monitoring technologies with Harvard Forest Senior Ecologists. Also in attendance were the Climate Leaders, a group of masters and professional students supported by the Harvard University Center for the Environment and The Salata Institute. Their regular visits exemplify the Forest’s role as a hub for sustainability and leadership training across disciplines.

While fall is the busiest season, Harvard Forest remains a dynamic destination year-round. Alumni reunions bring back a sense of camaraderie as graduates reconnect with the landscape and its research legacy. Fellows and faculty from across the University also make frequent visits, engaging deeply with the Forest’s projects and innovations. Whether in the golden hues of autumn or during quieter times, Harvard Forest continues to serve as a vital bridge between Harvard University’s various programs and the quiet hum of climate change research.

Schoolyard Ecology Program Launches Giving Campaign

Posted on November 26, 2024February 18, 2025 by harvardforest

For 20 years, the Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology community has brought young people outdoors to collect scientific data in their local environment and has given teachers the support they need to teach real science with real data.

Whether monitoring forest research plots, measuring bud burst, tracking the spread of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, or learning to create graphs from long-term data, Schoolyard Ecology participants have contributed significant data to Harvard Forest’s ecological research over the years.

Amid the increasingly complex landscape of teaching in higher education, the Program provides participating instructors with inspirational and relevant frameworks to advance STEAM curriculums across Massachusetts (and beyond!).

This season of giving, help us continue to build data literacy and engage the next generation of climate leaders by connecting students with their natural world.

Donate here.

Approaching Ecosystems as Family Networks: Studying the Decline of Red-Tailed Hawks

Posted on November 26, 2024 by harvardforest

Keshia De Freece Lawrence, Harvard Forest’s Indigenous Education Specialist, is conducting research to investigate the decline of red-tailed hawks. Her work is inspired by years of observing an alarming number of dead hawks along roadsides. De Freece Lawrence, a member of the Ramapough Lenape tribe, combines her academic background with her Indigenous heritage to approach the issue holistically, viewing the hawks not just as individual animals but as part of a broader ecological “family network.” While Western scientific methods often focus narrowly on addressing symptoms—such as increasing prey populations to support hawks—Lawrence emphasizes the importance of considering the entire ecosystem’s health.

Drawing on her experience with a Canadian subarctic research center that integrated Indigenous and government science perspectives, De Freece Lawrence applies instinct and deep cultural knowledge alongside traditional scientific surveys. Her work advocates for stronger collaboration between Indigenous communities and academic institutions, highlighting the value of Indigenous ecological wisdom. With optimism that her research, and the partnerships it fosters, will encourage greater inclusion of Indigenous voices in institutions like Harvard, De Freece Lawrence sees this moment as a pivotal step toward building protocols that respect and integrate diverse ways of knowing. Readers can learn more about her work and its impact in a recent Boston Globe story.

Readers can learn more about DeFreece Lawrence’s work as featured in a recent Boston Globe story (view PDF) and via Sovereign Science’s storymap, Mapping Collaborative Research.

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To learn more about the effects of rodenticides on wildlife in Massachusetts, please read this Harvard Animal Law Clinic petition.

Boston Globe: Neil Pederson, Other Experts Answer Key Questions About Drought Conditions

Posted on November 13, 2024 by harvardforest

The Boston Globe recently dug into the effects of the current drought, speaking with Neil Pederson, Harvard Forest Senior Ecologist.

While we often think late-season dry spells are less problematic than during peak growing season, they can significantly impact next year’s growth.

Discussing how trees form buds in the fall, Pederson states, “what they are actually doing is setting how much they are going to grow in the next year in terms of branch elongation and sometimes how many leaves are produced.”

Read the article in the Boston Globe.

New Study Reveals Unexpected Soil Carbon Response to Nitrogen and Warming

Posted on November 12, 2024 by harvardforest

A recent study reveals the nuanced relationship between warmer temperatures and increased nitrogen deposits in forest soils, both of which are influenced by fossil fuel emissions. Published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, the study was led by University of New Hampshire researchers Melissa Knorr and Serita Frey (the latter also being a Harvard Forest Research Associate). Leveraging over 16 years of data collected at the Harvard Forest, the study reveals a better understanding of how these two factors influence the storage of carbon in forest soils of the northeast.

Harvard Forest’s extensive long-term data repository and unique field site allowed the researchers to expand upon previous research, which had only studied the impacts of each factor independently, to include how different climate-driven processes occur together. To their surprise, Frey and Knorr found that when warmer temperatures and increased nitrogen levels were both present in soil simultaneously, the amount of carbon stored in the soil remained stable. This finding counters previous research, implying that forest soils in the northeast might be capable of storing more carbon than formerly predicted.

While the findings certainly hold global significance, they are particularly relevant to the northeast, where increased temperatures and historically elevated nitrogen deposition have both influenced forests. An increased understanding of plant-soil interactions is integral to ensuring that forests remain carbon sinks, reducing the concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere.

Read more at the University of New Hampshire’s press release.

Immersive Global Change Ecology Course Expands Experience of First-Years

Posted on October 30, 2024 by harvardforest

Dave Orwig, Senior Forest Ecologist at Harvard Forest, isn’t your typical Harvard instructor. A leading researcher examining – firsthand – a variety of disturbances to forests across the northeast, Orwig is acutely aware of these threats, affecting individual tree species, complex vegetative communities, and the web of organisms that rely upon them. Summers spent conducting research at remote, threatened old growth forests inevitably give way to Orwig’s fall course, Global Change Ecology: Forest, Ecosystem Function, and the Future.

Uniquely comprised of three weekend-long, retreat-style excursions to Harvard Forest, the course immerses students in a globally-renowned climate change research facility that includes over 100 active research projects conducted by scientists worldwide. Roughly 90 minutes west of Cambridge, “the Forest” is comprised of 4,000 acres, predominantly wooded, with oodles of gadgets, trees hopped up on wifi, and charismatic experiment nicknames like “the snow pillow.”

Orwig began co-teaching the course more than 20 years ago, weathering a variety of institutional, technological, and climate-driven changes. “What I love about the course is the immersive format, which allows students to get a hands-on introduction to forests, learn about ecology, and help build their literacy and sense of empowerment in understanding ecological concepts related to global change, climate justice, and the science behind current predictions of future climate scenarios.”

Each year, course enrollment is limited by the number of students that can be piled into a van. (In fact, visits to Harvard Forest are almost always limited by some transportational impediment, but we’re working on it.) Each weekend includes themes, with readings and subsequent woods walks that urge students to think deeply about the science behind climate change issues. Topics have changed over the years, reflective of the Forest’s evolution, and while unfamiliar at first, these new themes bring new perspectives, discoveries, and opportunities for growth.

It’s no coincidence that we see many of our First-Year Seminar students continue on into careers focusing on climate change research, policy, and environmental justice. “The concepts they learn will hopefully inform their appreciation for forest ecosystems, how they function, the important role they play in combatting climate change, and the vital role of human decision-making in determining their future,” says Orwig. Offering enthusiasm, a thoughtful approach, and real-world relevance, Orwig’s teaching style is emblematic of Harvard Forest’s quiet and steadfast commitment to the future of this work.

Schoolyard Ecology Winter Data Workshop Registration Now Open!

Posted on October 29, 2024 by harvardforest

Each year, Harvard Forest’s Schoolyard Ecology Program hosts a Winter Data Workshop to provide support to instructors participating in the program. This year, two workshop options will be offered! Because of winter weather and the large number of Eastern Massachusetts teachers, a second data workshop will be held in Cambridge at Harvard’s Natural History Museum.

Option 1: Full Data Workshop in Petersham

Tuesday, January 28th, 2025-9 am – 3:30 pm

This is the Traditional Data Workshop at the Harvard Forest, Petersham, MA with Harvard Forest’s wonderful Ecologists. This is open to all Schoolyard Ecology teachers regardless of the project or how many years teachers have been collecting data. The program offers three levels for participants to choose from. Whether it’s getting support entering your data, designing a lesson plan from the database, or getting specific feedback from project scientists on what your data may mean, we’ve got something for everyone!

The workshop will be at the Fisher Museum, Harvard Forest, 324 N. Main Street, Petersham, MA.

Coffee/Tea and light snacks provided.Bring a bagged lunch, laptop, and data.

Option 2: Level 1 only workshop in Cambridge

Wednesday, February 5th, 2025: 9:30 am -3:00 pm

The Schoolyard Ecology team is taking the show on the road! A small number of Harvard Forest staff will come to the Harvard Natural History Museum for a Level 1 only workshop. While open to any schoolyard educator who would like to come, this workshop will focus on data entry support and an introduction to using the Schoolyard Data base with students.

The workshop will be at Harvard University’s Natural History Museum. Parking instructions will be distributed post-registration.

Bring a bagged lunch, snacks, laptop, and data.

Workshops are free and open to any Schoolyard Ecology educator.

PDP’s are awarded to all participants upon request.

Research Spotlight: Leaf Phenology in New England

Posted on October 23, 2024 by harvardforest

Decades-long research by Harvard Forest ecologist John O’Keefe has shown that climate change is altering the timing of New England’s fall foliage. For over 30 years, O’Keefe has meticulously tracked the development of leaves, recording when they leaf-out in the spring and when their leaves change color each autumn. This phenological data – still being collected as we speak – is showing that warmer temperatures are delaying the peak of autumn colors, lengthening the growing season.

This shift in leaf timing could disrupt ecosystems, affecting species that rely on seasonal cues. O’Keefe’s data has become crucial for understanding how forests respond to climate change, helping other scientists create more accurate models for future climate predictions. His findings highlight the interconnectedness of climate and nature, showing that seemingly minor temperature changes can have widespread effects on plant life.

Now, O’Keefe’s work is carried on by Harvard Forest’s Education Coordinator & Field Technician Greta VanScoy, who continues the tradition of monitoring leaf cycles in Harvard Forest. VanScoy’s research will build on the 30 years of collected data, continuing the Forest’s broad exploration of the impacts of climate change on forest ecosystems and seasonal patterns.

~~ Donate here. ~~

Donate here.