Jackie Hatala Matthes

A primary focus of research in the Matthes Lab at Harvard Forest is the exchange of carbon, water, and nutrients across terrestrial to aquatic systems and at the biosphere-atmosphere boundary at the EMS biosphere-atmosphere exchange tower (operating since 1991) and hemlock tower (operating since 2005). Current projects include: 1) the influence of long-term changes in seasonal precipitation on the ecosystem carbon, water, and energy balance, 2) changes in forest microclimate and water cycling with periodic stress from extreme weather and persistent stress from invasive insects, 3) measuring and scaling the shifting balance of seasonal methane uptake and emission at the plot to ecosystem scales.

Harvard Forest practices an open, inclusive, and collaborative approach to addressing local and global environmental challenges through excellence in science, education, and engagement with society. Our core values include excellence, diversity and inclusion, learning from the past to inform the future, collaboration, and stewardship. Harvard Forest is committed to establishing and maintaining a diverse and inclusive community that collectively supports and implements our mission: the investigation, understanding, and communication of the ways in which physical, biological, and human systems interact to change our Earth. We acknowledge that Harvard Forest is located on land that is the ancestral home territory of the Nipmuc people, and are committed to continuing to build a relationship with the tribe to ensure that the land and its benefits are mutually accessible and sustaining.