B u l l e t i n - Noble and Greenough School
B u l l e t i n - Noble and Greenough School
B u l l e t i n - Noble and Greenough School
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Seeing the Forest Through the Trees<br />
Art <strong>and</strong> science converge in Harvard Forest Project<br />
John Hirsch, visual arts faculty member,<br />
is collaborating on a photographic book<br />
with David Foster, director of the<br />
Harvard Forest, in petersham, Mass.<br />
The book explores the investigation of<br />
place in terms of science <strong>and</strong> art.<br />
The ecological research program aims<br />
to track how the forest “inhales <strong>and</strong> exhales”<br />
carbon—that is, to track carbon as<br />
it moves from the atmosphere (as CO 2 )<br />
into the forest (carbon sequestered in<br />
Photo By john hirsCh<br />
trees <strong>and</strong> soil) <strong>and</strong> out again to the atmosphere<br />
(CO 2 released when wood<br />
decays or is burned, or through soil <strong>and</strong><br />
leaf respiration). Climate change is<br />
linked to the amount of carbon dioxide<br />
in the atmosphere, <strong>and</strong> forests act as<br />
massive carbon storage units that can<br />
offset CO 2 emissions. in a fall 2011 article,<br />
The New York Times called Harvard<br />
Forest’s carbon work a “contribution<br />
toward solving one of the biggest ac-<br />
counting problems of modern science.”<br />
The view from halfway up the<br />
70-foot Harvard Forest eddy-flux<br />
tower is a reminder that many forest<br />
processes happen above our heads. The<br />
Harvard Forest team placed tubes to<br />
track the movement of carbon dioxide<br />
throughout mature trees. Farther up the<br />
tower, gas analyzers measure the amount<br />
of carbon dioxide entering <strong>and</strong> exiting<br />
the forest every 30 minutes, all year long.<br />
ThE NOBLES BULLETiN SprING 2012 15
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