Thank you @Nature_DCMDVA! I learned so much working with you all this past year and now am re-energized to continue pursuing the world of forest ecology and conservation as I begin my grad school journey 🌲

I 1000% wouldn’t be where I am today without the fantastic female mentors I’ve had along the way.

Having random “wellness days” instead of a spring break can be detrimental to students’ well-being + mental health. One day every few weeks is not enough to rest, process, & cope with school + the stressors of this past year. Institutions need to do better. #AcademicMentalHealth

The ECo at UMass Amherst graduate student symposium has gone virtual this year! We're so excited to have heard from ECo alum Casey Clapp, who you've heard on Ologies is on blooski, share with us about amazing urban trees and science communication. #ECoGSS2021 College of Natural Sciences at UMass Amherst

Urban trees in the AM, forests in the PM. Samantha Myers shares about the importance of functional diversity when managing forests on state and conservation land. #ECoGSS2021

Was pretty incredible to visit one of the rare old-growth hardwood stands in MA for lab this week! Found this amazing large-diameter bigtooth aspen (Populus grandidentata) and coarse woody debris galore among other ~enchanting~ features

Found some ghost pipe in bloom in the field today. Very cool to see and read about these myco-heterotrophic plants!

Say a caterpillar got into one of your leaf samples—a bag of 20-30 leaves. How much damage could it really do? Asking for a friend…

Just wrapped up a successful field season measuring individual-level functional traits and carbon storage in old growth continuous forest inventory plots in western MA! Many trees were cored and leaves collected 💪🏼 #FieldWorkFriday

As part of our collaboration with Latino Outdoors, we chatted with Latino Outdoors volunteer Sebastian Moreno (@urbanbirdeco) about what it means to be a part of this community, why equitable access to the outdoors is so important, and how birds can insp… ift.tt/2Z6G3jb

This does look like a dream project!

Our MinuteFund campaign to raise funds for covering graduate school application fees kicked off yesterday to a great start! ift.tt/WnX05Os instagr.am/p/Cb2RVKRuoMe/ ift.tt/Aj9uPJx #UMassAmherst #UMassCNS #UMassSES #UMassECO

It was a lovely day at the Harvard Forest symposium to learn about some of the cool projects folks there are working on, meet Jerry Franklin (!!), and hear his stories about the beginnings of the LTER network

Welcome new NIACS team member Samantha Myers! Samantha will be working as a Fellow for the Northern Forests USDA Climate Hubs and a Forest Adaptation Specialist for NIACS based at University of Vermont.

Great time all around at my first New England Society of American Foresters annual meeting!