Hubbard Brook Research Foundation

09/24/2026

Mark your calendars! On Wednesday, Sept 30th at 7pm, our own Geoff Wilson, longtime Hubbard Brook technician and history enthusiast, will give a talk at the Upper Pemigewasset Historical Society on current Hubbard Brook experiments. His talk is titled "Surprises and Ideas."

09/10/2026

Ash tree decline due to the invasive Emerald Ash Borer beetle (EAB) has been a hot topic at Hubbard Brook since 2021, when the beetle was first confirmed in the Forest.

This new paper from Studer et al. examines how understory plant diversity may change in the absence of canopy ash trees, which allow longer windows of sunlight to reach the forest floor during the leaf-out period in spring.

Ash tree illustration by Raisa Kochmaruk.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112726006109

09/04/2026

Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study co-founder Gene Likens speaks on the history of whole-watershed manipulations in the Experimental Forest, and how they've helped scientists understand long-term ecosystem responses to disturbance.

Video produced for Bill Sutherland's Conservation Concepts and the American Philosophical Society.

This interview with Gene Likens explores the design, implementation...

08/28/2026

As a new generation of young Black-throated blue Warblers embarks on their first southward migration, Hubbard Brook and Cornell Lab of Ornithology ornithologist Joe Welklin reflects on the overall nesting success of the Blues this summer at Hubbard Brook:

"Chipmunks and red squirrels were abundant this year due to a strong beech and sugar maple seed crop last year, meaning predation of Black-throated Blue Warbler nests was high. But pairs begin re-nesting soon after a prior nest fails, meaning many nests made it through the predator gauntlet and successfully fledged. A few Black-throated Blue Warbler pairs even fledged two nests! The old motto of try until you succeed rings true for these species."

Joe's video below takes us back in time to one nest’s first week after hatch. Oh, they grow up so fast!

A pair of Black-throated Blue Warblers feed 7-day-old nestlings in ...

08/24/2026

Nobody knows the sound of the ovenbird like Hubbard Brook's own Dr. Miranda Zammarelli!

This "Outside Story" article from Northern Woodlands Magazine quotes Dr. Zammarelli, who has been listening to the ovenbirds of the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest for five years for her doctoral research.

“There is a singer everyone has heard, / Loud, a mid-summer and mid-wood bird...” Heard, yes, but maybe not seen. This bird keeps me…

08/10/2026

Young Voices of Science Fall 2026 Applications open August 19 to September 4th! Please share with your networks!

Application will go live here:
https://youngvoicesofscience.org/?page_id=9

08/06/2026

Our student researchers give Hubbard Brook its magic ☀️

Thanks to all of our students and crew leaders for bringing your curiosity, humor, creativity, and determination to Hubbard Brook for this 2026 field season! We will miss you!

07/15/2026

Outtakes from Hubbard Brook’s 63rd Annual Cooperators’ Meeting 🌱

The Cooperators’ Meeting is our big yearly idea-sharing conference, where folks from across the extended Hubbard Brook world gather in one place to speak on their work of the past year.

It is incredibly valuable to have this time together in person. Thanks to all of our Hubbard Brook collaborators, colleagues, friends, and supporters for making the week a success--especially the building staff, who do an immense amount of behind-the-scenes work to prepare the space.

📸 Slide 1: 2026 Group Photo

📸 Slide 2: Our newest research team on site, the Moss Crew, here to study interactions of moss and bryophytes with stream chemistry.

📸 Slide 3: Selfie from the annual Grad student pizza dinner, featuring the best group of ~late 20 somethings around!

Photos by Raisa Kochmaruk.

07/01/2026

Enjoy a rare video of a female ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla) feeding her nestlings at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest.

Ovenbirds are warblers (not thrushes!) that build small, burrow-like nests on the forest floor that resemble pizza ovens- thus their name, "oven bird".

📸 Video captured by Joe Welklin, a Research Associate at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and crew lead for Hubbard Brook's long-term bird study on warbler reproduction and population dynamics.

View the full video at Cornell's Macaulay Library: https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/660631340

Learn more about Hubbard Brook's bird study here: https://www.birds.cornell.edu/hubbardbrook/bird_research/

Joseph Welklin's photography: https://www.josephwelklin.com

06/08/2026

“Science Night” at Hubbard Brook has been a cherished summer tradition for decades, bringing generations of summer students together with more senior scientists to share research, ask questions, and pass along Hubbard Brook traditions and stories after long days in the field.

Geoff Wilson, Hubbard Brook’s Manager of Field and Lab Operations, kicked off the 2026 season with our first Science Night of the summer—held on the same porch where Hubbard Brook’s founders chatted about the small watershed approach ~60 years prior.

The first photo and video were taken in the past week. The final two images are from the 1970s, captured in the very same place.