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Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

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Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies (Cary Institute), formerly known as the Institute of Ecosystem Studies, is an independent, not-for-profit environmental research organization dedicated to the scientific study of the world’s ecosystems and the natural and human factors that influence them. The organization is headquartered in Millbrook, NY on a 2,000-acre (810 ha) research campus. Areas of expertise include disease ecology,[1][2][3] urban ecology,[4][5] freshwater ecology and provisioning,[6][7] and forest health.[8]

Details

Cary Institute's research is collaborative and multidisciplinary. Its scientists lead two of the National Science Foundation’s Long Term Ecological Research Network sites: the Baltimore Ecosystem Study[9] (Baltimore, MD; focus: urban ecology) and the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study (Woodstock, NH; focus: forest and freshwater health). They also play a leadership role in the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network, an international effort that shares and interprets high resolution sensor data to understand, predict, and communicate the role and response of lakes in a changing global environment.

While working at Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in the 1960s, Cary Institute founder Gene E. Likens co-discovered acid rain in North America.[10] His longterm studies on precipitation and stream water chemistry were instrumental in shaping the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments.[11] Today, Cary Institute continues to steward the longest continuous data set on acid rain and deposition through its direction of the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study.

Cary Institute’s grounds have been home to long-term studies on the ecology of tick-borne disease[12] for more than 20 years. Findings underpin The Tick Project,[13] a 5-year study testing interventions with the potential to reduce Lyme disease and protect public health. A three-decade research program on the Hudson River[14] informs sustainable shoreline management, and a synthesis of imported forest pests and pathogens is the basis for Tree-SMART Trade,[15] a national policy initiative aimed at closing the door on imported forest pests.

Cary Institute scientists advise decision makers, from providing Congressional testimony to serving as members of the National Climate Assessment, the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Scientific Advisory Board,[16] the White House National Science and Technology Council’s Epidemic Prediction Working Group, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Staff includes a total of about 120 employees, including 20 Ph.D. scientists, as well as adjuncts and affiliates working around the world in places like Argentina, Brazil, China, Chile, Germany, Kenya, Singapore, and South Africa. Institute scientists have peer recognition including three Members of the National Academy of Sciences, four Members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, nine Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and six Fellows of the Ecological Society of America.

While Cary Institute is not itself a degree-granting institution, numerous graduate students are trained under the mentorship of the scientific staff, who have adjunct appointments at colleges and universities throughout the world, including Yale, Cornell, Princeton, Columbia, and Bard. Cary Institute is home to the longest-running Research Experiences for Undergraduates program, and has been hosting students since 1987.

Organized as a 501(c)(3) corporation, Cary Institute receives financial support from multiple sources that include research and education grants from federal and state sources (e.g., the National Science Foundation, United States Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Institutes of Health), private foundations, and private donors.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Deconstructing Lyme disease". The New York Times.
  2. ^ "Reservoir rats". The Economist.
  3. ^ "Can genetically modified bugs save lives?". The New York Times.
  4. ^ Cohn, Meredith. "Study shows poorer neighborhoods have more mosquitoes". Baltimore Sun.
  5. ^ Mooney, Chris. "Why diseases like Zika could unfairly target America's poor". Washington Post.
  6. ^ Lewis, Danny. "Streams around Baltimore are flush with amphetamines". Smithsonian.
  7. ^ Newman, Katelyn. "Road salt threatens U.S. freshwater Lakes". US News & World Report.
  8. ^ Mooney, Chris. "Invasive insects are ravaging U.S. forests, and it's costing us billions". Washington Post.
  9. ^ Cressey, Daniel (27 August 2015). "Ecologists embrace their urban side". Nature. 524 (7566): 399–400. doi:10.1038/524399a. PMID 26310747.
  10. ^ Likens, Gene E.; Bormann, F. Herbert (June 14, 1974). "Acid Rain: A Serious Regional Environmental Problem". Science. 184 (4142): 1176–1179. doi:10.1126/science.184.4142.1176. PMID 17756304.
  11. ^ Willyard, Cassandra (April 18, 2010). "Acid Rain and Our Ecosystem". Smithsonian.
  12. ^ Doucleff, Michaeleen; Greenhalgh, Jane. "Forbidding forecast for Lyme disease In the Northeast". National Public Radio.
  13. ^ Ferro, John. "Major study aims to kill ticks, lower Lyme rates". The Poughkeepsie Journal.
  14. ^ Strayer, D. L.; Cole, J. J.; Findlay, S. E. G.; Fischer, D. T.; Gephart, J. A.; Malcom, H. M.; Pace, M. L.; Rosi-Marshall, E. J. (1 June 2014). "Decadal-Scale Change in a Large-River Ecosystem". BioScience. 64 (6): 496–510. doi:10.1093/biosci/biu061. ISSN 0006-3568.
  15. ^ Lovett, Gary; Weiss, Marissa; Lambert, Kathy Fallon. "Forest pests and pathogens in the United States: Community impacts and opportunities for Tree-SMART Trade" (PDF). Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies.
  16. ^ "Members of the Science Advisory Board". US EPA.
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