Welcome, Jeannine!

The HUH welcomed Dr. Jeannine Cavender-Bares on July 1 as our new Director. Coming to us from the University of Minnesota, Dr. Cavender-Bares brings with her a strong background of leadership and research on mechanisms that influence the origins, distributions, assembly and ecosystem function of plant communities both above and below ground. Dr. Cavender-Bares understands that specimen collections are the critical anchor for both preserving and advancing our knowledge of diversity of life on Earth and how it is changing. As Director, Dr. Cavender-Bares, in connection with the Arnold Arboretum, the Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research site, and the NEON ecological observatory, aims to lead a coordinated and synergistic effort to integrate preserved and living collections, plot networks, ecological observatories, eDNA surveys and airborne and satellite sensors to develop a global biodiversity monitoring system, essential to aid management efforts towards sustainability.

Dr. Cavender-Bares also serves as Director of the ASCEND Biology Integration Institute.

Welcome, Jeannine!