Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

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{{cite journal|last1=Cressey|first1=Daniel|title=Ecologists embrace their urban side|journal=Nature|volume=524|issue=7566|pages=399–400|language=en|doi=10.1038/524399a|pmid=26310747|date=27 August 2015|bibcode=2015Natur.524..399C |doi-access=free}} (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.{{cite journal|last1=Likens|first1=Gene E.|last2=Bormann|first2=F. Herbert|title=Acid Rain: A Serious Regional Environmental Problem|journal=Science|date=June 14, 1974|volume=184|issue=4142|pages=1176–1179|doi=10.1126/science.184.4142.1176|pmid=17756304|bibcode=1974Sci...184.1176L |s2cid=24124373 }} His longterm studies on precipitation and stream water chemistry were instrumental in shaping the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments.{{cite news|last1=Willyard|first1=Cassandra|title=Acid Rain and Our Ecosystem|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/acid-rain-and-our-ecosystem-20824120/|publisher=Smithsonian|date=April 18, 2010}} 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{{cite news|last1=Doucleff|first1=Michaeleen|last2=Greenhalgh|first2=Jane|title=Forbidding forecast for Lyme disease In the Northeast|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/03/06/518219485/forbidding-forecast-for-lyme-disease-in-the-northeast|website=National Public Radio|language=en}} for more than 20 years. Findings underpin The Tick Project,{{cite web|last1=Ferro|first1=John|title=Major study aims to kill ticks, lower Lyme rates|url=http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/health/lyme-disease/2016/04/12/ticks-lyme-disease-cary-institute-study/82704394/|website=The Poughkeepsie Journal|language=en}} 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{{cite journal|last1=Strayer|first1=D. L.|last2=Cole|first2=J. J.|last3=Findlay|first3=S. E. G.|last4=Fischer|first4=D. T.|last5=Gephart|first5=J. A.|last6=Malcom|first6=H. M.|last7=Pace|first7=M. L.|last8=Rosi-Marshall|first8=E. J.|title=Decadal-Scale Change in a Large-River Ecosystem|journal=BioScience|date=1 June 2014|volume=64|issue=6|pages=496–510|doi=10.1093/biosci/biu061|url=https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/64/6/496/290164/Decadal-Scale-Change-in-a-Large-River-Ecosystem|language=en|issn=0006-3568|doi-access=free}} informs sustainable shoreline management, and a synthesis of imported forest pests and pathogens is the basis for Tree-SMART Trade,{{cite web|last1=Lovett|first1=Gary|last2=Weiss|first2=Marissa|last3=Lambert|first3=Kathy Fallon|title=Forest pests and pathogens in the United States: Community impacts and opportunities for Tree-SMART Trade|url=http://www.caryinstitute.org/sites/default/files/public/downloads/tree_smart_trade.pdf|website=Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies}} 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,{{cite web|title=Members of the Science Advisory Board|url=https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabpeople.nsf/WebExternalCommitteeRosters?OpenView&committee=BOARD&secondname=Science%20Advisory%20Board|website=US EPA}} 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.

• Gene Likens
• William H. Schlesinger

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• [http://www.caryinstitute.org Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies]

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Category:Ecology organizations

Category:Non-profit organizations based in New York (state)