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Jonathan Thompson

Senior Ecologist, Harvard Forest, Harvard University

Dr. Jonathan Thompson is a Senior Ecologist at the Harvard Forest, a department at Harvard University. His research focuses on long-term and broad-scale changes in forest ecosystems, with an emphasis on quantifying how land use - including harvest, conversion, and land protection - affects forest ecosystem processes and services. He is the lead Principal Investigator for the Harvard Forest Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) program, sponsored by the National Science Foundation and involving more than 100 scientists and students investigating the dynamics of the New England landscape. He also leads the New England Landscape Futures project, which collaborates with diverse stakeholders from throughout the region to build and evaluate scenarios that show how land-use and climate change could shape the landscape over the next 50 years. Thompson has a PhD in Forest Ecology (2008) and a MS in Forest Policy (2004) from Oregon State University. He has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed research articles in the fields of ecology, forestry, landscape ecology, and sustainability science.

Experience

  • –present
    Senior Ecologist, Harvard Kennedy School

Education

  • 2008 
    Oregon State University, PhD Ecology