• Talk Trash

    2025 Zero Waste Month

    Come say hi! Throughout October, Harvard's waste experts will be popping up at different campus spots to talk trash with you. Learn about what should go in each bin and how to handle your unique items like batteries and e-waste. Hear more about what the university is doing to reduce waste, and how you can be part of the solution!  

  • The Radiant Sea: Color and Light in the Underwater World

    Geological Lecture Hall 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, United States

    Dive into the wonders of the ocean with marine biologist and photographer Steven Haddock, Senior Scientist, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, and coauthor with Sönke Johnsen of The Radiant Sea (Abrams Books, 2025). Through stunning photography, insightful captions, and engaging essays, the book explores how sea creatures display transparency, vivid pigmentation, iridescence, bioluminescence, and fluorescence—from the shallow tropics to the deep sea. In this presentation, Steven Haddock will share the science behind these luminous marine phenomena, along with stories from the scientific expeditions that enabled him to capture them. Videos, animations, and hands-on demonstrations will bring the book’s remarkable images to life. This event offers a unique glimpse into the vibrant world hidden beneath the waves.

  • Open House at GSD: Quincy – Western Kirkland Safety Improvement Project

    Gund Hall 48 Quincy St, Cambridge, United States

    The City is hosting a drop-in Open House to review plans for the Quincy St - Western Kirkland St Safety Improvement Project, covering Quincy St between Cambridge St and Kirkland St and Kirkland St between Quincy St and Oxford St. Stop by at any time to learn about the proposed design, learn about the schedule and expected impacts, and share your feedback.

    Sign up for the mailing list for updates. More information, including a map of the project sections, can be found on the project website.

    Thursday, January 22, 2026 • 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
    Harvard Graduate School of Design, Gund Hall, 48 Quincy St

  • New Perspectives in Ornithology

    Geological Lecture Hall 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, United States

    Ornithology—the science of birds—is experiencing a renaissance. Today, a new generation of tools is transforming how we study birds—from global citizen-science platforms such as eBird to satellite remote sensing and drone-based fieldwork. New Perspectives in Ornithology: 21st Century Dispatches across the World of Birds (Oxford University Press, 2026) reveals how these technologies are reshaping our understanding of bird life and the challenges birds face in a rapidly changing world. Volume editors Scott Edwards and Michael Reed will introduce the book’s key themes including bird ecology, evolution, behavior, citizen science, and conservation. Book contributors Jingmai O’Connor and Elizabeth Derryberry will then address how fossils are enhancing our understanding of bird evolution and how novel studies of bird songs are providing insights into how birds communicate and respond to environmental change.

  • Apply to Salata Climate Policy Summer Internship Program by Feb. 22, 2026

    The Climate Policy Summer Internship Program is run by the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability in collaboration with climate-focused legislative offices at the Massachusetts State House. The program places Harvard undergraduate and graduate students in legislative offices whose policy agendas address climate, environmental, or sustainability issues in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
    Apply for the Summer 2026 Climate Policy Summer Internship Program by Sunday February 22, 2026.

  • Harvard Voices on Climate Change: Mapping the Future of Renewable Energy

    Zoom

    The Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability and the Harvard Alumni Association invite you to the next installment of Harvard Voices on Climate Change, a virtual series showcasing Harvard faculty and fellows on different dimensions of the climate challenge. This session will explore the complex decisions behind where and how renewable energy projects get built. Featuring Charles Taylor, Assistant Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School, and Andrew Mergen, Emmett Assistant Clinical Professor of Environmental Law at Harvard Law School, the conversation will examine the legal, environmental, and community considerations that shape clean energy development.

  • Spring 2026 Freecycle at Science and Engineering Complex (SEC)

    Freecycle Events
    Science and Engineering Complex 150 Western Ave., Allston, MA, United States

    Join us at our Freecycle in the SEC Atrium! Drop off reusable goods you no longer need, and browse a fantastic selection of items brought by others. Find some secondhand items to gift this year. Popular items include books, clothes, and working household goods.

  • “A Fresh Start for Our Cities” featuring Bill McKibben ’82

    PIPER AUDITORIUM, GUND HALL 48 QUINCY ST. CAMBRIDGE

    For over 40 years, Bill McKibben has been raising the alarm about the climate crisis, starting with his groundbreaking book, The End of Nature. Now McKibben says, for once in his life, he is spreading good news. In his latest book, Here Comes the Sun, he explains why the recent boom in solar and wind power has given him hope for the planet's future, and he implores everyone to buy in. We hope you can join us for this inspiring and important conversation. This event is supported by the Melissa Kaish and Jonathan Dorfman Makers Fund. It is co-sponsored by the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability through its Climate Crossroads: Debating Energy’s Next Frontier series, bringing leading voices confronting the intertwined challenges of climate change and the global energy transition to Harvard University.

  • Research Spotlight: Building with Fungi (for Arnold Arboretum members only)

    Flora Way Gate Flora Way, Boston, MA, United States

    Fungi are known for their decomposing properties, but did you know that also make great building components? Dehydrated fungal mycelium is waterproof, fire retardant, insulating, and sound absorbing, and GSD post-doc Noam Attias is on the hunt for new species of fungi in the Arboretum to create the next generation of eco-materials. Join Noam for a walk in the landscape highlighting her work and learn about the Arboretum fungi she is exploring.

  • Spring 2026 Freecycle at Smith Campus Center (SCC)

    Freecycle Events

    Join us at our Freecycle in the Smith Campus Center! Drop off reusable goods you no longer need, and browse a fantastic selection of items brought by others. Find some secondhand items to gift this year. Popular items include books, clothes, and working household goods.

  • Harvard Voices on Climate Change: Measuring Forest-Based Carbon Emission Reductions

    Earth Month 2026
    Zoom

    The Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability and the Harvard Alumni Association invite you to the next installment of Harvard Voices on Climate Change, a virtual series showcasing Harvard faculty and fellows on different dimensions of the climate challenge.

    This session will explore the science and measurement behind forest-based carbon emission reductions. Featuring Missy Holbrook, Charles Bullard Professor of Forestry, and Benton Taylor, Associate Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, the discussion will examine how researchers measure carbon stored in forests and assess the role of forest conservation and restoration in climate mitigation.

  • Ken Burns Presents “Henry David Thoreau”: A Screening and Discussion with the Filmmakers and Scholars

    Earth Month 2026
    Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts 24 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA, United States

    The Center for the Study of World Religions’ Transcendentalism Initiative will host a special screening of Episode 2 of Henry David Thoreau, a new documentary directed by Erik Ewers and Christopher Loren Ewers and produced by Ken Burns. The film is narrated by George Clooney and features voice performances by Jeff Goldblum, Meryl Streep and Ted Danson. Director Erik Ewers will introduce the film.

    The documentary offers a vivid, integrated portrait of Thoreau, bringing together the contemplative naturalist of Walden and the political thinker behind “Civil Disobedience.” It traces a life in which attention to the natural world and a commitment to social justice are presented as intertwined expressions of a single moral vision.