The Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest is administered and managed by the Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) as a site for long-term research of forest hydrology and ecosystem processes. In order to perform research at Hubbard Brook, you will need written permission from Dr. Linda Pardo from the USFS Northern Research Station.

To assist in making the decision as to what research will be allowed, the USFS in cooperation with the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study has established the Research Approval Committee (RAC). The RAC consists of a chair (Linda Pardo) appointed by the Northern Research Station Project Leader, the site manager (Ian Halm), and four members of the Committee of Scientists appointed by the Scientific Coordinating Committee (Chris Johnson, Winsor Lowe, Lynn Christenson, and Melany Fisk). Committee members are chosen for broad familiarity with research at the site and to represent a variety of scientific disciplines and interests.

The RAC meets twice each year: once in October (proposal deadline September 15); and once in April (proposal deadline March 15). All proposals that have been received by the deadline will be considered by the RAC during those meetings. Plan accordingly to allow time for review and processing before you would like to begin work. Proposals are submitted to the RAC through an on-line form. Proposers are encouraged to contact Linda Pardo with any questions they may have prior to preparing an application.

In making its recommendation, the RAC considers a number of factors related to: (1) the relationship of the proposed project to the overall Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study (how does this project fit into the overall study; why is it important for this research to occur at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, as opposed to some other site); (2) the potential to coordinate or facilitate collaboration between proposed projects and ongoing or past research ; (3) the integrity of the site (e.g. how will this research impact the Forest or other ongoing research projects); and (4) the extent to which the proposed research compromises or enhances ongoing efforts. The RAC's critical review of proposals to work at Hubbard Brook helps ensure that the scientific value of the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest is maintained for the future.

Thus, it is the responsibility of the proposer to become familiar with the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study and its research, before preparing a proposal for new research, so that the above criteria may be properly addressed as part of the proposal approval process. Note that the RAC is not influenced by the proposer's funding situation. The existence of grant funds for you to work at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest does not ensure that your proposal will be approved by the RAC and Forest Service.

It is often useful to propose your preliminary ideas to the RAC before you try to obtain grant funds. This is especially recommended for experiments that involve manipulation of plots or watersheds, for proposals that will involve a large area, or where there are complex relationships to current or past research. Researchers are invited to contact Dr. Pardo at any time for advice on when it would be most appropriate to initiate proposals for new research. Also, proposers are required to discuss selection of study sites with Ian Halm, site manager, and to report the results of this conversation in the proposal.

In order to perform research at Hubbard Brook, you will need written permission from Dr. Linda Pardo. Following review by the RAC, you will receive an approval letter and any conditions that must be met for the research to go forward. The Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study preserves and shares data through the Environmental Data Initiative Repository (EDI). Projects supported through NSF LTER funding, follow the LTER data access requirement. In order to maintain a one-stop data catalog for all site research, we encourage all researchers, regardless of funding source, to preserve their data in a similar manner. Support for this process is available through the Hubbard Brook Information Management Team. Also, upon approval, researchers are expected to indicate whether they will generate any samples that they wish to archive (so they could be used by others for future analysis). Detailed instructions for preparing meta-data and samples (including suggested containers and boxes) can be found at the sample archive page. Contact Amey Bailey for further information.