Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

The Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies (Cary Institute), formerly known as the Institute of Ecosystem Studies, is an independent, not-for-profit environmental research organization dedicated to the scientific study of the world’s ecosystems and the natural and human factors that influence them. The organization is headquartered in Millbrook, NY on a 2,000-acre (810 ha) research campus. Areas of expertise include disease ecology, urban ecology, freshwater ecology and provisioning, and forest health.

The 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 (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. His longterm studies on precipitation and stream water chemistry were instrumental in shaping the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments. Today, the Cary Institute continues to steward the longest continuous data set on acid rain and deposition through its direction of the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study.

The Cary Institute’s grounds have been home to long-term studies on the ecology of tick-borne disease for more than 20 years. Findings underpin The Tick Project, 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 informs sustainable shoreline management, and a synthesis of imported forest pests and pathogens is the basis for Tree-SMART Trade, a national policy initiative aimed at closing the door on imported forest pests.

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