Conservation International - Suriname

Project leaders: Chinmay Sonawane and Maria Park

We are doing research to provide suggestions to Conservation International (CI) Suriname and local stakeholders on how to work towards achieving Suriname's environmental sustainability goals listed in the Ocean Health Index (OHI),  a means of assessing the quality of the ocean through ecological, economic, and social dimensions. Additionally, we will help tailor the OHI+ framework to Suriname through collaborating with Conservation International Suriname and relevant stakeholders to determine reference points and goal weightings. This is an awesome chance to help shape the trajectory of marine conservation in Suriname while gaining valuable skills in stakeholder analysis and data collection. This project offers an incredible summer internship at Conservation International Suriname. 

The Nature Conservancy - Grasslands Pilot Project

Project leader: Sabrina Deveraux
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Our Nature Conservancy Project team works with the managers of a ranch owned by the Nature Conservancy to strike a balance between production and conservation. The property has experimented with sustainable ranching and management techniques, and we hope to aid in determining which practices have been successful in preserving the rich biodiversity of the region. 

Planetary Health Alliance

Project leaders: Andres Lopez and Neil Philip

The Planetary Health Alliance is a consortium of universities, NGOs, and partners that share a mission of furthering the growth of a rigorous, policy-focused, interdisciplinary field of applied research aimed at understanding and dressing the human health implications of  changes in the Earth's systems. Our project team works with PHA's Health and Education Fellow, curating course materials and resources in order to launch an educational platform for planetary health topics. We also help coordinate student engagement for the Global Scholars program, which will bring planetary health experts to campus to deliver lectures to be recorded and made available online.

The World Wildlife Fund

Project Leaders: Abba Parker and Jon Hamilton
Our WWF project synthesizes reports gathered from around the world on climate change into readable summaries. We use the website wwfclimatecrowd.org to find reports from areas as diverse as Kenya and Mexico, which our contact at WWF can then upload to the site. This allows scientists/researchers in the field to quickly view the general trends of certain areas affected by climate change. The trends we cover in our reports include changes in climate that local people have noticed, the effects of those changes on their lives, their responses to those changes, and the effects of climate change on wildlife.

Women in Nature Network

Project leader: Angelica Torres

The WiNN project is a project in collaboration with the Women in Nature Network- a recently founded network connecting professional women in the field of conservation worldwide in.This semester, we are helping the network to establish and maintain a quarterly newsletter to all of it’s members, develop a website, and establish new chapters of the network in other collegiate settings to host events and nurture future conservationists through resources and mentorship. 

Forest Fund

Project leaders: Emma Borjigin-Wang and Lorena Benitez

Forest Fund is a platform that allows people to get involved with solutions to environmental issues directly and transparently. It allows donors to pay ranchers to set aside a portion of their land for reforestation and the Forest Fund assists with the transition process. HCCS assists the Fund by finding grants and other financial resources as well as helping to manage the Fund's online presence.  Members of the project have also been invited to work on the project site this winter.
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Careers in Conservation

Project Leaders: Whitney Hansen and Katherine Culbertson

This annual project's goal is to plan and execute a conference for Boston-based students interested in professionally pursuing, as the title suggests, careers in conservation. Our team consists of students interested in the outreach and development of young adults wishing to educate themselves on how to best prepare for a profession in conservation. Working within Harvard University resources and beyond, we will recruit speakers, panelists, advisers, sponsors, and partner organizations to fulfill one of HCCS's primary mission statements, which is "to unite undergraduate students, Harvard professors, PhD researchers, and actively campaigning scientists to pool resources and ability in an effort to make a difference in the environmental movement" by investing in future conservationists.