Resources
The Departments of Anthropology, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Molecular and Cellular Biology, and Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and the Harvard Museum of Natural History and the corresponding laboratories and libraries (Converse, Farlow, Kummel, MCZ, Tozzer), are in an interconnected set of buildings near Harvard Yard. The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography contains one of the finest collections of its kind in the country. The Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) houses extensive systematic collections of recent and fossil vertebrates and invertebrates. The Botanical Museum contains the Ware collection of glass models and plants with almost 800 life-size models and 3,200 enlarged flowers and anatomical sections; it represents more than 780 species and varieties in 164 families. The Harvard University Herbaria houses the Farlow Herbarium (a collection of fungi, lichens, algae, and bryophytes), the Grey Herbarium (a collection of vascular plants), the Arnold Arboretum Herbarium (a collection of woody genera) and the Orchid Herbarium of Oakes Ames. The Mineralogical Museum houses a world class collection of minerals, rocks, ores and meteorites (totalling about 250,000 specimens), an impressive sampling of the Earth's crust.
Atmospheric, Physical Oceanography and Engineering Sciences, as well as their laboratories and library (Blue Hill), are in Pierce Hall.
The Cabot Library in the Science Center has a capacity of 300,000 volumes and now contains an interdisciplinary science collection (114,000 volumes) and ancillary learning aids (TV viewing rooms, microfiche readers, computers, interactive lecture console). The Science Center contains many modern laboratories with research quality equipment and apparatus.
The research laboratories of the pertinent science departments contain machine and glass shops, computers, and a wide array of modern and sophisticated instruments (such as optical scanning and electron microscopes, mass spectrometers, Auger spectrometer, x-ray diffractometers, XRF, NMR, and FTIR, as well as equipment for cineradiography, electromyography, and photography).
Forestry and other plant research is conducted at Harvard Forest, located on 3,000 acres in Petersham (100 km from Cambridge); it contains the Fisher Museum of Forestry, an extensive library, and research laboratories. Animal respiratory physiology, locomotion, and ecological physiology are studied at the Concord Field Station (CFS) in Bedford. A CFS van makes daily trips to and from Cambridge. The Arnold Arboretum (Jamaica Plain, Boston) consists of 265 acres of botanical gardens with 6,500 species and varieties of woody plants.
The main resources of the Economics Department are the Harvard Institute for Economic Research and Littauer Library.
The Government Department in the Littauer Center does not have its own library, but the various centers and institutes with which department members are affiliated have libraries available to undergraduates (i.e., the Center for International Affairs, the Center for European Studies, the Russian Research Center, the East Asian Research Center, the Center for Middle East Studies, and the Joint Center for Urban Studies). The department also maintains in Littauer a Data Center for computer and data analysis work.
At the Kennedy School of Government is the Institute of Politics which has study groups, forums, and information about summer internships and travel grants.
For the religious and ethical dimensions of the Environmental Science and Public Policy concentration students can draw not only upon the collections at Widener Library, the Fogg Art Museum, and the undergraduate libraries, but also upon the Andover-Harvard Library at the Divinity School and on area studies libraries (such as the Yenching library). Another resource is the Center for the Study of World Religions.
The Harvard University Center for the Environment provides a focus for interdisciplinary, cross-faculty research and education in environmental studies at Harvard. The Center draws its strength from faculty members and students from across the University and complements the environmental education and research activities of the community of scholars based in Harvard's academic units. Stewarded by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Center is designed to serve the entire Harvard community by developing and facilitating projects and activities in the areas of environmental education, research, and outreach—adding the value of an integrated, collaborative approach to traditional academic pursuits. The Center's website (environment.harvard.edu) provides a wealth of information resources, including: an online guide to environmental studies, courses, student groups, faculty and researchers, centers at Harvard, and electronic list serves for environmental events, jobs, and publications. The Center also supports a series of distinguished lectures, colloquia, and other events throughout the calendar year. The Center's administrative home is located at 42 Church Street and houses the Center's administrative staff, hoteling offices, a conference room, and a library.