Forest Futures exhibition
Harvard Graduate School of Design

2024

In the United States, beech leaf disease was first detected in Ohio in 2012, affecting native Fagus grandifolia and introduced species Fagus sylvatica and Fagus orientalis. The disease, which can cause mortality in less than ten years, has steadily moved eastward; it was first documented in Massachusetts in 2020. This digital specimen is a composite of trees observed during fieldwork in recently affected areas on the Elizabeth Islands and existing documentation of multiple cycles of disease progression in the Midwest. It also presents what little is known about the parallel life cycle of Litylenchus crenate, the nematode (microscopic worm) that causes the disease. Plant pathogens circulate rapidly due to human activity; their effects are exacerbated by climate change. The herbarium specimen can be reimagined as an interpretive tool that reminds the viewer that it was collected from a dynamically changing landscape. It shifts the digital asset from a standard, uniform plant architecture to a proxy representing an individual plant on site. 

Research assistant: Emily Hayes