Lena Fletcher

Office hours: Mondays 10am-noon find me here on Zoom and Wednesdays 10am-noon find me in-person only 10am-noon in Holdsworth Hall 302a - while classes are in session. 

I am committed to fostering a diverse, positive, and welcoming community in the Natural Resources Conservation program. To this end, I work to provide a safe, equitable, and inclusive environment through intentional and ongoing work and actions, to celebrate our differences, to foster connections across differences, to respect individual needs, styles, and career goals and to advise and mentor accordingly. Correcting historical imbalances and addressing the harms of colonialism while dismantling white supremacy, both in the field of environmental conservation and more broadly, is a responsibility that we all must engage in every day.

Co-leader of the Contemplative Pedagogy Group in the Center for Teaching and Learning - 2020-ongoing

Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program Collaborative Program Leader - 2019-2024

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My heart is moved by all I cannot save:
So much has been destroyed
I have cast my lot with those
Who, age after age, perversely,
With no extraordinary power,
Reconstitute the world.  

By Adrienne Rich 

Primary Interests

Lena’s primary academic interests include forest ecology, old-growth forests, invasive species, and the ways that forest stands change over time. She studied geology as an undergraduate student at Smith College, and forest ecology and conservation as a master’s student in the Department of Environmental Conservation here at UMass Amherst. Lena has been focusing increasingly on developing and applying innovative teaching methods such as contemplative practices, civic engagement, and active student-centered team-based instruction that promote student-driven learning for undergraduates in environmental conservation, sustainability science, and integrated science education programs.

Lena is a faculty fellow in the 2024-2026 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in the Center for Teaching and Learning.

Lena was a faculty fellow in the 2021-2022 Inclusive Excellence program in the College of Natural Sciences.

Lena was a faculty fellow in the 2019-2020 Sustainability Curriculum Fellowship program. She continues to be part of Sustainability Curriculum Initiative on campus.

Lena was a faculty fellow in the 2014-2015 Fellowships for Innovative Teaching program with the Center for Teaching and Faculty Development, as well as the Civic Engagement and Service Learning Fellowship, both at UMass Amherst.

Note: Lena does not act a faculty advisor for graduate students. Her focus is on undergraduate teaching, advising, and NRC program direction and management.

Current courses

Fall semesters:

NRC 100: Environment and Society – a contemplative, team-based, and civically  engaged course – 2 sections

Spring semesters:

NRC 185: Sustainable Living: Solutions for the 21^st Century – a contemplative, team-based, and civically  engaged course 

NRC 391A: Career and Curriculum Planning Seminar – for students in the Environmental Conservation concentration

Courses taught historically:

ECO 690C – Climate Change in STEM Education – for primary, middle, and high school teachers in STEM fields – UWW course – Science Education Online program

NRC 212: Forest Tree and Shrub Identification – Field-based course

NATSCI 190: Global Challenges and Scientific Solutions – iCons 1 in the College of Natural Sciences Integrated Concentration in Science program

ECO 690CC – Climate Change in STEM Secondary Education – for secondary school teachers in STEM fields – CPE blended course

Projects and leadership

Contemplative Pedagogy Group Co-leader, Center for Teaching and Learning

Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program Collaborative Campus Program Leader

Environmental Community Outreach Club – Volunteer in the community to support environmental conservation!

Outsmart Invasive Species: http://masswoods.net/outsmart

Talking Truth: Finding your voice around the climate crisis

Selected Publications

Starr, J., C. Schweik, L.S. Fletcher, N. Bush, and J. Finn. 2014. Lights, Camera… Citizen Science: Assessing the Effectiveness of Smartphone-Based Video Training in Invasive Plant Identification. PLOS One.

D’Amato, A.W., P. Catanzaro, and L.S. Fletcher. 2014. Early Regeneration and Structural Responses to Patch Selection and Structural Retention Within Second-Growth Northern Hardwoods. Forest Science. Society of American Foresters.

MacDonald, B., C. Schweik, M. Kierstead, N. Bush, L. Fletcher, and J. Fish. 2012. Outsmarting Invasive Species: Smartphone Crowdsourcing and Collaborative Environmental Management. Public Policy Analysis and Management.

Fletcher, L.S., D. Kittredge, T. Stevens. 2009. Forestland Owner’s Willingness to Sell Carbon Credits: a Pilot Study. Northern Journal of Applied Forestry, 26 (1): 35-37.

Professional Reports

de la Cretaz, A.L., L.S. Fletcher, P.E. Gregory, W.R. VanDoren, and P.K. Barten. 2010. An Assessment of the Forest Resources of Massachusetts. Prepared for the USDA Forest Service. 175 pp + 100 pp appendix.

Fletcher, L.S. 2009. State Forest Reserves in Western Massachusetts: a Baseline Comparison with Old-growth and Non Reserve State Forests. Prepared for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. 105 pp.

de la Cretaz, A.L., M. Kelty, and L.S. Fletcher. 2009. Massachusetts forest reserves, long term ecological monitoring program, ChaletForest Reserve. Prepared for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. 32 pp.

de la Cretaz, A.L., M. Kelty, and L.S. Fletcher. 2009. Massachusetts forest reserves, long term ecological monitoring program, Cunningham PondForest Reserve. Prepared for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. 65 pp.

de la Cretaz, A.L., M. Kelty, and L.S. Fletcher. 2009. Massachusetts forest reserves, long term ecological monitoring program, East BranchForest Reserve. Prepared for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. 47 pp.

de la Cretaz, A.L., M. Kelty, and L.S. Fletcher. 2009. Massachusetts forest reserves, long term ecological monitoring program, Mohawk/Monroe/SavoryForest Reserve. Prepared for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. 44 pp.

de la Cretaz, A.L., M. Kelty, and L.S. Fletcher. 2009. Massachusetts forest reserves, long term ecological monitoring program, Mount GreylockForest Reserve. Prepared for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. 61 pp.

de la Cretaz, A.L., M. Kelty, and L.S. Fletcher. 2009. Massachusetts forest reserves, long term ecological monitoring program, Mount WashingtonForest Reserve. Prepared for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. 43 pp.

de la Cretaz, A.L., M. Kelty, and L.S. Fletcher. 2009. Massachusetts forest reserves, long term ecological monitoring program, Middlefield/PeruForest Reserve. Prepared for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. 46 pp.