Understanding the interactions between ecosystems and climate is key to predicting how ecosystems are responding, and will continue to respond, to a changing climate. Professors Mary Whelan and Ben Lintner of the Department of Environmental Sciences are introducing first year students in their Byrne seminar to some of the fundamental principles governing the complex interplay between ecosystems and climate. On Friday, September 17th, students in the course visited the Rutgers EcoPreserve to gain some firsthand exposure to a forest ecosystem. Professors Whelan and Lintner guided groups of students through several activities to explore the physical and biological characteristics of the forest.