When you visit this year’s Cranfest at the Nantucket Conservation Foundation’s Milestone Bog this Saturday, October 11th, please stop in at the Science & Stewardship table. We love to talk about what we do, and share our explorations of the Nantucket natural world! To share a taste of the scientific research and natural beauty we…
Read More
A visit to the Middle Moors this spring, particularly a walk or drive along Pout Pond or Altar Rock Road, will reveal some strange new patterns on the landscape. This past winter, the Nantucket Conservation Foundation began creating larger brush-cut areas to act as firebreaks. These areas were selected strategically to protect homes from wildfire, and to…
Read More
As spring finally warms up on Nantucket, you’ll begin to notice some of the shrubs greening up long before anything else. This is a good way to spot invasive non-native weeds in the landscape, such as Morrow’s bush honeysuckle (Lonicera morrowii), autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata), and multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora). One of the classic definitions of a…
Read More
This winter, Nantucket Conservation Foundation’s Science & Stewardship Research Technician/Field Supervisor Kelly Omand has been working with two students from the UMass Boston “Nantucket Semester” program that links in with our local UMass Boston Nantucket Field Station, on a focused research project in Squam. The students, Adrianna Plavetsky and Zannie Duffy, are part of a group living and…
Read More
Now that it’s officially cold and blustery outside, it’s tempting to stay indoors all the time and wait until spring to visit your favorite nature areas and beaches. But there’s always something to see on the trails, shores, and ponds around Nantucket. Since everything gets taken back to bare bones in the winter, it’s a great time…
Read More
During the Nantucket Biodiversity Initiative Conference on Nov 1-3rd, 2013, a large group of conference attendees joined me to visit some of the largest, and likely some of the oldest, trees at Squam Swamp. These exemplary trees may provide clues to Nantucket’s land use history, teaching us more about how the forest has grown and…
Read More
Right now, the NCF Science & Stewardship greenhouse is bursting at the seams with 20 species of native plant seedlings that will be planted in trail-side restoration and pasture improvement projects later in the season. Each year, NCF Science staff members collect seed from properties around the island where there are well established populations. We try…
Read More
At this point in the year, we are all hungry for signs of spring. As Danielle wrote in a recent NCF Science and Stewardship blog post, peepers are singing spring songs in the marshes and ponds, and spotted turtles and snakes are emerging to bask in the sun. Otherwise, the landscape remains mainly a study…
Read More
You might never guess that the tail end of winter would be a great time to explore the forests of Nantucket, but it is! On February 21st, a group of warmly dressed visitors met in the Squam Swamp Trailhead Parking Lot on Wauwinet Road. The objective: to explore the forest of Squam Swamp in winter. Kelly Omand,…
Read More
Environmental Science students at Nantucket High School (NHS) have been studying the ecological impacts of non-native invasive species around the world. Just before the holidays, Research Technician/Field Supervisor Kelly Omand, a member of NCF’s year-round Science and Stewardship staff, visited the NHS Environmental Science classes. Their teacher, Mr. Hanlon, had already provided a variety of background…
Read More