Although the calendar says that we still have a few days of summer left, fall is definitely in the air. The days are shorter, the nights are cooler, the humidity is lower, there is a touch of fall color in the foliage and the stores are full of apples, pumpkins and other fall produce. It’s…
In 2013, NCF’s Science and Stewardship Department started down the road of a wetland restoration project in Madequecham Valley that at the time seemed incredibly daunting. We idealistically set out to eradicate a 0.6 acre patch of an incredibly invasive plant, Phragmites australis, the common reed. Phragmites australis is a large, perennial grass, that has…
By Dr. Jen Karberg, Research Program Supervisor This summer saw the release of the the first section of the IPCC’s (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) sixth comprehensive assessment. The assessment is a review of the work of thousands of scientists working on climate change and the goal of the assessment is to provide the most…
From the 2021 preliminary data for Nantucket which includes Tuckernuck and Muskeget Islands, there was a total of 73 breeding pairs of Piping Plovers. In 2020, we counted a total of 61 breeding pairs, an increase of 12 pairs. Eel Point still remains one of the hot spots for nesting Piping Plovers with 11 nesting…
The Nantucket Conservation Foundation will be hosting its 57th Annual Meeting of Membership on Thursday, August 5th at 5 pm at the Nantucket Hotel on Easton Street. We are pleased to announce that Samantha Hoff, PhD Student at University of Albany, will be our featured keynote speaker this year. Sam is a graduate student Ecology…
It’s mid-July on Nantucket, and a number of harmful algae blooms (or HABs) have already been documented within the island’s freshwater ponds. In past years, this phenomenon has occurred later in the summer. However, the unusually warm spring weather seems to have created earlier-than-usual conditions that favor the excess growth of Cyanobacteria, a particular type…
Here’s your friendly annual reminder before the 4th of July this weekend. The weather doesn’t look superb, but our threatened shorebirds on Coatue are still in need of protection, space, and consideration. If you do make it over to Coatue this weekend, please follow the map above to locate good spots to land your boat.…
With wildflowers distracting the eye with bursts of bright color, it’s often easy to overlook some of the island’s most common plants, grasses, many of which are blooming right now. While most grass species lack brilliant colors and have small flowers, they are an important part of the ecosystem, feeding many familiar herbivores, from voles…
By Bret “Malibu” Tetreault If two truths and a lie were a tournament sport I would be the undeniable best. It’s usually an easier task for me to name the cool things I haven’t done yet, like visit Mars. Have I swam a couple hundred yards of class-5 whitewater (twice). I have! Have I ever…
Each field season (~May-October), the Science and Stewardship Department of the Nantucket Conservation Foundation welcomes seasonal field assistants to help us do all manner of ecological field work. Our field assistants are often on Nantucket for the first time, coming from various different places around the country. Come meet and learn a little about this…