Boston Flora

Category: Volunteer Opportunity

  • Through Sunday, February 14 – Vote for Charles River Esplanade as Best Riverwalk

    ESPLANADE NOMINATED FOR BEST RIVERWALK BY USA TODAY The Esplanade Association is excited to announce that the Charles River Esplanade has been nominated for Best Riverwalk in USA Today’s 2021 10 Best Readers’ Choice Awards! If you love spending time along the Esplanade and taking in stunning views of the Charles River, we hope you’ll share your appreciation by voting for the Charles River Esplanade today below. Individuals can vote once per day until Monday, February 15. Vote today by clicking HERE.

  • Community Collaborative: Rain, Hail & Snow Network

    If you are looking for a fun and purpose-filled project that you or the whole family can enjoy from the convenient location of your own backyard join the ever-growing nationwide ranks of CoCoRaHS (Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network) volunteer precipitation monitors. 

    The saying “Rain doesn’t fall the same on all” really proves to be true. How often have you seen it rain in your neighborhood and a few blocks away not a drop has fallen. If you get the chance, please take a moment to tell a friend or neighbor about this exciting grassroots effort of citizens measuring precipitation right in their own backyards.  It’s easy to join, takes only five minutes a day and is a fun way to learn about this wonderful natural resource that falls from the sky.  Your observations continue to give scientists an ever clearer picture of where and how much precipitation falls throughout our communities.


    What better way to start your day than getting outside, checking your rain gauge and reporting your findings to a database that will be used in real time by several agencies including the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). If your mornings tend to be hectic, you can have an impact by providing weekly rainfall and general condition reports. Warning! Once you start monitoring rainfall you may become an expert on drizzle, downpours and drought. Otherwise you might just find an enjoyable pastime that connects you to the weather happening in your own and your community’s backyard.  

    CoCoRaHS (pronounced KO-ko-rozz) is a grassroots volunteer network of backyard weather observers of all ages and backgrounds working together to measure and map precipitation (rain, hail and snow) in their local communities. By using low-cost measurement tools, stressing training and education, and utilizing an interactive Web-site, our aim is to provide the highest quality data for natural resource, education and research applications. The only requirements to join are an enthusiasm for watching and reporting weather conditions and a desire to learn more about how weather can affect and impact our lives.

    Our Web page provides the ability for our observers to see their observations mapped out in “real time”, as well as providing a wealth of information for our data users.

    For more information, please click here: Information about CoCoRaHS

    If you would like to sign-up as a volunteer observer and become part of our expanding network, please click here: “Join the CoCoRaHS Network“.    

  • COGdesign Alert: Call for Designers and Liaisons

    COGdesign has accepted three community projects for 2021. They are seeking at least two designers to take on each of the new projects described below. Additionally, a one day community charrette with six to ten designers has been proposed for the Neponset Greenway project.
    Often COGdesign is able to match less experienced designers with those who have more experience in the field. Sometimes projects involve landscape architecture/design students who are matched with seasoned professionals. If you are interested send an email with your resumé to info@cogdesign.org. Call with questions 781.642.6222. Please see the website for more details about the projects: www.cogdesign.org.

    The first project is a Park Redesign along the Muddy River, Fenway/Back Bay. The Muddy Water Initiative (MWI) has adopted this park, providing maintenance in the summer while the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) maintains the property in the winter. MWI seeks to redesign this neglected portion of the Emerald Necklace. They would like to bring this piece of the park to life as an inviting, active space with access to the river. Designers will create pathways, add benches, plant the riparian edge and incorporate many mature trees. 

    The second project is Benches for the Neponset Greenway in Mattapan. Powerful Pathways (PP), a Mattapan-based community development and civic advocacy nonprofit is engaging COG’s services to participate in a design charrette with the Mattapan community. PP has funding for the creation of two benches that will provide much-needed seating along the Neponset Greenway near the Mattapan entrance. Designers will be matched to groups of residents who are interested in bringing their artistic, cultural and historical ideas to the design of the benches. The COG volunteers will assist in drawing those ideas. The community will vote on which two designs will be used. The designers involved in the winning design may be involved as the project moves forward. 

    Finally, there will be a Masterplan for the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center in Roxbury. The ISBCC would like to create a cohesive landscape plan for their grounds with a focus on a new community gathering space behind the mosque. They would like this new space to be available to ISBCC community as well as to the surrounding community for events and spiritual reflection. ISBCC envisions a low-maintenance permaculture garden as part of this space. 

    Daylighting the Muddy River

  • Daylight the Muddy River

    On October 15th, 2019,  at a public meeting at the Harvard Club, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) shared work that needed to be done to the eastbound Storrow Drive bridge in the area of Charlesgate that we call The Bowl and Bridge. Their preferred option 3A at that time  enabled “possible daylighting of Muddy River under Storrow EB bridge.”

    In response to these plans by MassDOT, the Charlesgate Alliance commissioned new drawings by Landing Studio to show people what a “daylit” or exposed Muddy River to Charles River connection could look like. These were unveiled on November 19th at a public meeting.

    Read the letters of support from Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh and Boston City Councilor Kenzie Bok to Governor Baker.

    Karen Mauney-Brodek, Pam Beale, and Parker James then wrote a letter to Governor Baker, which garnered the support of 33 area organizations.

  • Copley Square Survey – Your Two Cents

    The Boston Parks and Recreation Department is committed to a refreshing of Copley Square. Will it be a repair and restoration, an enhancement, or a total redesign? Your opinion matters, and one public meeting has been held, with more to come. We encourage to to take the short survey: https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/6013401/Copley-Square-Community-Meeting-1

    You will be asked questions on your use of the Park, your memories of the space, and your thoughts on what it could become. Are you a devotee of the Farmer’s Market? Do you prefer a green, tree-canopied contemplative park or an active, more hardscaped space suitable to celebrations, protests, and Zumba classes? What about dogs? What about skateboards? Let your thoughts be known. We will publish notices of future meetings when we get them.

  • Saturday, December 19 – Christmas Bird Count

    Join Athol Bird & Nature Club’s “Citizen Science” project, the longest continuously running bird data in the area. Contact Dave Small for additional information and to participate in this nationwide annual event: 978-413-1772 or Dave@dhsmall.net  Covid-19 rules are in effect National Audubon has issued guidelines which ABNC will use. In preparation zone leaders will need to think about how we can safely work our respective areas. Carpooling will not be allowed and only family members or social pod groups may count together. Social distancing and masking are required. All activities must meet local and state guidelines. With all this in mind feeder watching will be a huge part of this year’s count. Encourage your neighbors to begin feeding the week before the count (if bear activity is low) and consider other ways to safely count our area birds. Unfortunately our morning breakfast and compilation party will not be happening.  We will have a virtual compilation via Zoom so people can log on and relate the days sightings and events.

  • Esplanade Usage Survey

    The Esplanade Association is looking to understand your usage of public parks in downtown Boston, MA. We ask you to answer these questions based on your typical behavior. The survey should take less than 10 minutes to complete. Your participation enters you into a raffle, as a token of our appreciation – 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 (𝟯) $𝟭𝟬𝟬 𝙒𝙖𝙮𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙧 𝙜𝙞𝙛𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨! The winners will be randomly selected and contacted by the end of November 2020 with their prize.

    All responses will be used in aggregate. Contact information will only be used to alert you if you win the raffle, if you opt-in to join our e-newsletter listserv, or if you opt-in to be contacted for a follow-up interview. Data will be collected by the Esplanade Association, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that works to revitalize, enhance, program, and maintain the Charles River Esplanade in conjunction with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.

    Thank you for your time, and for supporting the Esplanade Association’s efforts! To take the survey, visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfhBIfdkFi_eCwQrfiBIz020LQmDm7ZR8GN3flv8N-koViw9w/viewform

  • Boston Nature Center Survey on American Legion Highway

    American Legion Highway isn’t working as well as it could. The Boston Nature Center of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, working with LivableStreets Alliance, wants to hear from you about how you want to use this street and what changes you would like to see, as they strive to improve this highway. This survey is anonymous and the information will be shared with the City of Boston to advocate for what you have asked for. Access survey HERE

  • Muddy River WATERGOAT

    Flowing through the heart of Boston, the Muddy River is one of the top two most polluted tributaries of the Charles River and a critical link in urban Boston’s flood control system. With the approval of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), and the active engagement of water quality experts, water scientists, trash boom providers, engineers, and a host of eco-activist volunteers, The Muddy River Water Initiative is embarking on a pilot project to rid the Muddy River of the trash—old bottles, clothing, shoes, balls, scrap plastic and fencing, and other toxic and unsightly debris—that currently pollutes the ecosystem.

    The WATERGOAT Pilot Project will install a safe, heavily tested, and effective raw trash barrier and clean-up device at the critical Charlesgate East and Ipswich Streets juncture of the Muddy and Charles Rivers. This will be the 92nd WATERGOAT system implementation in the US and a model for ongoing river clean-up efforts in Boston and beyond.

    Thanks to New England Grassroots Environmental Fund for its fiscal sponsorship. For more information on the Muddy Water Initiative, an advocacy and educational clearinghouse for Boston’s Muddy River, visit http://muddyriverinitiative.org

    Photo by Mark Maksimowicz

  • Saturday, October 31, 5:00 pm – Deadline for COG Call for Projects

    It’s time for our annual Call for Projects. We’re accepting applications now through Halloween. Please spread the word. There are three ways you can apply: online from our website, email to us as a pdf downloaded HERE or print and mail. Please do send photos of your site. If you don’t know who owns the land or you don’t have a future maintenance plan for this project we still look forward to receiving your application. Get in touch anytime with questions:781-642-6662 or email info@cogdesign.org. Mailing address:
    COGdesign PO Box 380275 Cambridge, MA 02238