Boston Flora

Tag: Woodwell Climate Research Center

  • Wednesday, September 7, 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm – Amazon Forest Agricultural Expansion and Climate Change

    Dr. Marcia Macedo, Water Program Director and Senior Scientist at Woodwell Climate Research Center, takes a unique view of the Amazon forests as she explores how agricultural expansion and climate change is altering the flow of water through tropical landscapes, focusing on hotspots of connection between upland forests and aquatic systems like streams and rivers. Dr. Macedo has Brazilian roots and feels a strong cultural tie to the region she is now studying. The September 7 lecture begins at 5:30 and is sponsored by and held at Highfield Hall, 56 Highfield Drive in Falmouth, and is $10.

    Register online now or call, 508-495-1878 ext. 2

  • Wednesday, July 13, 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm – A Tale of Ecosystem Resilience: Cranberry Bog Restoration

    The Massachusetts cranberry industry currently faces challenges caused by overproduction and competition. Almost all Massachusetts cranberry bogs were created from former wetlands. Restoration of former bogs has the potential to expand stream and adjoining habitats, improve water quality, and provide climate resilience by removing water control structures and restoring hydrological connections. Chris Neill, Ecologist and Senior Scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, will present results from a detailed before-and-after study of a restoration project on the Coonamessett River and Childs River Bogs in Falmouth, Massachusetts. The lecture will take place at the Polly Hill Arboretum in West Tisbury, and is $5 for PHA members, $10 for non members.

    Registration is required. Sign up here: bit.ly/Chris-Neill-Lecture

  • Wednesday, August 25, 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm – Creating a Climate for Change Through Art & Science

    Join us at Highfield Hall & Garden in Falmouth on August 25 at 5:30 under the Highfield tent for the fourth installment of this series featuring Gregory Fiske M.S., Senior Geospatial Analyst, Research Associate, Woodwell Climate Research Center.

    The series will explore the synergies between art and science as a way to communicate important issues surrounding the environment and planetary health while inspiring change and stimulating action. In conjunction with two exhibitions at Highfield, SEAChange: Meditations on Sustainability and Turn the Tide: Courtney Mattison, participating artists and scientists will discuss a range of topics, including ocean acidification and coral bleaching, biofuels and the Blue Economy, mapping as an artform and a communication tool, plastics in the ocean, and art as means to amplify science and transform how we learn about the world.

    ADMISSION IS FREE, PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED Register online now or give us a call at 508-495-1878, ext. 2

    Lecture series is sponsored by the Woods Hole Foundation and the Brabson Library and Educational Foundation.

  • Thursday, June 24, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Managing Yards for Plant Biodiversity, Online

    Suburban yards can support remarkably high plant biodiversity. How homeowners manage their yards largely determines the plant composition of these expanding ecosystems. In this free Native Plant Trust online talk on June 24 at 10 am, Woodwell Climate Research Center ecologist Christopher Neill and conservation biologist Desiree Narango describe findings from a one-of-a-kind, nationwide research project that examined the flora, soils, microclimates, insects, and birds in suburban yards in six metropolitan regions across the United States, including Boston. Neill will address how suburbanization does or does not homogenize residential landscapes compared with the natural areas that surround these cities. He will connect this new research to ways that homeowners can modify their yards to support native plants and wildlife, and how Native Plant Trust and Woodwell Climate Research Center’s new collaboration shares the research with a broader audience. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/managing-yards-plant-biodiversity/

  • Native Plant Trust Announces Yard Futures Project

    Native Plant Trust, the nation’s first plant conservation organization and the only one solely focused on New England’s native plants, has partnered with the renowned Woodwell Climate Research Center to share ground-breaking research about how American homeowners in six major metropolitan areas currently shape their yards and what can be done to create spaces that work better for both people and the environment. This research and best practices that come out of the Yard Futures Project are now available to the public in brief articles on the Native Plant Trust website, www.NativePlantTrust.org, which will be regularly updated.

    The Yard Futures Project is a collaboration of scientists affiliated with institutions from across the U.S., including Woodwell Climate Research Center, Duke University, City University of New York, University of Massachusetts, Johns Hopkins University, University of Minnesota, Arizona State University, U.S. Forest Service, University of Utah, University of Delaware, Portland State University, Davidson College, Clark University, Masaryk University, University of Vermont and Virginia Tech. The research focuses on homeowners and their yards in the metropolitan areas of Boston, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and Phoenix and includes on-site field studies, extensive surveys, and interviews.

    The project studies the impact of homeowners’ choices and examines not only how homeowners shape their yards, but also importantly why they make particular choices about lawns, gardens, and maintenance regimes. The project measures how yards influence attributes of residential ecosystems such as plant and insect biodiversity, microclimates, soil carbon and the potential for nitrogen runoff.

    The team is publishing most of the project findings in peer-reviewed scientific journals and other professional outlets; the brief articles at www.NativePlantTrust.org present the results in an accessible, engaging way that can immediately be put to use by the public. Christopher Neill, Ph.D., Senior Scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, is editorial director and lead author for the series.

    “Urban and suburban yards now cover huge areas across the US. And more and more people care deeply about making their yards better habitat for wildlife and better providers of some of the services more natural areas provide, like carbon storage and shade that lowers air temperatures,” said Chris Neill. “This project aims to take what we’ve learned from studying yards across the country and put it in a form that homeowners can both understand and translate into things that they can do in their own yards.”

    The project receives funding from the National Science Foundation’s Macro Systems Biology Program, which is investigating the causes and consequences of large-scale ecological patterns.