Green Crabs Take Two
Last week the NLC teamed up with the Maria Mitchell Association and the Town of Nantucket Natural Resources Department to continue researching the invasive European Green Crab in Nantucket Harbor. This is our second season using a capture-mark-recapture methodology to explore the population around Hussey Shoal.
In addition to this population study, the NLC hopes to perform a harbor-wide survey later this summer to get a better idea of their distribution and habitat usage. Stay tuned for more information on these aquatic invaders.
Learn more about NLC green crab research!
Nature’s Classroom
Resource Ecologist Emily Molden accompanied the Nantucket Intermediate School’s 5th grade class to Nature’s Classroom for their three day field trip June 4-6. The trip to Nature’s Classroom in Yarmouth Port, MA is an annual pilgrimage for the fifth grade students, where they get to experience a new sense of community and build confidence outside of the classroom, all while learning about the natural world around them.
The NLC has supported this trip through its Karen K. Borchert Educational Grants program many times over the past decade. This year they received a grant for up to $4,000 and an eager chaperone. Ms. Molden has chaperoned the trip twice in the past and always appreciates the focus that this program has on experiential education, encouraging students to “Think outside the books”.