by Dr. Sarah Treanor Bois Director of Research & Education at the Linda Loring Nature Foundation It’s not fall, and it’s not a worm. So, what is it, you may ask? Fall webworm (Hyphantria cunea) is actually a common, native caterpillar that occurs throughout the United States and southern Canada. […]
Island Science
Manic for Mantids
by Dr. Sarah Treanor Bois Director of Research & Education at the Linda Loring Nature Foundation There’s an alien frolicking about Nantucket, hunting prey in our sandplain grasslands and heathlands. They’ve been known to tear the heads off of their prey and eat their mates for dinner. These ferocious beasts […]
Walk through an Invaded Wonderland
by Dr. Sarah Treanor Bois Director of Research & Education at the Linda Loring Nature Foundation Nantucket has been a hotspot of global transport since the whaling days of the 18th and 19th centuries. At a time when most people never ventured further than a few miles from their hometown, […]
Be Surprised by Science
They say the world is your classroom, so let the island of Nantucket feed your brain all summer long. Thanks in part to a generous grant from the Nantucket Community Foundation’s ReMain Nantucket Fund, the Maria Mitchell Association is sending a Pop Up Science cart around the island all summer […]
Plight of Pollinators
by Dr. Sarah Treanor Bois Director of Research & Education at the Linda Loring Nature Foundation While honeybees get most of the attention, pollinators actually include anything that moves pollen from one plant to another; namely bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, birds, small mammals, bats, and even some lizards. On Nantucket, […]
Native Habitats
by Dr. Sarah Treanor Bois Director of Research & Education at the Linda Loring Nature Foundation For people and plants, Nantucket can be a formidable place to call home. Only the hardiest souls can endure the wind, salt spray, and isolation all year, but those that can are rewarded with […]
Join the Firefly Watch
by Dr. Sarah Treanor Bois Director of Research & Education at the Linda Loring Nature Foundation It’s lightning bug season on Nantucket, and the evening sky is now even more exciting. Lighting bugs, or fireflies, have been lighting up the evening skies since around the fourth of July (perhaps a […]
Health, Wellness, and Women
by Suzanne Daub In 2017 a trio of dynamic women on Nantucket—Meryl Bralower, Melanie Sablehaus, and Jeanine Borthwick—engaged with Nantucket Cottage Hospital to spearhead an effort to empower women on the island, visitors and residents, to take charge of their healthcare. “Did you know that 80% of all healthcare decisions […]
Endangered Cactus Native to Nantucket
by Dr. Sarah Treanor Bois Director of Research & Education at the Linda Loring Nature Foundation Nature on Nantucket conjures up images of rolling moors and beach grass. Some may think about the wet forests of Squam Swamp or the sandplain grasslands along the south coast. How about cacti? The […]