News and Events for Nantucket Island
~ by Rebecca Nimerfroh ~ If you are ever lucky enough to look up at the Nantucket sky on a clear summer night, no doubt you will be taken aback by what you see; thousands upon thousands of stars, twinkling back at you from thousands of light years away, enveloping […]
~ by Katherine Brooks Maria Mitchell Association Volunteer ~ What is black and orange and has six legs? Nicrophorus americanus, commonly known as the American burying beetle. American burying beetle is striking with sleek black & orange wing markings, and acts as nature’s recycler. Nantucket is the site of the […]
Nantucket’s Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) is operating a free shuttle this season, “The Starlight Express,” from three locations in downtown Nantucket to its Loines Observatory to encourage visitors and residents to stargaze each Friday night during the Observatory’s Open Night. The shuttle will operate three round-trip loops with the first […]
~ by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay, Director, University of Massachusetts Nantucket Field Station ~ This article will be my last one for Yesterday’s Island. My husband, Len Germinara, and I are moving off island this winter because I am joining the Executive team at the Rocky Mountain Biological Lab in […]
~ by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay, Director, University of Massachusetts Nantucket Field Station ~ In just a couple of hours I will go outside along with many people in the United States to watch the total lunar eclipse on a lovely night with some cloud cover. This year is special […]
The Maria Mitchell Association, in collaboration with the Nantucket Land Council and the Nantucket Shellfish Association, has produced a twenty-page book highlighting a decade of research focused on Nantucket Harbor. Nantucket Harbor Research: A Ten Year Summary is a synopsis of research projects conducted by island conservation groups ranging from […]
I love fall when the kids are back in school and coming out to the Nantucket Field Station for nature walks. One of my favorite things to find along the beach and show them is Codium fragile, otherwise known as “dead man’s fingers.” Among the many common names for C. […]
~ by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay, Director, University of Massachusetts Nantucket Field Station ~ As you walk around the island this month, take a deep breath and tell me what you smell. If you are at the Nantucket Field Station, the scent of Welch’s grape jelly is wafting through the […]
~ by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay, Director, University of Massachusetts Nantucket Field Station ~ I was sifting through a bunch of rainfall data trying to wrap my writing around the topic of drought, when the buzz of a cicada reminded me of one of my favorite sounds of the summer. […]
~ by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay, Director, University of Massachusetts Nantucket Field Station ~ There are many crabs that call Nantucket’s waters their home; both native species and interlopers paddle, skulk, scamper, skitter, or crab-walk around. Common species include the lady crab, black-fingered mud crabs, spider crabs, blue crabs, purple […]
