Tag: Sarah Oktay

Catails
Island Science

Catails: Marsh Corn Dogs

by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay Managing Director UMass Boston Nantucket Field Station I have always loved cattails, and we have quite a few of them here at the Field Station.  When a student showed me an especially beautiful picture of one I decided there’s no better time than the present […]

Island Science

Biomimicry

by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay Managing Director UMass Boston Nantucket Field Station In the past year, the UMass Boston Nantucket Field Station has offered two public lectures and a summer course in Biomimicry, and we plan to include it in our regular year round and summer offerings. Biomimicry is both […]

Chimeras
Island Science

Small Monsters in the Water – Chimeras

by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay Managing Director UMass Boston Nantucket Field Station A chimera (from the Greek word for she-goat) is a fire breathing female creature from Greek mythology made of three different animals; a lion, a serpent and a goat. The chimera was the “daughter” of Typhon and Echidna […]

Island Science

Dangerous Beauties – Jellyfish

by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay Managing Director UMass Boston Nantucket Field Station As the summer temperatures warm up our harbor and offshore waters, floating translucent creatures begin to crowd our shores and become a concern for swimmers.  Unfortunately, as ocean waters warm world-wide and we continue to over-fish or endanger […]

Island Science

I’ll be Your Huckleberry

by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay Managing Director UMass Boston Nantucket Field Station There is a wide range of fun and fulfilling things to do on Nantucket in the summertime, from surf-casting on the south shore, lounging with a good book at the beach, walking on the moors, or shopping downtown. […]

Island Science

Nature’s Thermometers – Cicadas

by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay Managing Director UMass Boston Nantucket Field Station Insects are an important part of summer and of our collective impression of the passing seasons. When I reflect upon a quintessential summer, I think of June bugs, grasshoppers, butterflies, perhaps on more cynical days, deer flies, mosquitoes, […]

Island Science

Deer Fly, Don’t Bother Me

by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay Managing Director UMass Boston Nantucket Field Station If you happen to see me walking around the field station maniacally slapping my head, just keep walking. We have had a beautiful, sunny, extremely dry summer. The ponds and groundwater are lower and the freshwater mosquitoes have […]

Island Science

Milkweed Paradise

by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay Managing Director UMass Boston Nantucket Field Station The summer of 2012 so far has been hot and dry and that has been a real boon for many of our sun loving plants like the magnificent milkweeds dotting the landscape. Perhaps no other plant provides such […]