ENVIRONMENTAL WORK AT BOSTON NATURE CENTER

During the past two years, Environmental Studies and Environmental Science students have been involved in a collaborative project with the Mass Audubon Society Boston Nature Center. The Boston Nature Center, which occupies a portion of the former campus of the Boston State Hospital, a mental health facility that was closed in the 1970s, consists of the center headquarters as well as wooded areas, open meadows, a community garden and a brook fed, in part, by storm water runoff. The campus is bordered by several heavily trafficked roadways and is located within one of the most densely populated areas of Boston. Soil and water samples, taken at various sites throughout the Nature Center campus and at various times during the year, have been tested for the presence of a number of environmental pollutants commonly found in heavily trafficked and populated urban areas. Results of this year’s sampling were summarized in a poster that was presented in July to the Nature Center staff by Prof. Richmond and Prof. Berg. The project will be continued over several years, and data will be used to assess the “environmental health” of the Nature Center campus.