Nantucket

SUMMER MARINE BIOLOGY/ECOLOGY COURSES

AT THE UMASS BOSTON NANTUCKET FIELD STATION

Each summer the Biology Department offers two three-credit courses in Marine Biology and occasionally a three-credit course in Ornithology at the UMass Boston Grace Grossman Environmental Center (Nantucket Field Station) at Quaise, on Nantucket Island. A biologist's paradise, the station's property consists of a pristine 45-acre salt marsh, several freshwater ponds, and a half-mile of private beach and dunes on Nantucket Harbor. The field station features a rich and diverse population of marine and coastal life and serves as a wildlife refuge. The Station also embraces upland habitat, including a blueberry forest, and is within easy walking distance of rare heathlands preserved by the Nantucket Conservation Foundation.

Click here for a preview of our Nantucket Field Station! Nantucket Field Station Virtual Trail Site.

Nantucket Summer 2007


The first three-credit course in the program (August 6 - 17, 2007) is Biology 100: Coastal Ecology*, an introduction to the biology of coastal habitats. It will serve as an introduction to field research methods and will familiarize the students with the flora and fauna of this unique island. Lectures are complemented by specimen collection, field observation and laboratory work. For more information on this course, contact greg.beck@umb.edu, or click here.

To download an application, click here: bio100app

 

The second three-credit course in the program (August 20 - 31, 2007) is Biology 306: Marine & Coastal Ecological Research*, an upper-level course designed for Biology majors. Under faculty supervision, students develop a research project, do field and laboratory work, and present their results. For more information on this course, contact elizabeth.boyle@umb.edu, or click here,

To download an application, click here: 306app

 

*The tuition for the Marine Biology courses in 2007 is $1025. This includes housing, and laboratory and registration fees. Students provide transportation to and from the Field Station and supply their own food.

 

Application deadline for Bio100 and Bio306 is July 27, 2007!

 

Both courses are intensive, meeting five days a week for at least six hours a day. Students conduct hands-on field work in a variety of coastal and marine habitats. Small class sizes mean frequent contact with instructors, Station staff, and visiting researchers.

The third course in the program (not available in 2007) is Biol 280: Introduction to Ornithology*, a field-based study of the ecology, behavior, and evolutionary relationships of birds. Live-trapped wild birds will be examined for plumage, molt, general morphology, and physiological state. For more information on the course click here.

 

Station facilities include a small well-equipped laboratory and comprehensive field equipment. Course participants share a bunkhouse building on the property, prepare their own meals in a community kitchen, and attend classes in a comfortable classroom with pond and harbor views.

 

 

The Nantucket Field Station of the University of Massachusetts at Boston, located on 115 acres on Nantucket Island and four miles from Nantucket town, fronts on the shallow coastal waters of Nantucket Harbor and encompasses a pristine 45-acre salt marsh, a fresh water pond, an extensive marsh and swamp, upland scrub transacted by walking paths, is within walking distance of rare upland heath habitat, and an eelgrass community,just off the Station's beach. The harbor is rich with finfish, shellfish, marine invertebrates, making it ideal for snorkeling. The birding is superlative: raptors, waders, shorebirds, and ducks abound! The field station is home to whitetail deer, cottontail rabbits, mice, voles, snakes, and turtles for all too enjoy!

For more information about The Nantucket Field Station, visit The Field Station Page at the university's website.

For specific questions about the Marine Biology courses, contact Dr. Gregory Beck, the Biology Department's Field Station Coordinator.

For specific questions about enrollments, cost or credit issues, contact Wanda Willard, Summer Course Coordinator in the Division of Corporate, Continuing, and Distance Education at U Mass Boston, (617-287-7913).

For specific information about the Nantucket Field Station, contact Dr. Sarah Oktay, Director of the Field Station.