Students gathered at a saltmarsh site in Massachusetts, taking a break from their regular school day routine to remove invasive perennial pepperweed plants from among the bushes and marsh grasses. Originally from West Asia and Europe, the leafy pepperweed can grow 2-5 feet tall, blooming with small, white, four-petaled flowers. Unfortunately, left alone the pepperweed…
Category: Blog
LTER Road Trip – Tracking Change in a Tidal Marsh
Samuel Kelsey and I sped quickly through the marsh in one of the Plum Island Ecosystems LTER (PIE-LTER) site’s motor boats, zipping up our sweaters against the stiff ocean breezes despite the sunny skies of mid-June. The tide was low, and the brown marsh sides rose like miniature cliffs around us. Here and there, pieces…
10000 Birds – Clark’s Nutcrackers
In the fall of 2017, my mother and favorite birding buddy visited the mountains of Montana for a fishing trip. While hiking along a river, she spotted a large, gray and black bird on the branch of a tree. Upon returning, she raved about her new favorite species: the Clark’s Nutcracker. I’ve been dying to see…
E. Zambello Writing and Art 