Author: ifreedman

As my internship comes to a close, I feel like my time here has really been coming together. I am currently working on one last project that I hope will leave a lasting impression on the islands after I am gone. I have co-developed a project called Bivalve Quest with a co-worker of mine that would allow visitors to participate in the collection of scientific data. There is little existing data about the distribution and abundance of shellfish (such as clams and oysters) on the Boston Harbor Islands’ shores, so we want to get a better picture of the marine ecology. This project allows us to educate and engage guests in marine science while also generating useful scientific data. I am particularly proud of this achievement, as my work will go on to make a difference in studying the diversity of Boston Harbor’s shellfish.

As for the research project documenting marine species on and around the Harbor Islands, this is also going swimmingly. With the PhD candidate from UMass Boston that I have been working closely with, we have been doing in depth exploration of the subtidal areas around the islands – literally! Donning snorkeling gear, we headed out into the chilly waters to search for crabs, algae, and other marine species. A highlight was finding an eelgrass bed, which provide a safe haven for many juvenile fish but are threatened by destructive fishing and boating practices. I spotted a small baby flounder only about 2 inches long, but it darted away before I could manage to get a photograph.

I have been able to bond with my co-workers here at the Natural Resource team as well as the recurring volunteers that I work with nearly every week. Together with five seasonal staff and another intern, I have made a new group of friends that I can rely on and have gotten close to. I will miss the Natural Resource team once I am gone.

With only a couple of weeks left before I complete my internship, it has been quite a ride. I’ve gotten a real taste of what it is like to be an employee of the National Park Service. I’ve been involved in many different projects and felt like the work I have done over the past three months is meaningful and actually making a difference. Overall, this has given me some great insight into what to look for in the future. I have gained invaluable experience in the field this summer and know that I want to continue to work hands-on with nature. My work on the shores and in the water has only strengthened my love for the oceans and marine species, and I have learned so much about the ecology of our local harbor. I have even gained some leadership skills while working with teens from the Live Blue Ambassadors program at the aquarium, assisting and teaching them about marine invasive species. Overall, this is a summer that I will never forget and has helped light up my path for my life after graduation.

As I enter my third month with the National Park Service, I have been reflecting a lot on how my three years at Brandeis have prepared me for this line of work. My work in the field has taught me a lot about what it means to be an environmental scientist. First and foremost, I have learned how different research is in the field as opposed to in a laboratory setting. Through my coursework at Brandeis, I have gained significant experience in a lab. A full year of lab work each for general chemistry, organic chemistry, and biology gave me lots of experience for the scientific work I am doing this summer and I plan on doing as a career. However, it did not prepare me for field work in some of the ways that I thought that it would.

For my work on the coasts of the Boston Harbor Islands to document wildlife, I am working closely with a PhD candidate from UMass Boston. Last week, she gave me an important piece of advice. She told me that field work is really nothing at all like lab work. In the lab, everything must be done with precision to ensure the best results. This sort of accuracy is much more difficult to achieve in the field, as a range of other factors can vary widely.

When going from the specificity of a sterile lab to climbing over rocks on a beach as the tide comes in, a lot of rules simply no longer apply. Laying out a straight line to best measure the shoreline is difficult when it is dotted with boulders. Certain species of encrusting algae growing on rocks look really similar to cyanobacteria, a type of marine bacteria. When time is of the essence, you often have to make do with the best you can before your entire work space is submerged again under the incoming tide.

This all being said, while I was not expecting a lot of these differences, they give my work more meaning.  My work at the National Park Service has been an amazing experience and has only strengthened my interest in field work and environmental research. I have been working for a cause that I strongly believe in and wish to continue work like this into the future. I am grateful to the National Park Service for this summer-long learning opportunity among dedicated and hard-working people who are also dedicated to environmental science and change. It has given me a renewed desire to study and fight the effects of climate change, and it has given me some experience that I could not get almost anywhere else.

– Isaiah Freedman

This summer, I am working for the Natural Resource team at the National Parks of Boston, spending the majority of my time out in the Boston Harbor Islands. The Boston Harbor Island National and State Park is a collection of 34 islands and peninsulas covering about 1500 acres in and around Boston that are overseen by the National Park Service. As a lifelong resident of the Boston area, I didn’t even realize that the area existed until recently and how much natural beauty, cultural significance, and history these sites held. Including ancient Native American settlements, Civil War forts, a smallpox hospital, World War II training facilities, and much more, the Boston Harbor Islands are really an incredible place.

The main goal of the Natural Resource team is to preserve and protect the natural resources that the Boston Harbor Islands have to offer. In addition to the many significant historical and cultural sites that I mentioned above, the islands are home to a unique type of habitat found nowhere else in the United States called a “drowned drumlin”, which formed as the glaciers receded at the end of the last Ice Age.  Their rarity gives them ecological significance and importance for both study and conservation efforts

My work this summer is largely field-based and will be focused on two main projects. The first project is one that the Natural Resource team has been working on for years now – invasive plant management and native plant restoration. Since Europeans arrived in Boston Harbor about 400 years ago, the islands began to transform from relatively pristine environments to sites rife with invasive species that grew unchecked and smothered out native species. Part of my efforts with the Natural Resource team is to cut back and remove invasives, such as multiflora rose and oriental bittersweet, in order to leave room for native species to regrow. In addition, we are replanting young natives that have been grown from seedlings in an effort to remove the homogeneity that has overtaken the islands. The purpose of this is to return the islands to their historical biodiversity so they can be seen and admired by visitors as the natural landscapes that they had been prior to disturbance.

For my second project, I am working with a PhD candidate from UMass Boston to inventory marine species found on the islands’ intertidal zones (the shore space between low and high tide). By assessing sites near eroding seawalls and cliff-sides, she hopes to create baseline data on sites that could have new seawalls built within the next few years to mitigate the effects of climate change. By doing so, these sites can be used to show the effects that artificial structures have on coastlines in terms of biodiversity loss. This project fascinates me and working on it has been my favorite part of the job so far. Between measuring coasts, searching for crabs, wading in the subtidal areas to assess mussel beds, and much more, I look forward to spending more time on this project.

This summer, I have two main goals: to get experience doing environmental research and to spend as much time outdoors as possible. In the past few weeks, I have immersed myself in my work for the Natural Resource team to get the most out of it that I can. Even when crawling around in tick-infested rose bushes and going up to my waist in frigid Boston water, I have enjoyed it all since I know that my work is contributing to the fight against and understanding of environmental issues.