UMass Boston Nantucket Field Station
Dr. Sarah Oktay
Managing Director
180 Polpis Road
Nantucket, MA 02554

Office Phone:
508-228-5268
Lab Phone:
508-228-9475

sarah.oktay@umb.edu

:: Research & Education

Field Trips & Educational Programs

students carrying buckets in waterVarious educational and outreach programs make extensive use of the NFS. At least one NSF funded program, the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program in Ecology and Conservation Biology at UMass Boston culminates their annual summer program with a retreat to the Field Station to present their summer research projects, conduct field trips and enjoy the Station's ecological delights. Other groups who take advantage of the Station's resources include the following:

  • "Exploring Coastal Environments" (extended field seminar)*
  • Northeastern University Interdisciplinary Honors Program
  • Northeastern University Geology and Policy Field Trip
  • Massachusetts Bay Marine Consortium "Into the Ocean World" Program (extended field seminar)*
  • water with treesRhode Island School of Design Landscape Architecture (extended field seminar)
  • Preservation Institute of Nantucket Landscape Architecture Seminar
  • Harvard Graduate Seminar in Medical Entomology
  • Biology Club Field Seminars (two annually)*
  • University of New Hampshire Geology Department Field Trip
  • Children's Nature and Marine Life Classes, Nantucket Maria Mitchell Science Association
  • Adult Nature and Bird Walks, Nantucket, MA
  • Special Needs Secondary Students Nantucket Field Trip, The Riverview School
  • Rainforest Collaboration Minority Secondary Science Program (extended field course)*
  • Buzzards Bay Rim Primary and Secondary Teacher Enrichment Program*
  • Enviro Lab Marine Science Field Trips for the Nantucket School System*
  • Terrestrial Field Trips for the Nantucket School System
  • Faculty enrichment for Nantucket School Teachers

    • *Denotes UMass Boston Program

    Interaction with local organizations

    teacher with child on beachFundamentally the NFS serves as a field trip site for Nantucket educational organizations including the public schools, Nantucket Maria Mitchell Science Association, and the Nantucket Boys and Girls Club. Trip leaders from these organizations favor the Field Station for its gently sloping beach and shallow salt water plant and animal communities as they are safe for children to explore. The NFS provides housing and sometimes laboratory space for investigators working with groups like the Nantucket Land Council, Conservation Foundation, African Baptist Church or Nature Conservancy. The Director of the NFS serves as a resource for the above organizations, plus the Lifesaving Museum Atheneum, and Egan Institute.

    The various local organizations that interact with the NFS include:

    • African meeting houseAfrican Meeting House on Nantucket

    Other Activities

    sand duneSteinbeck and the Environment Conference, Nantucket Island, May 14-17, 1992. (An interdisciplinary conference involving literary critics and scientists exploring the relationship between writer John Steinbeck and the environment co-sponsored with the Steinbeck Research Center, San Jose University)

    Interaction with the Preservation Institute of Nantucket conferences, May 25-28, 1994; May 21-24, 1995; and May 22-25, 1996. These three interdisciplinary conferences, sponsored by the Department of Landscape Architecture of the University of Florida, explored the relationship between man and the land with reference to both the humanities and the sciences.