Welcome to the UMass Boston Nantucket Field Station

Grace Grossman Environmental Center

The University of Massachusetts Boston's Nantucket Field Station (NFS) includes a 107-acre field site with laboratory facilities, residence space, and maintenance shop, and offices on Nantucket Harbor in the Quaise portion of the island. The island of Nantucket covers approximately 50 square miles, and although it is isolated geographically, it is only 26 miles south of Cape Cod, MA. Established in 1963, the Station is a member of the Organization of Biological Field Stations. The facility also includes a five-unit apartment complex near the midtown part of Nantucket called Gouin Village.

The Field Station is open for research, academic work, and field trips throughout the year. The NFS has provided more than 35 years of continuous service as a learning center for environmental education and research. Nantucket Island offers many unique natural resources for biological, geological, and ecological study. The multidisciplinary nature of the programs supported by the NFS is reflected in the topics of research and courses taught on site, which include: Ecology, Geology, Applied Linguistics, Art, Botany, Ornithology, Health Sciences, Conservation Biology, and Population Biology.

The Station's mission is to provide education, research, and community service opportunities in conjunction with faculty members and students of the University of Massachusetts Boston, the University of Massachusetts system, the people of Nantucket, and other educational and research organizations both on and off Nantucket. In 2004, the Nantucket Conservation Foundation signed a purchase agreement with the Trustees of the University to purchase the field station, protecting the land and allowing UMass Boston to operate the facility in perpetuity.

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