NFS Research
Research is conducted at the Field Station by investigators and their students from UMass Boston as well as many other research institutions in the Northeastern United States including Harvard, Columbia, the U.S. Geological Survey, WHOI, Northeastern, and the College of the Atlantic (See below).
A major asset of the NFS for scientific research is the Island's distinctive conditions and natural resources.
- One major area of research based from the Field Station is the study of emerging diseases of significance to U.S. public health. Nantucket is a national hot spot for Lyme disease, Babesiosis, and Ehrlichiosis. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health have been examining the relationship of these three diseases with tick, mouse and deer populations on the Island since 1978.
- Derek Lovely (UMass Amherst Environmental Biotechnology Center) Geobactor Project is uniquely served by the close location of freshwater and saltwater sediments here at the Nantucket Field Station. This award-winning, well-funded and exciting research illustrates the cutting edge research conducted at the NFS
- UMass Boston BIO - Rick Kesseli and Students
- Breeding system, hybridization, and polyploidy of the invasive plant Fallopia japonica (Japanese Knotweed) and Giant Knotweed Fallopia sachalinensis (Hybrid:Fallopia X bohemica
- Dioecy in groundsel-tree (Baccharis halimifolia)
- Development And Characterization Of Comparative Anchor Tagged Sequences (CATS) For Comparative Genome Analysis In The Asteraceae
- Each Year, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center Researchers place tracking devices on Long-tailed ducks: See the recent results
Another example of research based on Nantucket's uncommon resources is the gray seal population biology study by the College of the Atlantic ongoing since 1964. UMB and other investigators use the Field Station for ornithology research, remote sensing of water quality parameters, population ecology, and sampling of coastal sediments. Many of Nantucket's coastal sediments serve as relatively pristine environments, when compared to other coastal sediments.
Student research has been a part of the Field Station for the past 30 years. A very successful student research-oriented course in Maritime Ecology Research is offered each summer. Students work on independent research projects, some with the help of local scientists from numerous local community and governmental groups.
- Research projects conducted at the NFS in the last fifteen years
- Research Strategic Plan NCF/UMB Part 1
- Research Strategic Plan NCF/UMB Part 2
- Student research projects from our Biology summer courses
Interaction With Governmental Agencies
The NFS provides housing for investigators conducting surveys of rare and endangered species and specific population surveys. For example, the Field Station was used by state agencies to examine the colonial nesting of waterfowl. Other interactions with government agencies include sampling of erosion and shoreline changes. Finally, the Field Station hosts environmental regulatory meetings for the Island.
Agencies interacting with the NFS include:
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
- Massachusetts Fish and Wildlife Service
- Massachusetts State Ornithologist
- The Corps of Engineers (Duck, NC and Vicksburg, MS)
- The U.S. Geological Survey
