Courses on Nantucket
The Nantucket Field Station, one of the facilities of UMass Boston's School for the Environment, is a 107-acre field site of pristine salt marsh, rolling uplands, and harbor waterfront which provides education, research, and community service. We are a world-class research and educational institution and a deeply engaged member of the Nantucket community.
Each summer, UMass Boston offers several field courses from late May through August. These courses feature field work that allows participants to use the island’s natural and cultural resources to investigate classroom topics. Courses offered explore many fields of study — from marine biology to spider ecology.
Courses Offered*
BIOL 306 Marine & Coastal Ecological Research
July 14 - 26, 2024
Instructor: Elizabeth Boyle
Class #: 3107
Fee: TBA
BIOL 344/345 - Ornithology & Lab
May 28 - June 14, 2024
Instructor: Luis De Leon Reyna
Class #: 3108/3109
Fee: TBA
ENVSCI 321L - Spiders of Nantucket
July 28 - August 9, 2024
Instructor: TBA
Class #: 2435
Fee: TBA
HIST 276 - This Land is Your Land
June 16 - 28, 2024
Instructor: Roberta Wollons
Class #: 3540
Fee: TBA
* Registration will be available soon.
Contact Us
If you have questions, contact the instructor of the course (listed below) or Elizabeth Boyle, Director of Academic Achievement Services Center (AASC) for the School for the Environment:
BIOL 344/345 Ornithology (Lecture & Lab)
Luis DeLeon Reyna, luis.deleonreyna@umb.edu
BIOL 306 Marine & Coastal Ecological Research (3 credits)
Supervised research on the adaptations and interactions of organisms of the beaches, salt marshes, sand dunes, and embayments of Nantucket. Meets every weekday during two weeks of the summer at the University's field station on Nantucket.
Prerequisite: BIOL 210 or 252 or 290. BIOL 344.
BIOL 344/345 Ornithology (4 credits)
Ornithology is the study of birds. This course will explore the complex biology of birds, including evolution, functional morphology, physiology, ecology and behavior. Field, museum and laboratory activities emphasize particular aspects of morphology, ecology and behavior, as well as taxonomy and identification alongside native Massachusetts species.
The goal for this course is to provide a base of knowledge about birds in a way that will inspire you to keep learning about them through lecture, laboratory and field time. The course will focus primarily on the behavior, ecology and evolution of birds and the development of field skills. This is normally taught on Nantucket and will include some sessions devoted to ornithology through the Nantucket lens.
Prerequisite: BIOL 252 or 254 and BIOL 290.
ENVSCI 321L Spiders of Nantucket (3 credits)
This course will introduce students to important field and laboratory-based methods for assessing biodiversity and estimating species richness, with applications for natural resource management and conservation. The spiders of Nantucket will serve as a model for diving into biodiversity field and laboratory methods due to their rich diversity over the island and distinct species-specific characteristics that allow for training in taxonomy. In this course, students will learn about spider biology, anatomy, life history, classification and taxonomy, and ecology through classroom lectures and discussions, field sampling, and laboratory processing and identification activities. Students will become familiar with the primary literature and scientific writing through two writing assignments.
Please note: ENVSTY 321L and ENVSCI 321L are the same course.
HIST 276 This Land is Your Land (3 credits)
This class studies how people have used and changed the North American environment from the colonial era to the present through the local lens of Cape Cod and the islands, particularly Nantucket. Through discussion exams, and essays, students will master historical material and build skills in document analysis and written argument. This class does not require a background in history. Science majors and first-year students welcome.