Calendar

Activities, ranger tours, and most programs are included with your ferry ticket.

Climate Cart with the Stone Living Lab

Join the Stone Living Lab for fun activities and learn about climate change!

Come to Downtown Boston this summer to learn about climate change, research, and ecology through fun, hands-on activities led by the Stone Living Lab!

The Climate Cart will be at the Boston Harbor Islands Welcome Center on the Rose Kennedy Greenway every other Friday from June 24th through September 2, 2022.

Activities & Schedule:

  • Beach Erosion: Experiment with the effects of stormy waves on a sandy beach, and see if you can construct an effective erosion mitigation device using a variety of materials
    (June 24, August 19)
  • Climate Data Art: Inspired by artist Jill Pelto, look at graphs of Boston’s annual average temperature, greenhouse gas emissions, and sea level rise, to draw and create art pieces to communicate what this data means scientifically, emotionally, or for society.
    (July 7)
  • Warming Oceans: Explore how warming ocean temperatures will influence which native marine species thrive or struggle under changing conditions. How will lobsters fare under climate change? Will we see any new arrivals in our Harbor?
    (July 22, August 26 , & September 2)

About the Stone Living LabThe Stone Living Lab is an innovative and collaborative initiative for testing and scaling up nature-based approaches to climate adaptation, coastal resilience and ecological restoration in the high-energy environment of the Boston Harbor Islands National and State Park. A “Living Lab” brings research out of the lab and into the real world by creating a user-centered, open, innovative ecosystem that engages scientists and the community in collaborative design and exploration. The Stone Living Lab is a partnership of the City of Boston, UMass Boston School for the Environment, Boston Harbor Now, the National Parks of Boston, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, and the James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Foundation that engages scientists and the community in research, education, and the promotion of equity.

The Stone Living Lab is conducting projects at a collection of outdoor spaces in and around Boston Harbor, including baseline monitoring at Rainsford Island and a pilot project at Fallon Pier at UMass Boston, to answer critical questions such as:

  • How can we ensure nature-based solutions will work in weather conditions that are more volatile and unpredictable than we’ve ever experienced?
  • How can the public help lead in implementing resilience solutions, and how can we ensure these solutions help address issues of climate justice and inequality?
  • What are the best next-generation solutions we should start investing in across the world?
  • How do we engage and collaborate with the regulatory and development community to streamline permitting and financing so that we solve these problems before it’s too late?

As a Living Lab, the partnership also engages the larger community – including students, civic organizations, and advocates– to co-develop solutions to problems alongside scientists, including challenges related to permitting, financing, and community benefits necessary for implementing the solutions we need.

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