Come to a Community Garden

This month's EcoQuest is a little different than most. This April we are aiming to highlight the City's urban greenspaces by creating an umbrella project that showcases the observations of wildlife within NYC's community gardens. The goal is to showcase the immense habitat potential these urban gardens provide for wildlife, as well as encourage New Yorkers to explore their communities.

Additionally, many community gardens are undefined on iNaturalist. For an added challenge, we encourage you to find greenspaces that are undefined on iNaturalilst, and create a place and project for them to increase their representation on the iNaturalist map. Instructions for creating a place and project can be found on our journal post for April. If you create a project for a garden, or find one that is not included in this umbrella project, please message @tohmi or @glyptostrob0ides so we can add it to this project, and create a resource for anyone to find greenspaces near them as well as the wildlife they support.

Campaign for an Official NYC Wildflower

Marielle Anzelone

Tuesday, April 25, 5:00PM EST

REGISTER HERE

What do local plants and ballot boxes have in common? They are both part of #VoteWildflowerNYC, a new campaign asking New Yorkers to vote for an official wildflower of New York City.

Five plant species - nominated by partner organizations, including the New York Botanical Garden - will now go head-to-head in a citywide election to capture the hearts of New Yorkers.

WildflowerNYC is a campaign to restore the connection between New Yorkers and our wild flora - one vote at a time. As the campaign's manager, Marielle will discuss the project and how it complements other citywide directives such as 1% for Parks while providing a local lens for the global extinction crisis.

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Marielle Anzelone, is an urban ecologist & founder of NYC Wildflower Week. Her work is regularly featured in the New York Times and on WNYC public radio.

Get ready for NYC's 7th City Nature Challenge! Will you help us show off our city's biodiversity? In both the paved and green spaces of our city, many species survive and thrive. We're asking all New Yorkers - residents, visitors, commuters, students, teachers, pedestrians, park lovers, parents, children, EVERYONE - to connect with nature and help us make as many iNaturalist observations as we can. The City Nature Challenge observation period is this weekend, from Friday April 28 to Monday May 1! There are a ton of exciting events scheduled throughout the weekend - use our handy guide to find one near you. If you can't make it to an event, any observations made within the city during this weekend will count towards our goal!

NYC Project Page

#CNCNYC is also hosting a "Battle of the Boroughs". Last year, the Bronx came out on top with the most observations - will another borough overtake them this year?

CLICK HERE FOR A VERSION WITH LINKS TO REGISTER FOR THE EVENTS

CLICK HERE FOR A VERSION WITH LINKS TO REGISTER FOR THE EVENTS

Urban Soils: The role of soils in urban ecology, conservation, and sustainable development

George Lozefski, Laboratory Manager and Field & Education/Outreach Coordinator, Urban Soils Institute

Thursday, May 4, 5:00PM EST

REGISTER HERE

Soil is the subsurface foundation of all natural ecosystems such as forests, as well as human developed areas like farms. But soil also exists beneath all cities and urban areas. For humans, birds, and trees alike, these “urban soils” provide many of the same functions in cities. Soils embody the complex workings of nature that sustain ecosystems and biodiversity in cities. Soil is a dynamic living matrix of flora and fauna, of the myriad microbes and earth materials that can simultaneously reduce flooding, break down hydrocarbon pollution, sequester toxic metals and sustain robust harvests from local community gardens year after year. This talk will explore the characteristics of urban soils, some of the issues and challenges in sustainable use, and the connections between “urban soils” and the many “ecosystem services” we rely upon every day.

REGISTER HERE

George Lozefski has conducted environmental research at Columbia University’s Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory for over ten years and has been teaching geosciences courses for over ten years at CUNY – Brooklyn College. George teaches soil science courses at the New York Botanical Garden’s School of Professional Horticulture. At USI George manages soil testing services. He designs and conducts soil science education and testing workshops and provides training in soil quality evaluation for academic and community settings. George manages technical and consulting services for soil restoration/remediation projects. He also collaborates on research in soil quality, biogeochemistry and green infrastructure. George received his B.S. in Geology at CUNY–Queens College and M.A. in Environmental Science at CUNY–Brooklyn College.