Slow Nature Fast City

I’m out of town this week, exploring the wilds of Newfoundland. But I’ve collected a few ways to explore the natural world in NYC and beyond (August 13 – 17, 2016).

Go Outside

Get on the wait list for Lisa Nett’s Cloud Study in Prospect Park on Saturday, August 13. There will be a robust discussion of cloud classification, weather forecasting that doesn’t involve your smartphone, and the hidden merits in cloud shape

Join the Bronx River Alliance on Saturday, August 13, for a one-day research blitz about the creatures, plants, and water of the Bronx River. Scientists and volunteers will work on research projects such as seine fishing, invasive plant removal, bird surveys, and water quality monitoring. Maybe you’ll spot the famous Bronx beavers.

On Wednesday August 17, join the Linnaean Society and Paul Keim in Central Park for night walk in search of crickets, katydids, fireflies and bats. Keim will use an echolocator to hear the local species of bats by their otherwise inaudible high-frequency chirps.

Listen

Radiolab’s episode From Tree to Shining Tree describes the astonishing, newly discovered “underground economy” between trees and fungi. Mind-blowing.

Read

I’ve enjoyed reading about the “weird wonderfulness of life on Earth” at Jennifer Franzen’s delightful natural history and biodiversity blog, The Artful Amoeba.