NYC Nature: From the River to the Roofto

In NYC Nature: From the River to the Rooftops, students will collect and analyze data from local habitats on and near the Barnard campus including the Hudson River, Riverside Park forest and the wildflower meadows planted on top of Barnard College buildings. Students will examine the water quality of the Hudson, measure carbon storage in campus trees, survey birds in relationship to tree canopy density in Riverside Park, simulate a paleoecological investigation of Manhattan using the Virtual Forest and quantify biodiversity on NYC rooftops. It is an investigation of how NYC nature, from plankton to peregrines, responds to environmental change, and will be hands-on, inquiry-based, include field experiences and involve data collection, analysis and presentations. Each meeting will begin with a discussion of the day's topic and then we will head outside to collect data, for example, water samples, tree measurements, plant and bird surveys, etc. Back in the lab, the data will be visualized, analyzed and discussed in the form of team presentations.