Earthwise Aware

05/24/2026

Exploring Nature’s Hidden Life in May with EwA Naturalists

🧡 Another wonderful morning with the EwA community, watching spring continue to unfold. Bill, Laura, Sophie, and I were so happy to reconnect with familiar faces and welcome new ones. Thank you to everyone who joined us and wandered through the woods together, taking the time to observe, wonder, learn, and uncover some of the quiet ecological stories the Fells has to offer.

We explored phenology, the study of recurring seasonal events in nature and how they relate to climate and ecological cycles, and looked closely at flower anatomy, including wild geranium, Canada mayflower, sarsaparilla, and many others. This is a peak season in the forest, with flowers rapidly emerging and dispersing pollen. Soon, the flowers that were successfully pollinated and fertilized will begin producing fruits and seeds.

Insects have finally emerged in earnest. Caterpillars of many species were tucked into folded leaves, hidden in silken tents, or perfectly camouflaged beneath foliage, often nearly impossible to spot even with a trained eye. We also admired a beautiful dragonfly at rest, perhaps pausing after migration. Along the way, we encountered tortoise beetles, winter fireflies, soldier beetles, harvestmen, winged ants, and much more.

We also logged about 20 bird species heard or seen, with many warblers clearly missing compared to the last walk, as they moved to their summer territories. But a good day nonetheless! :-)

We look forward to returning in a couple of weeks, with plenty more to discover.

A great rest of the weekend to all!

– The Fells Exploration EwA Team

🐛 Join our urban and walks » www.earthwiseaware.org/events | ⓘ More about EwA Participatory Science Program » www.earthwiseaware.org/citizen-science |

05/22/2026

Protections built by executive decree can be unbuilt by the same mechanism. The legal architecture remains thin, contingent on political alignment rather than ecological necessity. What is presented as permanence can reveal itself as provisional — protection that reflects intention in one moment, but cannot withstand the next.

A meditation on building the future without forgetting what already works.

05/21/2026

48 'low carbon' initiatives assessed and found integral to the fossil fuel problem.

These projects amplify the green credentials of fossil fuel firms while leaving their core business model untouched.

05/19/2026

✨ Celebrating Melodie’s EwA Phenostories

Our community science work keeps growing thanks to dedicated contributors like Melodie. She was with us at Bellevue, and since moving to Chicago, she has found creative ways to remain actively engaged with EwA by developing resources for our participatory scientists.

One beautiful example of her contribution is the EwA Phenostories guide entry she created for buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), accessible in our Phenostories library that we develop on the iNaturalist Guides platform. This Phenostory presents this wetland shrub as a “living calendar,” helping observers read seasonal change through its buds, spherical “button” flower heads, and seed structures. Drawing on photos of buttonbush contributed by our community of observers across our various data platforms, Melodie’s entry turns buttonbush from just a name on a species list into a phenology companion, making it easier for observers to move from “I see a shrub” to “I see buttonbush in early flowering,” the level of detail that powers our climate and habitat change work.

By curating these guides from Chicago, Melodie shows how community scientists can stay connected and impactful from anywhere, through careful species storytelling, phenology coaching, and practical tools that support better field observations. And by weaving in community-contributed images, this Phenostory also celebrates the entire EwA community and the rich dataset you are all building together. Melodie is now working on the Phenostory of the red maple, so stay tuned for the next chapter in this growing phenology library!

Read more about Melodie ⧽ https://tinyurl.com/EwA-Melodie-VH
Check Melodie's Buttonbush Phenostory ⧽ https://tinyurl.com/EwA-Buttonbush-PS

05/15/2026

“If they’re capable of having better and worse lives, then we should take that into consideration.”

To date, most research into insect pain and cognition has concerned bees. But the question of pain is particularly pertinent for crickets – the chickens and cows of the insect world – farmed in their billions and trillions for food, feed and research, White says.

The behavioural cue of ‘flexible self-protection’ is a way to establish whether an animal feels pain, scientists say

05/14/2026

With the help of citizen scientists, researchers studying rare humpback ‘jaw-gaping’ believe the move could be a social display.

With the help of citizen scientists, researchers studying rare humpback ‘jaw-gaping’ believe the move could be a social display

05/10/2026

🍃 Exploring Nature’s Hidden Life in May with EwA Naturalists

🧡 Another great morning with the EwA community, watching spring continue to unfold. Laura, Bill, Joe, Kat, and I were so happy to see familiar faces and welcome new ones. Thanks to all of you who came and strolled with us through the woods, taking the time to wonder, learn together, and uncover the secret stories the Fells offer.

We documented the phenology of a few species, pondering the sexual fluidity of red maples. We also chatted about how to move lightly on trails and in the world.

Highlights of the walk included the many emerging herbaceous plants and the bursting seasonal growth of trees everywhere, along with the discovery of a small patch of nodding trillium, the first time we have seen them at that location. We also found galls on oak and witch hazel, along with a few fungi species that were new to us. Insects and spiders were a little shy with the rain, but we still got to see a few, including ants, a winter firefly, harvestmen, and orbweavers :-) And of course, a couple of slugs crossed our path on this rainy morning.

We also logged about 25 bird species heard or seen. A good day indeed! :-)

We look forward to returning in a couple of weeks, with plenty more to discover.

A great rest of the weekend to all!

– The Fells Exploration EwA Team

🐛 Join our urban and walks » www.earthwiseaware.org/events | ⓘ More about EwA Participatory Science Program » www.earthwiseaware.org/citizen-science |

05/09/2026

Thank you all for joining our event at the Growing Center 🌿 It was a pleasure to spend this time with you.

Together, we explored the incredible diversity of plant phenology and the many ways plants express themselves through the seasons. We documented everything from buds and emerging leaves to flowers and fruits 🌸🌰 along with some of the subtleties of plant reproductive biology. What a treasure the natural world is ✨

A warm welcome to our new EwA participatory scientists 🤝 We invite you to join our upcoming urban biodiversity and climate field orientation sessions: https://www.earthwiseaware.org/events

ⓘ Learn more about EwA’s Participatory Science Program: https://www.earthwiseaware.org/citizen-science

📷 Photo: Plant phenology sample documented during today’s surveys. Any guesses? 🔎

See you again soon!
NaturalHistory Ecology CommunityScience

05/06/2026

Thank you to all who attended Earthwise Aware's 🌳 Protecting Urban Biodiversity Walk yesterday [in partnership with the Cambridge Public Library]. It was a pleasure to explore these green spaces with you all and to reflect on what they can become when we prioritize native species and create habitat for insects, birds, and mammals.

We looked closely at the trees in the yard and noted that many trees are spaced in isolation rather than forming connected systems. This kind of separation can limit the development of healthy ecological relationships, which may help explain the relatively low presence of insects and birds, especially given the size of the site. We also observed non native species such as horse chestnut and discussed the challenge of integration, as these trees do not share an evolutionary history with local species. That shared history is what allows ecological checks and balances to emerge over time. Altogether, this raised how much more intentional we can be in restoring or building ecological connections.

We introduced phenology by walking through a year in the life of a red maple, then focused on three eastern redbuds (Cercis canadensis) at the edge of the park. You did a great job observing the subtle details of their current phenophases.

We examined their flowers, which are bisexual, meaning each flower contains both male and female reproductive structures, unlike oaks, which have unisexual flowers. We gently separated the lower petals to observe these structures up close. Such delicate flowers!

Claire curated today's EwA Pheno Lite records, and today's wonderful observers can review or update them at any time. Check the project at www.anecdata.org/projects/view/ewa-pheno-lite

04/25/2026

EwA’s at the RISE UP event at the Museum of Science! Come check it out if you can make it! We’re diving into plants, bugs, birds, and frogs - and sharing ways YOU can help protect them! Big thanks to volunteers Jay, Sophie, Margo, James, and Claire for engaging with visitors in a super fun way!