New England Aquarium

DCR’s Annual Park Serve Day is coming Saturday April 27, 2019! Myles Standish is one of the largest State Forests in eastern Massachusetts, and is home to diverse plants, wildlife, and people. This year, LBSC will be joining Friends of Myles Standish to help with one or several projects that include: adding trail blazes, signage, and clearing new trails; Make improvements to existing trails, including cutting back overgrowth; cleanup around Forest Headquarters and other sites. Friends of Myles Standish will be hosting a barbecue after the cleanup, so stick around to enjoy some food and make new friends!

Join us in Gloucester to support the third annual Great Gloucester Clean Up! Organized by The Gloucester Clean City Commission, Ocean Alliance, and the One Hour at a Time Gang, this event attracted over 200 volunteers last year. Our team will be joining the Good Harbor Beach cleanup to prepare these popular swimming and fishing spots for the coming summer. Stick around after the cleanup for a barbecue sponsored by the city!

Alewife Reservation, once a part of the Great Swamp that spanned the area from Cambridge to the Mystic River, is one of the most polluted waterways in the Greater Boston Area. Volunteer efforts are vitally important for protecting this green space and working to improve water quality. For this event, we will be removing debris from bike paths, streams, and surrounding woods to prevent plastics and other trash from flowing downstream into the Mystic River. Gloves will be provided, but dress in clothes you don't mind getting wet or dirty. *Note that due to potential water quality concerns, volunteers will not pull debris from the water without proper protection and in ideal weather conditions*

Park Serve Day is an annual state-wide cleanup event that began in 2006. Since its inception, tens of thousands of Massachusetts residents have helped prepare parks and beaches for the summer recreation season. The Neponset River is one of the major waterways that drains into Boston Harbor. Given its proximity to both urban and rural communities, trash and debris of all sorts can find its way into the river and thus into the harbor. In addition, storms and tides often bring derelict fishing gear, construction debris, and even loose floating docks onto shore! Join the live blue Service Corps, the Neponset River Watershed Association, and our partners as we cleanup various sites along the river. Are you a new volunteer or part of a group? You can sign up as a team for this project! An orientation will take place on-site to induct you into the Service Corps. Attendance will allow you to continue volunteering at future events. Please be in touch with Ryan at volunteer@neaq.org if you have a group or guests you would like to bring.

Want to know more about the live blue Service Corps? Through this program, we partner with local environmental organizations to provide episodic volunteer opportunities with a smaller commitment that still has an important impact on our mission! This program was built in flexibility; you only sign up for the service events in which you're interested and for which you have the time. To become a live blue Service Corps member, volunteers are first required to attend a one time, hour long orientation at the Aquarium. During this orientation, you'll learn more about the live blue Service Corps, the kinds of projects you'll be doing, and what to expect. It's also a great chance to meet other volunteers! After attending the orientation you'll be able to sign up for any and all live blue Service Corps projects posted on serve.neaq.org/calendar. *On 4/27/19, an orientation will be held after the Neponset River Cleanup on Riverside Ave. You can attend the cleanup before the orientation, then stick around to learn how to stay involved!* [Note that if you are interested in a more committed program, namely those in animal care and education, please visit serve.neaq.org/ClassicCorps to read about the application process]

Join us for Stewardship Saturday on the Boston Harbor Islands! We will be working with the National Park Service to conduct clean-ups, remove invasive species, and complete other beautification projects. Each project takes place on a different island and will involve a different set of work. Tools and gloves will be provided, but be prepared with sturdy shoes, long sleeves and pants to protect from thorns and poison ivy, and clothes you don't mind getting dirty. The boat for these projects leaves precisely at 9am. The departure site varies between projects, so keep an eye on your e-mail for details. Here are some pictures of some of our volunteers at past Stewardship Saturdays!!

Every year, volunteers mobilize to cleanup neighborhoods all over the City of Quincy. Quincy's shore and coastal parks are visited by thousands of visitors, and tons of trash, every year. With our help, we can make these destinations trash-free for the benefit of people and wildlife alike! This year we will be working at Squaw Rock, a small park on Squantum Point. This small stretch of coastline acts as a catch-basin for debris that flows in from the harbor and down the Neponset River, making it the perfect place to catch debris that would otherwise end up in the ocean. A barbecue hosted by the Mayor's Office will take place after the cleanup, so feel free to stick around to enjoy the view and food! Above image from Squaw Rock in April 2018, provided by Nathan Knowles. While much of the big debris has been removed, there is still a lot of work to be done!

Victory Programs' ReVision Urban Farm is an innovative community-based urban agriculture project that grows produce in its own fields and provides access to affordable, nutritious and culturally appropriate food to residents of the ReVision Family Home and extended community. The Annual Seedling Sale is a chance for residents to start their own backyard farms! Volunteers here will assist mostly with transporting and identifying different types of seedlings and confirming orders. If things slow down, volunteers can assist with doing some field work, which can vary from preparing beds to be planted, harvesting produce, preparing beds for succession crops, fertilizing, and weeding. For more information about this event, please click the link below: https://www.vpi.org/revision/our-programs/seedlings/

As Boston's second largest unfragmented woodland, Allandale Woods is a crucial component of the city's natural areas inventory. Composed primarily of oaks, maples, and pines, Allandale Woods is one of the few relatively pristine secondary growth oak-hickory forests in the city of Boston. Trails run throughout the site leading to various areas of interest including scenic Rock Pond, an extensive Depression-era stone boundary wall, a cattail marsh, intertwining streams that form the Bussey Brook headwaters, underground springs, an historic spring house, and a certified vernal pool. Woodlands like this are in need of constant care to combat invasive species, maintain trails, and restore impacted native habitats. The Service Corps will be involved in a number of projects, including: -Maintenance on trails, including removal of downed limbs and debris -Invasive species removal -Trail-side pruning -Watering new restoration plants Come prepared for some heavy-duty gardening and trail work!

Two species of river herring migrate up the Mystic River each spring: Alewife (Alosa psuedoharenous) and Blueback Herring (Alosa aestivalis). Both fish are anadromous: they spend most of their lives at sea and return to freshwater habitats to spawn, or lay eggs. Since the early 1900's the river herring population in the Mystic has drastically declined due to by-catch, habitat loss and degradation, water pollution, poaching, access to spawning habitat, and natural predators. They are now a threatened species. According to the Herring Alliance some river herring runs on the Atlantic Coast have declined by 95% or more over the past 20 years! In 2011, a fish ladder was installed at the Upper Mystic Lake Dam, allowing herring to access previously lost breeding grounds. In 2017, an underwater camera was installed so that volunteers could count fish and give us a better understanding of how the populations are shifting over time. This is where citizen science comes in! After learning a bit more about the Mystic River Watershed Association's ongoing efforts to revitalize native herring populations, volunteers will create an account (or sign in as a guest) to count fish in 30-60 second long videos. The data will be added to a publicly accessible database, and the top counters will be listed on an online leaderboard (we will even give a small prize to the top-counter after this event!). A smartphone, tablet, or computer is required to view the videos, so come prepared with your own. Light snacks will be provided, but you are welcome to bring your own food as well.

Currently accepting applications for limited weekday openings One ½ day per week Monday through Friday, potential for more time if desired Summary: The human resources volunteer will help with administration of the Human Resources department in support of the policies and procedures of the New England Aquarium. Responsibilities: Assist the Human Resources department with ongoing administrative projects. Perform other position-related duties as assigned. Qualifications: Strong interpersonal communication skills Keen eye for details Commitment to strict confidentiality Ability to handle multiple tasks & projects Motivated, flexible, and willing to take on new responsibilities and initiatives.

Accepting Applications for Waitlist Time commitment: One full day (8:00 am.-5:00 p.m.) per week for a period of 6 months Summary: American lobsters are a cultural icon and one of the most important fisheries in New England. But did you know it takes a lobster 7 years to grow to 1 pound (the legal harvest size)? At the New England Aquarium, larval and juvenile lobsters are raised in a small hatchery and then used in experiments, which have focused on growth, nutrition, and disease. Project Description: Responsibilities: Must have a desire to learn how to care for hundreds of juvenile lobsters in a small research setting. Daily tasks include observing, recording data, and feeding all lobsters in the research collection, collecting and counting newly hatched larvae, changing filters, and cleaning tanks. Opportunities to become a more active participant in ongoing research may become available, but are subject to current progress, research scope, and supervisor discretion. Qualifications: Strong interest in working with animals in a research environment. Must have basic computer skills, be able to follow written protocols, and work independently. Must be comfortable working in a wet laboratory environment, and willing to get dirty. Good attention to detail is essential. Prior lobster experience is not necessary. Must be at least 18 years old.