Author Archives: rgao

From 4/28-5/1, Burlington along with the global iNaturalist community participated in the City Nature Challenge. During this four-day BioBlitz, my friends and lab peers explored the greater Burlington area to record over 150 observations and almost 100 species. iNaturalist was … Continue reading →

On a cloudy morning after a long day of rain, I headed back to my spot in the woods. It was very muddy and I noticed that the water level of the creek had risen on my way there. What … Continue reading →

During the first week of April, the days have been warmer, rainier, sunnier, and longer. While walking to my tree on Saturday, I noticed that all the snow had melted. It was very muddy and wet – having rained earlier … Continue reading →

On Sunday afternoon (3/26), I took an icy hike through Centennial Woods back to the tree that I had visited two weeks ago. I had begun searching for the whereabouts of my tree when I found another beech that I … Continue reading →

On Saturday morning (3/18), I visited my friend Maddy’s family apple farm in North Central Massachusetts. With a population of about 1,700, Phillipston is a rather small rural town compared to Burlington’s bustling number of 44,743 people. But, this also … Continue reading →

On Thursday morning, I revisited the woods to search for one species from the list: With the high volume of Norway and Sugar maples and conifers in my stand, I found it slightly challenging to find a smaller tree from … Continue reading →

With a fresh blanket of snow on the ground, the morning of February 18th proved to be a good day to search for tracks and signs of wildlife in the city. Before even leaving campus, I saw signs of animal … Continue reading →

On Sunday, I revisited my spot in Centennial Woods for the first time since last November. Now fully in the midst of winter in Vermont, a thick blanket of snow covers the bridges and paths as well as the branches … Continue reading →

Since my last visit to my spot in Centennial Woods in November, I noticed that many things have changed. For starters, the days have gotten exponentially shorter and the weather much colder, with an occasional flutter of snow. Although this … Continue reading →

After being home for the week, I decided to revisit one of the hidden gems that my city had to offer. Located in the midst of a suburban village, the Perry Springs Park and Fish Hatchery was very simply the … Continue reading →