Barbara Moran

2 weeks ago | wbur.org | Barbara Moran

A coalition of non-profit organizations will purchase an abandoned industrial site on Chelsea Creek, and plans to develop the area into conservation land, community space and up to 225 units of affordable housing. The state Superior Court approved the approximately $8 million sale to Mass Audubon, GreenRoots and The Neighborhood Developers. The sale of the more than 17-acre parcel is expected to close in coming weeks, according to GreenRoots executive director Roseann Bongiovanni.

1 month ago | wbur.org | Barbara Moran

Scientists are trying to save eelgrass off the Massachusetts coastA researcher at the Marine Biological Laboratory holds up an eelgrass plant gathered from the lab's eelgrass tanks. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)As water temperatures rise, an important plant in the North Atlantic is shrinking, threatening fish populations and the environment. This segment airs on March 24, 2025. Audio will be available after the broadcast.

1 month ago | nhpr.org | Barbara Moran

This story was originally produced by WBUR. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the New England News Collaborative. The largest office of the U.S. Geological Survey’s New England Water Science Center is a modest, single-floor building in Northborough  with offices, a warehouse and a lab. It looks like any other building you might find in an office park.

1 month ago | wbur.org | Barbara Moran

The largest office of the U.S. Geological Survey's New England Water Science Center is a modest, single-floor building in Northborough  with offices, a warehouse and a lab. It looks like any other building you might find in an office park. But the data that emerges from that building — and other sister sites around New England — is critical to the daily lives of everyone in the region.

1 month ago | wbur.org | Barbara Moran

Now, he says, he’s lucky to see a handful of European skippers at the height of their summer season. He found just one frosted elfin last year. And he worries the hairstreaks may have disappeared from the Massachusetts mainland altogether. “I haven't seen any of them in four years. Not a single one,” he said of the hairstreaks. “Butterflies that I used to see 200 or 300 or 400 of in a big field of milkweed, they're all completely gone.”A coral hairstreak butterfly.