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Students at the Bioblitz at Brooklyn Bridge Park   Christina Tobitsch The Case for Citizen Science on Coastal Waters JESSICA LEIGH HESTER   NOV 3, 2016 Classroom initiatives in New York and Miami prepare students for a changing world—and they’re good for the environment, too. SHARE TWEET On a rainy day in mid-September, a group of college kids in shiny yellow rainboots and ponchos crouch in the water of New York City’s East River. Others troop by with damp clipboards, plastic hand lenses dangling around their necks. Over the course of 24 hours, nearly 500 sophomores from CUNY’s Macaulay Honors College canvass Brooklyn Bridge Park, tallying up the biodiversity along the shoreline. It’s a tricky task: Some critters, like bees and moths, have sought cover from the drizzle. “I found a yellow jacket on a muffin,” one student offers. “I’m counting it,” another shrugs, tucking rain-slicked hair behind her ear. Related Story Why Cities Have to Care About ...

A house in Toronto landscaped with plants native to the region.   REUTERS/Mark Blinch Why Cities Have to Care About Native Plants JESSICA LEIGH HESTER   MAY 4, 2016 Across the U.S., groups are working to fend off invasive species by helping local ones take root. SHARE TWEET Each year, naturalists across the U.S. go to war with invasive plants. Take lesser celandine, for instance. The delicate yellow petals, which emerge in early spring, belie a resounding—and frustrating—toughness. The plant beats native wildflowers to bloom, and usurps their habitats in the process. As of April 2016, it’s been detected in 25 states; a model from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service at the USDA  estimated  that up to 79 percent of land in the U.S. could be hospitable to an infestation. A naturalist in Washington, D.C.  recently told  National Geographic about how the weed has choked out nearly 200 acres of the city’s Rock Creek Park. “People s...

A rendering of Barcelona's planner green corridor network, showing the enlarged park at Plaça de les Glories Catalans at its heart.   Ajuntament de Barcelona Built-Out Barcelona Makes Space for an Urban Forest FEARGUS O'SULLIVAN   MAY 17, 2017 The city is planning a major green makeover to combat the heat island and create a more welcoming place for humans and animals alike. SHARE TWEET When a city needs green space, but it’s all out of room, what can it do? It’s an issue that many older, denser cities are facing as they try to make themselves more amenable to their citizens and the environment. For Barcelona, this challenge requires especial ingenuity. Take a walk around what is one of Europe’s most densely populated city cores and you’d be forgiven for pronouncing the place full. With an intense knot of historic masonry at its heart, Spain’s second city doesn’t display the most obvious potential as a future   green paradise. But it badly needs new...