Savin Hill Cove
Biomimicry LivingLabs received $100K grant from the Schmidt Family Foundation!
Boston Water and Sewer Commission Water Quality Monitoring at Morrissey Blvd. Drainage Conduit Project (Executive summary)
GHP students and Dr. Anamarija Frankic have been working with students from Newton High School and Outward Bound from Thompson Island on salt marsh restoration in Savin Hill Cove, adjacent to the UMass Boston campus. On Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011 at low tide, we came to the site to measure basic water quality in the intertidal area with fringing salt marsh, and found 156 oysters throughout the Cove.
Please note that this area is contaminated and closed to shellfishing. All shellfishing is prohibited.
The oysters were both European oysters (Ostrea edulis) and native Eastern Oysters (Crassostrea virginica). From their sizes, we estimate the oysters ranged from 6 months to 5-6 years old. Finding young oyster specimens attached to stones and blue mussels suggests these oysters were here for at least from 2010 year's spawning. The oysters were found in areas where ground water is seeping out into the cove creating small channels, where substrate (bottom) is firmer and lacks accumulation of silt and mud, therefore providing more suitable conditions for oysters attache as spats and to survive.
Presently, we have established and begun testing how the presence of afloating island can help buffer the shoreline and improve water quality. Floating islands are made of a non-toxic PET plastic matrix that has holes for plants to grow on/in. We are in the early monitoring phases with the island and come springtime, we plan to plant Spartina spp. and monitor its impacts on the area.
EEOS 476 Fall 2013 Syllabus, Student Projects
"Assessment of policy conditions, constraints, and consequences in the process of shellfish restoration: the complex permitting process for restoration of urban harbors" (Paper PDF)(Presentation PDF)
"Development of sustainable solutions to mitigate sediment and contaminant re-suspension during storm surge and tidal inundation in urban harbor (Savin Hill Cove)" (Paper PDF)(Presentation PDF)
"Assessment of existing fish advisories in Boston Harbor and comparison between three urban estuaries: Neponset, Charles and Mystic Rivers" (Paper PDF)(Presentation PDF)
"Shifting Shorelines of Savin Hill Cove(GIS Landuse/Landcover mapping)" (Presentation PDF)
"Environmental assessment of the Cove: historical changes inlocal biodiversity"
"Evaluation of essential fish and shellfish habitats (ESH) and how will sea level rise scenarios and changing climate impact the ESH in the Cove"
"Assessment of potential human health impacts from present water quality in the Cove"
"Using Floating islands to help restore ecological services in urban harbors through biomimicry-based design and engineering"
"Using the Biomimicry LivingLabs to strengthen campus-community interactions in addressing environmental issues in the Savin Hill Cove"
"Assessing local businesses, technologies, innovative environmental solutions and inviting them to showcase their products at the Biomimicry LivingLabs"
"Develop social media communication for outreach and education about the Biomimicry LivingLabs and the Student Capstone Projects"
Dr. Anamarija Frankic and Stephen Norris, May 2014 presentation for the Savin HIll local community Biomimicry LivingLabs.
Boston University student Ashley Jones' wrote an article about the Biomimicry LivingLabs.
For background information about the Cove, view previous student capstone projects: Savin Hill restoration and Savin Hill dredging.
Click here for water quality data from the MWRA (Massachusetts Water Resources Authority) (Savin Hill Cove is Station 39).
Visit the Savin Hill Yacht Club