BUEE’s 2023 season wrapped up on August 9, with BUEE Science Day.  Ten students and their faculty mentors presented their summer research to more than 50 participants from CUNY, partner institutions, and the surrounding community.  Students returned to their home campuses for a well-deserved rest before the start of the Fall semester – it was a great summer!

An afternoon paddling the Hudson, courtesy of the volunteer team at Downtown Boathouse – many thanks!

We experienced the impact of Canadian wildfires during the first week of the BUEE program.  Our excursion to Q Garden’s rooftop beehives was cut short due to smoke from these wildfires, which significantly impacted NYC’s air quality and blotted out the sun.  New York briefly had the worst air quality on the planet, striking evidence of the connectivity of the global ecosystem.

Our fourth year of BUEE wrapped up on August 10, with a much-anticipated in-person event held in Brooklyn’s SUBO building.  Eleven students and their six faculty mentors joined a combined event that included SRIJB’s Gateway Fellows, six graduate students supported by the National Park Service.  More than sixty participants took part, including collaborators and colleagues from the National Parks Service, Jamaica Bay Rockaway Parks Conservancy, and NY Seagrant, and students from CUNYs College Now program.  A fitting conclusion to a summer of research in the city!

Thanks to Martin Sweeney and the crew at Downtown Boathouse for hosting BUEE for a late afternoon paddle on the Hudson!

Back to Plumb Beach to observe the height of the horseshoe crab nesting season in NYC!

The new crew of BUEEers exploring beekeeping with Frank Schellace (BC Urban Sustainability Grad)!  Fun in the sun…

The application portal for the Summer 2022 BUEE program has recently gone live at https://buee.blog.brooklyn.edu/apply-here/.  Eligible students are encouraged to review potential projects, contact possible mentors, and assemble their application packages before the April 1 deadline.  Please note, letters of reference must also be received before the deadline for applications to be considered for admission.

The third year of BUEE wrapped up on August 11, when students presented their final projects, and celebrated a summer of research.  Our six on-site students were joined by Lily Fillwalk, our first remote participant, who presented her work exploring the microbial diversity of green roof infrastructure in NYC.  Awards for the best research poster and the ‘People’s Choice Award’ were won by Caroline Troy and Lauryn Tham, both from the Gosnell/Zarnoch group – congrats to all!

We’ve just received word that BUEE will take place in Summer 2021 – many thanks for CUNY administration for making this possible.  This year, we’ll welcome students from California, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Puerto Rico, all of whom received deferred admission to the 2020 program.  While the program will be tweaked given ongoing concerns about COVID-19, this year’s students will again be conducting research on the ecology and environment of urban NYC – new discoveries await!

We’ve recently received the excellent news that the Brooklyn Urban Ecology and Environment program has been renewed for an additional three years (2022-2024) by the National Science Foundation – excellent news!  Stay tuned for new developments with the program, which will continue to make community outreach and engagement a major focus.

BUEE students presented the results of a summer of research in urban ecology and environmental science in and around New York City in a public event held at Brooklyn College on August 7.  Participants celebrated the end of a successful 2019 program with new friends from across the country – it was a blast!

Congratulations to our first cohort of BUEE students!

BUEE Science Day closed with a bang on August 8, when our 2018 summer program students presented the results of their research to faculty, students, and our community partners.  BUEE students will return to their home institutions after a truly impressive summer of research – make us proud!