Thanks to all who’ve been contacting the Survey to remember Doug Greene, who passed away suddenly on Sunday on his way home from BioBlitz. There will be a service for Doug in his home town of Reading, Mass., on Friday, June 18–visiting hours from 6-8 pm, memorial service at 8 pm. This link has more information:
LINK

The teams are just back in from BioBlitz 2010 and I’m sure people are working hard to unload gear, hang out sleeping bags and tents out to dry, and catch up on sleep. Thank you all for your tremendous efforts that made the event such a success. Thanks to the Block Island community for their help and hospitality. The preliminary count is 916 species, which is great by any standard and for an island and rainy weather, it is terrific. We have a lot of work to do to cross check the numerous data sheets, especially for the marine organisms, and we look forward to receiving the many specialist reports, so I am confident that the final number will be higher, perhaps approaching the magic 1,000 barrier.

A special shout-out to the art team. It was great to have you with us this year, you added a lot and helped put the biodiversity and the event into a whole new light. Should we be looking forward to a gallery show in the fall? Can’t wait.

Platanthera flava

Notable finds: American burying beetle, pale green orchid, wood duck, spiny skate, jonah crab, citrine forktail. We will post more details on the finds as they come in.

One special and sad note: Doug Greene, who had just done lichens for the BioBlitz, collapsed on his way to the ferry and, despite the best efforts of emergency medical personnel, died on the island. Doug helped in 7 RI BioBlitzes, incl. the 1st one, in 2000, and contributed to many other science efforts. We will be sure to get word out about a service or other memorialization when we know more.

New research reported from the 110th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in San Diego shows a positive correlation between learning and exposure to a common soil bacterium, Mycobacterium vaccae.

Here’s the link: SMARTER

So don’t be a dumby, get out there and play in the dirt. And perhaps more to the point, bring the kids. They’ll pick up on your enthusiasm for nature and outdoors and they could just end up smarter!