The rafters echoed with laughter as 12 high school seniors gathered in Polly Hill Arboretum’s far barn to commemorate their graduation with a simple lunch. These students are the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School’s Class of 2013, the school’s largest graduating class since its first class of seniors graduated in 2001.
In the Panama Canal the grand challenges facing the world are played out in miniature. Here freshwater management, deforestation, biodiversity and global warming have converged to pose economic challenges that the rest of the world may not face for decades. From his perch in the middle of the rainforest, Biff Birmingham, director of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), has made this convergence the focus of his research. He spoke at the Polly Hill Arboretum on Wednesday night.
The Martha’s Vineyard Museum is close to selling the West Tisbury land once envisioned as its future home to the neighbors, the Polly Hill Arboretu
The Polly Hill Arboretum recently completed its second conservation assessment through a grant administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Service’s Heritage Preservation Program. The assessment was an opportunity to update an original assessment which was completed in 2001.
The Polly Hill Arboretum has received a grant of $200,000 from the Foundation Franklinia for 2009. The grant includes $100,000 toward the arboretum’s seeds for the future capital campaign endowment and $100,000 toward operating costs in support of the living collection.
On May 31, the Polly Hill Arboretum and the Vineyard Conservation Society will welcome Paul Tukey, founder of SafeLawns.org, an international coalition promoting environmentally friendly lawn care, for a lively discussion on lawns.