Mount Auburn Partnership
"Mount Auburn is currently partnering with Lesley University thanks to a collaborative two-year grant from the A.J. & M.D. Ruggiero Memorial Trust, to assess the current state of the Cemetery as a wildlife habitat, implement new improvements, and create new opportunities for engaging people on the subject. Already, Lesley researchers have set up studies on site to collect and analyze data on pollinators, ants, bats, birds, air, and water, building upon work that Mount Auburn staff and other consultants have already started here in recent years. A team of educators, in turn, are creating and examining new programs and lessons for student groups based on both these new studies and previously implemented projects from the Cemetery’s Wildlife Action Plan" (Moir, 2017, par. 1)
WonderLab Summer Camp participants engaging in Professor Mertl's Citizen Science Ant Survey.
Lesley Article on Citizen Science
Check out how families, educators, and classrooms all take part in citizen science at the cemetery!
Lesley Professor, Christopher Richardson demonstrates his techniques for catching and studying bats in the cemetery.
A conversation with wonderlab director susan rauchwerk
Mount Auburn Cemetery, Lesley Professor, and WonderLab Director Susan Rauchwerk discusses the details of the partnership.
Lesley Faculty, WonderLab Director, and Mount Auburn Educator in Residence Susan Rauchwerk with cicada exoskeletons collected at the cemetery!
A conversation with Mount Auburn Educator in Residence
Learn more about the details of the partnership and how it supports the cemetery's Wildlife Action Plan.
WonderLab Students visit the cemetery throughout the semester for field trips both with and without graduate student classes. Activities have included, pond studies, tree and plant identification, orienteering, and more. The WonderLab Community is also invited to attend partnership sponsored events such as Family Research Night. During Family Research Nights, Lesley Professors and Mount Auburn Researchers demonstrate and discuss their research with participants.