The following is from the Woods Hole Research Center (thanks to the Grow Green Wellesley campaign for letting us know about it).

Dear Current Wellesley Resident,

We are researchers from the Woods Hole Research Center who are interested in understanding how people manage their yards and lawns in the Boston metropolitan area. This research is part of a larger project that involves universities and cities across the United States. Specifically, we are exploring how homeowner yard management affects the wildlife and plants living in the yard.

We would like to include your yard in our study. Our sampling would entail surveying the vegetation, soils, bugs, and birds in your yard, for which we would need access to your front and back yard. Here is more information about our project and the type of sampling we will do. Be assured that the study information will be kept confidential, and no information will be released that can be linked to you.

Thank you very much for your time, and we hope you are interested in participating in this research. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call or email our project manager, Margot McKlveen at 508-444-1543, or mmcklveen@whrc.org.

Sincerely,

Christopher Neill, Senior Scientist
Woods Hole Research Center
cneill@whrc.org