Environmental Assessment & Restoration

“Those who are ignorant of the past are condemned to repeat it” – Santyana

Those who are ignorant of the function and values of our natural resources are condemned to lose them, or in the words of Joni Mitchell, “…You don’t know what you’ve got till it's gone..”. 

To that end the Lloyd Center’s Research Program, since its inception, has been focusing on both environmental assessment and documentation of the distribution and ecology of our neighbors with whom we share this beautiful area called southern New England. Our research is applied, rather than basic, providing information to state agencies, land planners and conservators, and even developers so that our natural heritage is not lost.  Part of this work involves collaboration with other agencies to assess impacted systems and make recommendations for remediation or management.

Turn the Tide - an assessment of the apparent water quality degradation in Dartmouth’s estuaries

SEANET – Seabird Ecological Assessment Network

Vernal Pool Certification in the Towns of Dartmouth and Rochester.

The Lloyd Center was contracted to ground-truth potential vernal pools (PVPs) identified from aerial photography. In Dartmouth, 11 of the mapped PVPs met the criteria for vernal pool certification as were an additional 24 pools that had not been mapped. In Rochester, 15 of the mapped pools met the criteria for certification, and an additional 18 unmapped pools were discovered that also met the criteria for certification.  Presence of wood frogs, spotted salamanders, marbled salamanders and/or fairy shrimp were the predominant indicators for vernal pools in both Dartmouth and Rochester.