The Nantucket Conservation Foundation is a non-profit land trust that owns over 9,000 acres of permanently protected land on the island of Nantucket, MA ~30 miles off the southern coast of Cape Cod. As a member-supported non-profit, the Foundation assists in the preservation of Nantucket’s character by permanently maintaining and managing natural areas and habitats while encouraging an appreciation of the Island’s natural resources. The Foundation's Science and Stewardship Department works on rare habitat restoration and management while at the same time, studying the effects of these activities on both rare and invasive plant and animal populations. Our research efforts directly inform the development of conservation management plans for our various properties. Our Department is made up of five year-round staff members and each field season, we hire 2-3 Seasonal Field Assistants who assist with a variety of field-work based research and stewardship projects. We also hire seasonal staff to monitor rare shorebird populations and act as property rangers on some of our more remote properties. To learn more about our research projects and the experiences of past Field Assistants, please check out our Science Department Blog on our website and check us out on Facebook and Instagram