Cambridge Moth Ball 2024

On July 24, Bio4Climate and other host organizations participated in the Cambridge Moth Ball at Kingsley Park, Fresh Pond Reservation, for National Moth Week. Around 200 attendees of all ages engaged in community science, moth collecting, data collection, photography, and children’s activities.

Two young visitors proudly wearing “Moths of the World” T-shirts!

Bio4Climate partnered with Julie Croston from Cambridge Wildlife Arts to run the art table.

Children gathered to make caterpillars out of playdough, and took home kits to craft felt caterpillars at home, which turned out to be a big success. Over fifty kits were distributed within the community, each including detailed instructions on how to assemble the moth caterpillar. There were kits for adults as well.

Julie Croston from Cambridge Wildlife Arts describes the kit’s contents to intrigued young visitors.
A deconstructed felt moth caterpillar!

Our staff Alexandra Ionescu and Julie also produced graphics illustrating the relationship between moth caterpillars and their host plants, which were included in the kits.

Our Miyawaki Forests, with their diverse native trees and shrubs, play a vital role in supporting moth populations and the broader web of life.

Did you know that some caterpillars are highly specialized and depend on just one type of plant? Native plants are essential for these caterpillars and, consequently, for birds, as they are the primary food source for their young. For instance, raising an Eastern Bluebird nestling requires several hundred caterpillars. Asking questions like “How many caterpillars does it take to raise a young nestling?” helps us better understand the interconnected needs of different species and the complexities of food webs.

And did you know that new research from the University of Sussex has found that moths are more efficient pollinators than daytime insects such as honeybees, bumblebees, and butterflies? Although the reason behind this is not yet fully understood, moths are frequently overlooked.

In urban settings, moth populations face several threats, including light pollution, which disrupts their natural behaviors and mating patterns, and pesticide use, which can directly harm moths or reduce their food sources. Additionally, habitat loss from urban development reduces the availability of natural environments where moths can thrive. Pollution, both air and water, further degrades their habitat, while invasive species can outcompete or prey on native moths. Fragmented landscapes in cities create isolated pockets of habitat, making it challenging for moths to migrate, find mates, or access food.

To improve your moth knowledge and identification skills in Massachusetts, check out the following resources:

Suggested Books & Field Guides:

We appreciate the expertise of the other host organizations who joined the 2024 Cambridge Moth Ball:

We hope you’ll explore the incredible work these organizations share on their websites!

Not local to Cambridge? Check the National Moth Week website’s “Event Map” for local events and be sure to mark your calendar for Moth Week 2025, taking place from July 19-27.

Photo Credit: Alexandra Ionescu


From Parking Lot & Lawn to Miyawaki Forests: Transforming Worcester, MA

A transformation is underway in Worcester, MA.

In this mid-sized city in Central Massachusetts long known for its industrial activity, city leadership has undertaken ambitious initiatives to address some of their climate resilience goals using the Miyawaki method. Together, Bio4Climate, BSC Group, and the City of Worcester planned and created two Miyawaki Forests in the heart of downtown Worcester this Spring, bringing together hundreds of community volunteers over multiple planting events to cool, green, and beautify the urban landscape and create a space for nature to thrive. One forest has been planted at the Worcester Public Library at the McGrath Parking Lot, while the other is located at Plumley Village Apartments.

From Asphalt to Forest

The first step of turning a parking lot into a forest ecosystem is removing the heavy, hot, impermeable asphalt covering the soil’s surface.

Outside the main branch of the Worcester Public Library, the McGrath Municipal Parking Lot at 3 Salem Street stands, a sea of paved parking spots hosting visitors to the library, to City Hall, and to office buildings and businesses in the surrounding area. Rarely, if ever, did the parking lot fill to capacity, and in the meantime it contributed to the trapping of heat, runoff, and excess stormwater that comes with a lack of trees and healthy soils. This made the McGrath Lot an ideal site for one of Worcester’s first two Miyawaki Forests – a highly trafficked, hot, gray, aerosol-filled public space just waiting for the chance to become something more – something functional, beautiful, and alive. At the corner of the parking lot abutting McGrath Blvd, one of the city’s major thoroughfares, we depaved the area, made way for nature, and with the help of many volunteers, began a new path for this pocket of the city.

The preparation for this first forest site started, of course, with asphalt removal to uncover the soil we were going to remediate and plant in. Within only two days, the asphalt was replaced with a mixture of nutrient-rich compost and leaf mulch incorporated with existing soil. 

Over the course of multiple planting events and the annual Green Worcester Summit, the community came together to plant trees and shrubs into this site. Worcester residents of all ages, from students to parents and grandparents, got their hands into the soil and eagerly helped install this young forest ecosystem.

Many of Bio4Climate’s team members came together to get their hands into this project, including Maya Dutta and Alexandra Ionescu from the Miyawaki Program, as well as our Restoration Ecologist Jim Laurie and Executive Director Beck Mordini.

Bio4Climate’s Director of Regenerative Projects Maya Dutta and one of our incredible volunteers planting one of the last saplings at the McGrath Forest
Restoration biologist & co-founder of Bio4Climate, Jim Laurie, filling buckets of leaf mulch with another volunteer.
Bio4Climate Executive Director Beck Mordini, who came up from VA for Green Worcester’s Resilience Summit, planting with her family
BSC Group’s Lead Landscape Architect on the project, Casey-Lee Bastien, bringing locally foraged materials to the newly planted site
Over the course of two separate days, the community united to plant more than 2000 trees and shrubs, including both bare root and potted plants.

Some of the biodiversity-boosting superstars we planted in this forest include Northern Red Oaks, Black Cherries, and Shagbark Hickories. On planting days, volunteers got to learn what types of insects, birds, fungi and soil invertebrates build relationships with the vegetation in the forest and play their own key roles in the ecosystem.

From Lawn to Forest

Worcester’s second Miyawaki Forest is at Plumley Village, an apartment complex that is home to about 430 families of diverse backgrounds and primarily low income levels. The complex spans a few square blocks and includes fifteen three-story apartment buildings and one 16-story high rise, connected by walkways, green spaces, and communal playgrounds and basketball courts for the many children who live there to enjoy. Next to the playground area off of Prospect Street, an area of about 10,000 square feet of lawn was designated to convert to a buzzing, biodiverse forest ecosystem.

One of the highlights of the Plumley Village plantings was working with the young residents there. Kids of all ages got into the freshly supercharged soil to plant saplings with us. Many of the older boys quickly took to the process, enthusiastically pitching in and competing for who got to plant the most trees in the day. While every person contributing was a valuable part of the process, these volunteers really energized and inspired the rest of us!

Young Residents of Plumley Village brought the energy and enthusiasm for the day.
Helpers of all ages, including Plumley Village residents, elementary school students, and a few folks from outside Worcester (shoutout to travelers from CT and MD!) contributed to the forest

As with all big projects, you hit some unexpected roadblocks – in this case, a rainstorm on our second Plumley Village planting day that took us by surprise. Though the volume, intensity, and timeline of the rain stretched beyond the forecasts we expected, many volunteers still came through and persevered with great spirits. Louise Mitchell, Bio4Climate’s Outreach Specialist, made the 8 hour drive up from Baltimore to join the planting as a surprise to our team, and she was undeterred in her warmth and support despite the weather.

We are so grateful for all of the dedicated and joyful volunteers, partners, and supporters we worked with to bring these projects to life. Find out more about our Miyawaki Forest Program, and stay tuned for more photos, videos, film announcements, and project updates. And if you have reflections from your experience planting with us, please share them in the comments! Thank you for being part of our growing ecosystem.


All photos by Alexandra Ionescu (except for vertical photos by Louise Mitchell).