Join botanists Peter Del Tredici and Brian Maynard for an urban ecology walk on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, from 10 a.m. to noon, along the Pawtuxet River and through Oxboes State Park in Cranston.

Peter Del Tredici, has written a field guide, Wild Urban Plants of the Northeast, featuring 268 common urban species – native and non-native – that colonize harsh and degraded urban landscapes and which form the basis of our New Urban Ecology. Native or not, these plants control erosion, sequester carbon, provide shade and other ecological functions, and represent a living laboratory for how nature is adapting to human impacts such as urbanization and climate change.

Peter has served as a botanist and teacher at the Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University and MIT with a focus on plant identification and urban ecology and climate change. Brian has recently retired after 33 years teaching horticulture and field botany courses at URI.

While the trails are easy walking participants should wear long pants and sturdy shoes, and exercise the usual precautions against ticks. Bring water and snacks as well!

This walk is free and open to the public.  Donations to help support our walks are appreciated.  DONATE NOW

General walk guidelines

Dogs are not permitted.

Cancellations

Should you need to cancel, contact us as soon as possible. office@riwps.org 

We walk light rain or shine.  In case of  cancellations due to poor weather conditions, we will email you. We tend to wait until the day before the walk to make this call as weather forecasts can be changeable.

Registration is required

The number of participants is limited to maximize the ability for everyone to observe the plants and participate in the conversation.  

Note: Only one person can register at a time. To register a second person, just repeat the process.

More specifics about the location is provided upon registration.