It was another beautiful fall day on the rooftop of Broadway Stages’ studio at 520 Kingsland Avenue in Greenpoint, a.k.a. Kingsland Wildflowers at Broadway Stages (KWBS). Alana Ruane, a senior at the City-As-School, is finishing up her internship with the Newtown Creek Alliance (NCA), a community based organization dedicated to restoring, revealing and revitalizing Newtown Creek. NCA also serves as the lead steward for the educational programming at Kingsland Wildflowers, and work in cooperation with other KWBS partners including NOoSPHERE Arts, Alive Structures and NYC Audubon.   

Alana’s internship focused on the creation of a herbarium from plants growing at KWBS.  The herbarium, a collection of dried plant specimens, mounted and systematically arranged, will serve as a historical reference and preserve and document the diversity of plants in the garden rooftop at a specific time and place.  While simple in form and low-tech in preparation, a herbarium preserves a wealth of valuable information including the variation in form, geographical range of species, and information about plant habitats.  “We will be able to track the history of these plant species in this particular setting and see what happens to them and the environment as a whole. It’s wonderful to be a part of that,” said Alana.  Basically, a herbarium documents the diversity of plant life present and helps determine how robust the habitat is and how it can influence what other native plant species we may want to introduce that will have a positive effect on the ecosystem as a whole.”  

“It’s been such a pleasure to work with Alana. I am inspired by her desire to learn and her commitment to and understanding of this project resulted in data that will help us better understand our habitat for years to come,” said Lisa Bloodgood, Director of Advocacy and Education at NCA. Since 2017 NCA, in cooperation with Hudsonia Ltd., the New York Botanical Garden, and other researchers, has documented thousands of plant species growing around the industrialized Newtown Creek. The rooftop herbarium created by Alana will also inform how the organization will preserve the hundreds of specimens collected over the last few years.

Prior to her internship at NCA, Alana was not aware that in the midst of the industrial section of Greenpoint and a stone’s throw from the alien-like waste-water treatment plant spheres, was an oasis of green atop a sound stage.  She was thrilled to see how a rooftop can be transformed to incorporate green space that provides much needed ecosystem services for both plant and wildlife, and appreciative of Broadway Stages for their foresight and commitment to environmental sustainability. 

With a ton of smarts, a keen interest in horticulture and environmental science, we look forward to seeing the impact of Alana’s resolve, no matter what field she pursues.   Broadway Stages is thankful to NCA and Alana for being a part of our environmental project, for helping us to advance our commitment to sustainability, and her role as the next generation of environmental protectors. Take a look at the herbarium samples provided below.