Landscapes are Learning Labs

The Hudson River Park Trust takes students out on Shoreline Ecology field trips at Pier 26.

Written by

Brad Howe

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Pier 26 Shoreline Ecology

Local students learn about tide pool habitats at the Tide Deck while on a field trip to Pier 26.

Pier 26, one of Hudson River Park’s many “living laboratories,” is an ecological pier and learning landscape that highlights the native plant ecology that existed before this part of the Hudson River was urbanized. It features innovative elements like the Tide Deck—a constructed marsh and rocky tide pool at the pier’s end. Today, the Hudson River Park Trust’s environmental education team guides local students on shoreline ecology field trips, introducing them to the native plants and animals that inhabit the river’s edge.

PROJECT: Park, Pier

CLIENT: Hudson River Park Trust

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT: Olin

EDUCATOR: Hudson River Park Trust Environment and Education, River Project

An environmental educator from the Hudson River Park Trust leads a class demonstration of the salt wedge.
Student breakout group does a scavenger hunt in the coastal grassland.
The playground features
two large-scale play structures modeled after
endangered sturgeon species—the shortnose
sturgeon and the Atlantic sturgeon.

Download the Pier 26 Shoreline Ecology Case Study

Pier 26 Shoreline Ecology Case Study_Landscapes are Learning Labs_LAF 2025Download

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