John Armstrong

(John) Tyler Armstrong is a Hampshire alum who lives in his hometown of East Hampton, New York. He is an active environmentalist, politician, and poet, working to raise awareness about Long Island's delicate beauty, and protecting the ecosystems of "the Hamptons" from the spread of rampant consumerism.

At Hampshire he was an avid naturalist, musician and poet, and had many interests including cooking, botany, mycology, particle physics, chemistry, entomology, and photography. This led to multiple changes in his course of study, including two separate semesters off and eventual withdrawal and readmission to Hampshire after considering other colleges. After studying forest ecology and environmental chemistry he planned to use laser oblation ICPMS to do elemental analysis on tree rings of dying hemlocks for a division 3 project.

Ultimately, his interest in insects and plant chemistry, and the ecology between them, led him to work with Brian Schultz on the use of Basil (Ocimum sp.) extractives as repellents for a common bean beetle (Callosobruchus maculatus). Repellent effects varied depending of concentrations of three chemical constituents of Basil: Methyl Chavicol, Eugenol, and Linalool. Methyl Chavicol had the greatest effect, but was undesirably lethal to beetles at high concentrations.

Tyler worked at the South Fork Natural History Museum in Bridgehampton as a Nature Educator for 3 years after college. He designed and led educational programming for adults and children, cared for native animals housed at the museum, and managed social media pages for the organization.

Tyler is currently the drummer of Long Island rock band Earthreal.

Tyler is currently running for East Hampton Town Trustee to assist with water quality protection efforts and keep our beaches pristine and open to the responsible public. His main goals include the elimination of synthetic pesticides from Long Island, conservation of plant communities that act as critical aquifer recharge areas, inspiring youth to be active in local politics, political embrace of far-reaching solutions to climate change effects and sea level rise, and restoration of fisheries to pre-chemical-revolution numbers.