- Thanks to James Monaco for posting!
LONG ISLAND NATURAL HISTORY CONFERENCE Nov. 16 & 17
The first Long Island Natural History Conference will take place Friday, November 16, and Saturday, November 17. The Friday session in Berkner auditorium at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, NY will comprise a dozen presentations by leading Long Island wildlife biologists and naturalists and a keynote presentation by Peter Alden, author of the Audubon Society's regional field guide series.
The conference promises to be the largest regional forum for researchers, natural resource managers, students, and naturalists to present and exchange current information on the varied aspects of applied field biology (freshwater, marine, and terrestrial) and natural history of Long Island. It will serve as a premier venue to identify research and management needs, foster friendships and collegial relationships, and encourage a greater region-wide interest in Long Island’s natural history by bringing together people with diverse backgrounds.
The conference is a project of the newly formed Long Island Nature Organization, committed to promoting nature studies on Long Island by sponsoring specific projects, providing opportunities like the Conference to increase communication, and building a web-based clearing house for Long Island Natural History information.
According to one of the organizers, Mike Bottini,
"Long Island is the largest island in the continental U.S. and a unique biogeographical region located at the northern limits of many southern species of flora and fauna and at the southern limits of many northern species. These features contribute to rich species diversity: some of the island’s preserved areas contain the highest number of rare species per area in New York State.
"Being an island, having the New York City metropolitan area located on its western end closest to the mainland, and the island's development patterns all pose many challenges for managing and conserving the island's rich natural resources. My interest in organizing this conference is to enlist the support of the many knowledgeable naturalists that reside here in one or more of our many conservation and monitoring research projects."
The Steering Committee for the conference includes Mike Bottini, John Turner, Melissa Griffiths, Don Riepe, Tim Green, and Jody DeMeyere.
Sponsors include: Adirondack Mountain Club Long Island Chapter, American Littoral Society, Brookhaven National Laboratory, East Hampton Trails Preservation Society, Foundation for Ecological Research in the Northeast, Friends of the Bay, Friends of Wertheim, Group for the East End, Harbor Electronic Publishing, The Nature Conservancy, North Fork Audubon, Peconic Bay Keeper, South Fork Natural History Museum.
2012 Long Island Natural History Conference Schedule[NOTE: sessions 1-6 each have two concurrent presentations.]
8:30 – 9:00 am Registration and Refreshment
9:15 - 10:00 am Session 1 A Long Island’s River OttersMike BottiniB Natural History of Brookhaven National Laboratory Tim Green
10:00 - 10:45 am Session 2 A Thirty Years of Marine Mammals and Sea Turtles Around Long IslandRob DiGiovanniB Biodiversity and Ecological Potential of Plum Island, NY Matt Schlesinger
10:45 - 11:30 am Session 3 A Strange Times for Jamaica Bay TerrapinsRussell BurkeB Horseshoe Crab Monitoring in New York State's Marine District and Interactions with Migratory Shorebirds in Moriches BayMatt Sclafani
11:30 - 12:15 am Keynote AddressChanges to Our Flora and FaunaPeter Alden
12:15 - 1:30 pm Lunch
1:30 - 2:15 pm Session 4 A Jamaica Bay: An Urban National ParkDon RiepeB Bird Migration on Long IslandShai Mitra
2:15 - 3:00 pm Session 5 A Lifestyles of East Coast ButterfliesRich CechB Atlantic White Cedar: Its Historical and Current Status on Long IslandJohn Turner
3:00 - 3:30 pm Break
3:30 - 4:15 pm Session 6 A The Long Island Alewife: Biology, Ecology and RestorationByron YoungB A Frog’s Tale: The Story of a Long Island Extinction and Its Unexpected Role in the Discovery of a New Species of Leopard Frog (Anura ranidae) in the Urban Northeast Jeremy Feinberg
4:15 – 5:00 pm Open Discussion and Closing Remarks
5:00 pm Wine & Cheese Reception
Saturday Field Trips
Mike Bottini: Surveying for River Otters.
We will visit several otter sites on the north shore of Nassau County to learn how to find and identify “signs” of these reclusive creatures. 9 am – 11 am. Contact Mike at 631 267 5228 ormike@peconic.org for meeting place and directions.
John Turner: Atlantic White Cedars.
Meet in the dirt parking lot of the Suffolk County Cranberry Bog Nature Preserve at 9 am to view up close the Atlantic White Cedar Stands growing in this beautiful park in the Pine Barrens. We will then move on to Sears-Bellows County Park to take a look at the unique population of "dwarf" white cedars found growing in some of the coastal plain ponds. Contact John at 516 695 1490 or redknot2@verizon.net.
Don Riepe: Winter Waterfowl Workshop.
Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. Meet 10 am at the visitor center and learn about waterfowl behavior & biology. See many species of ducks and geese, including snow geese. Contact Don at718 318 9344 or donriepe@gmail.com.
More information about the speakers and their presentations is available at LongIslandNature.org
Contacts: James Monaco Mike Bottini 631 725 9513 631 267 5228 Jim@Peconic.org Mike@Peconic.org
