Ongoing Projects

Many projects have been developed since the inception of the BNL/UERR herpetology program in 2002 and many others are continuing to be developed at present. We typically conduct a number of concurrent studies while also remaining committed to our primary foci: applied conservation, ecological research, wildlife and natural resource management, and restoration. Staff and intern projects include upland and wetland herpetological inventories, translocating and supplementing rare spotted turtle populations through a head-start breeding program, radio-telemetry studies on hognose snakes and spotted turtles, and vernal pool drift-fence studies. In addition to these focal projects, we have also assisted the National Institute of Health (NIH) in a study on spadefoot toads, are collaborating with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the State University of New York at Binghampton to study state-endangered tiger salamanders, have assisted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and DEC with surveys for state-endangered eastern mud-turtles, and have contributed observational notes to Herpetological Review. We also have projects pending with Suffolk County Department of Health and the University of Massachsetts at Amherst. Data from our research has been presented at the Long Island Pine Barrens Forum, Murray State University in Kentucky, the American Museum of Natural History, the Northeast Natural History Conference, and featured in numerous popular newspaper articles, television, and radio broadcasts. Our projects have also fostered some important partnership with organizations such as the Wildlife Conservation Society (Bronx Zoo) and the Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery and Aquarium. 

Examples of our vernal pool drift fences

It is our hope that the BNL/UERR herpetological and ecological research programs will continue to prosper, develop, and expand.  We encourage researchers from everywhere to consider our site for their research.  This is an excellent opportunity to conduct researcher at one of the country's premier research facilities, in a highly diverse and protected natural area, on the largest and "longest" island in the continental United States. There are countless opportunities to initiate new projects, and we are always looking for interested students to continue and/or expand our existing projects. 

See left menu bar for detailed descriptions of projects.

 

For questions or comments please contact: Jeremy Feinberg or Tim Green.