2024 Long Island
Natural History Conference

The 2024 Long Island Natural History Conference will be held on April 12 and 13 at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, NY.

The program on both days will run from 9 am to 4 pm. Information about the presentations, food and other details will be provided here in the coming weeks. 

Public registration for the conference opens on March 1.

In the meantime, all presentations from the 2023 event are posted below and are included in the full collection of conference presentations in our video library. 

About the Conference

The Long Island Natural History Conference is the largest regional forum for the exchange of information about Long Island’s natural history. The annual event brings together Long Island’s leading naturalists to exchange current information, identifies research and management needs, and encourages collaborations and a greater region-wide interest in Long Island’s natural history.

The Conference was established by the Long Island Nature Organization (LINO) in 2012 to support education and research about the natural history of Long Island. The conference resulted from the vision and dedication of Mike Bottini, Tim Green, John Turner and the late James Monaco.

The conference was founded with the following goals:

  • Introduce people doing field research, natural resource management, and conservation projects on Long Island
  • Exchange current information on the natural history of Long Island
  • Identify research and management needs
  • Foster friendships and collegial relationships
  • Encourage a greater region-wide interest in Long Island’s natural history.

Seatuck assumed management of the Long Island Natural History Conference following its merger with LINO in 2020.

Featured Presentations

Including, but not limited to:

Anna Thonis – PhD Candidate, Department of Ecology & Evolution, Stony Brook University: Eastern box turtle shell damage and health in an urban landscape

Katie Hietala-Henschell – Zoologist, New York Natural Heritage Program: The New York Firefly Project

Maxine Montello – Rescue Program Director, New York Marine Rescue Center, Riverhead, NY: Tracking Post-Release Movement Patterns of New York’s Rehabilitated Sea Turtles

Mina Vescera – Extension Educator: Nursery/Landscape Specialist, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County: Beech Leaf Disease and the role of American Beech in our forest ecosystem

Call for Poster Submissions!

Are you conducting local research on Wildlife, Botany, Fungi, Geology, Paleontology, Hydrology, Climate, Ecology, Conservation, Invasive species, Pollution, Green space, or related topics in Kings, Queens, Nassau, or Suffolk counties?

We are pleased to invite researchers who work on any aspect of Long Island (Kings, Queens, Nassau, & Suffolk counties) Natural History to present posters on their research.

Poster abstracts need to be submitted no later than March 31. All abstracts must be reviewed in advance. Approved student presenters will have their conference registration fee waived.

Thank you to our Nonprofit Partners Nonprofit partnership includes 4 tickets & opportunity to table at the conference

CERCOM: Center for Environmental Research and Coastal Ocean Monitoring, at Molloy University

CRESLI: Coastal Research and Education Society of Long Island

Eastern Long Island Audubon Society

FOREST: Foundation for Research and Stewardship in the Long Island Pine Barrens Maritime Reserve

Four Harbors Audubon Society

Friends of the Long Pond Greenbelt

Friends of Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge

Long Island Pine Barrens Society

New York State Marine Education Association

North Fork Audubon Society

NY Marine Rescue Center

Peconic Baykeeper

Peconic Land Trust

Save The Great South Bay, Inc.

Sisters of St. Joseph

South Fork Natural History Museum

South Fork Sea Farmers

Southampton Trails Preservation Society

Surfrider Foundation Eastern Long Island Chapter

The Nature Conservancy

The Sierra Club Foundation

2024 Sponsors

2023 LINHC PRESENTATIONS

Long Island Terrestrial Mammal Survey: How to get involved  
Arielle Santos, Conservation Scientist 
Seatuck Environmental Association 
Assessing salt marsh health on Long Island
Nicole Maher, Ph.D, Senior Coastal Scientist
The Nature Conservancy
The flora and fauna of Fischers Island
Terrence McNamara
H.L. Furgerson Museum, Fishers Island
Disappearing southern New England river herring, data gaps, and the need to revisit incidental bycatch in northwestern Atlantic commercial fisheries
Kevin Job, Fisheries Biologist
CT Department of Energy & Environmental Protection
Peconic bay scallops (Argopecten irradians irradians): current status and potential solutions to restore an iconic and commercially important Long Island shellfish species
Harrison Tobi
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County
Diet and behavior of a pair of Eastern Coyote (Canis latrans) in Nassau County
Stephane Perreault, Naturalist
Greentree Foundation
CONSERVATION UPDATE: Spotted Turtles, Otters & Coyotes
Mike Bottini, Wildlife Biologist
Seatuck Environmental Association
CONSERVATION UPDATE: Plum Island
Louise Harrison, Long Island Natural Areas Manager
Save the Sound
CONSERVATION UPDATE: Central Pine Barrens
Polly Weigand, Science & Stewardship Program Manager
Central Pine Barrens Commission
CONSERVATION UPDATE: River Herring & Eels
Enrico Nardone, Executive Director
Seatuck Environmental Association
CONSERVATION UPDATE: Whale Strandings
Alison DePerte
Atlantic Marine Conservation Society
CONSERVATION UPDATE: Wildlife Collaborative for Offshore Wind
Carl Lobue
The Nature Conservancy
CONSERVATION UPDATE: Vernal Pools, Diamondback Terrapins & Water Reuse
John Turner, Senior Conservation Policy Advocate
Seatuck Environmental Association

The majority of presentations from past Long Island Natural History Conferences have been recorded and uploaded to YouTube.  A full listing of these recordings (more than 90 in all!) can be found here. You can find presentations by browsing either the SPEAKER INDEX or the TOPIC INDEX below.

Characterization of Northern Long-eared Bat hibernation behavior in coastal populations infected with White-Nose Syndrome
Casey Pendergast, Threatened & Endangered Species Biologist 
NYS Department of Environmental Conservation