2025 Long Island
Natural History
Conference
Important Update:
Due to unforeseen circumstances, we’ve had to change the venue of this year’s conference, which was previously scheduled at Brookhaven National Laboratory; we will now be hosting the conference at Stony Brook University. Due to this change of venue, the date of the conference will now be held on Friday, March 21, from 8 am to 4 pm instead of the previously scheduled dates, March 28 and March 29.
We understand that these changes may affect your plans, and we sincerely appreciate your understanding and flexibility. We hope you are still able to join us this year and look forward to seeing you at the conference! Purchase your tickets to support the conference below
Registration is open now!
**Those who have already purchased tickets will be contacted by a member of our staff.
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.
Presentations
The full presentation schedule will be available soon. In the meantime, Seatuck is excited to announce the following speaker topics (more to come!):
- NYS Mammal Survey Results
- L.I. Mammal Survey update
- River Otter Roadkill Mitigation Update
- L.I.’s Fluctuating Groundwater
- Roy Latham’s contribution to the Oysterponds Historical Society
- The Atlantic Coast Leopard Frog
Other planned talks include:
- The Northern Dusky Salamander on Long Island;
- Anticoagulant rodenticides: what they are, where they are used, and their impacts on wildlife;
…more to come!
2025 Sponsors
2025 Nonprofit Partners
Coastal Research and Education Society (CRESLI)
Eastern Long Island Audubon Society
Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Inc
Friends of Long Pond Greenbelt
Friends of Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge
Long Island Greenbelt Trail Conference
Long Island Pine Barrens Society
New York Offshore Wind Alliance
North Fork Audubon Society
North Shore Land Alliance
NY Marine Rescue Center
South Fork Natural History Museum
Peconic Estuary Partnership
Peconic Land Trust
2025 LINHC Donors
Call for Poster Presenters!
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? If so, please submit a poster abstract no later than March 14. All abstracts must be reviewed in advance, approved student presenters will have their conference registration fee waived.
LINHC Video Library
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 in the LINHC Video Library. You can find presentations by browsing either the SPEAKER INDEX or the TOPIC INDEX.
2024 LINHC PRESENTATIONS
Dark Skies for Fireflies: a Multi-year Survey of lampyrids in New York State Park
Katie Hietala-Henschell, Zoologist
New York Heritage Program
Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) Shell Damage and Health in an Urban Landscape
Anna Thonis
Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University
CONSERVATION UPDATE: The Long Island Mammal Survey
Taylor Larson, Environmental Educator
Seatuck Environmental Association
The rise of a new top dog: contrasting impacts of feral cats and red foxes on threatened shorebirds during a mange epidemic on Fire Island
Christy N. Wails
Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech
Distribution, Status, and Flora of Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Heathlands and Grasslands
Michael Whittemore, Ecologist
Central Pine Barrens Joint Planning and Policy Commission
CONSERVATION UPDATE: Restoring the American chestnut
Frank Piccininni, Regional co-director
American Chestnut Foundation
Threats to Our Maritime Beech Forest
Mina Vescera, Nursery/Landscape Specialist
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County
Applying research towards creating an annual cycle understanding of New York Black Skimmer populations
Rob Longiaru, Conservation Biologist
Town of Hempstead Department of Conservation & Waterways
CONSERVATION UPDATE: The Vernal Pool Project
John Turner, Senior Conservation Policy Advocate
Seatuck Environmental Association
Drone-based aerial surveys to quantify nearshore Atlantic menhaden and their predators
Dean L. Hernandez
School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, Stony Brook University
Generalist Dietary Dynamics Within Small Mammal Communities in the Long Island Central Pine Barrens
Imogene C. Welles
Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY
CONSERVATION UPDATE: Conservation projects in the Peconic Estuary
Joyce Novak, Executive Director
Peconic Estuary Partnership
That was then, this is now… Standing on the shoulders of some of Long Island’s greatest naturalists.
Robert McGrath
Stony Brook University
From the Wrack Line to the Twilight Zone: A Tour of New York’s Less-famous Marine Creatures
Joe Warren, Associate Professor
School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University
CONSERVATION UPDATE: South Shore Bays Unified Water Study
Robyn Silvestri, Executive Director
Save the Great South Bay
Tracking Post-Release Movement Patterns of New York’s Rehabilitated Sea Turtles Provides Insight into their Utilization of New York Waters
Maxine Montello, Executive Director
New York Marine Rescue Center, Riverhead, NY
The ruffed grouse on Long Island
John Turner, Senior Conservation Policy Advocate
Seatuck Environmental Association