Intern Night Tonight – May 4, 2016
Please join us at RTPI on Wednesday May 4 from 6-7pm for a night of fun and learning as we enjoy presentations from two of RTPI’s fantastic interns. Alex Shipherd and Bryce Alexander, both Jamestown Community College students, have spent much of the spring semester assisting in winter raptor and hemlock woolly adelgid studies, respectively. Throughout the winter field season, Alex monitored known locations of roosting Northern Harriers and Short-eared owls within Chautauqua and Cattaraugus Counties while using GIS to find other probable locations in which they may occur. Bryce assisted in...
Read MoreIntern Night – May 4, 2016
Please join us at RTPI on Wednesday May 4 from 6-7pm for a night of fun and learning as we enjoy presentations from two of RTPI’s fantastic interns. Alex Shipherd and Bryce Alexander, both Jamestown Community College students, have spent much of the spring semester assisting in winter raptor and hemlock woolly adelgid studies, respectively. Throughout the winter field season, Alex monitored known locations of roosting Northern Harriers and Short-eared owls within Chautauqua and Cattaraugus Counties while using GIS to find other probable locations in which they may occur. Bryce assisted in...
Read MoreTropical research and conservation season coming soon!
The tropical research and conservation season is coming up soon for the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History and its staff, affiliates, students and interns. RTPI staff carries out several active research and education initiatives in Central America. We coordinate student research programs in Panama and Costa Rica, run active banding stations in those countries to study migratory birds on their wintering grounds and carry out important conservation research on some of the most endangered amphibian species in the region. You can find more information about some of our programs...
Read MoreRTPI and SUNY JCC studying Spiny Softshell Turtles
This fall we have two interns from SUNY Jamestown Community College working with us on the study and research of the Eastern Spiny Softshell Turtle (Apalone spinifera) population present in the Chadakoin River, located mere moments from our campus in Jamestown, New York. The state-listed turtle is listed as “special concern” and we are thankful to have this nearby area where we have found them successfully nesting. The Chadakoin River has a history of being surrounded by development and industry, making contamination of various sorts and water quality major concerns. However, the...
Read MoreChadakoin River in downtown Jamestown, New York
This is the Chadakoin River in downtown Jamestown, New York. On one hand it is a waterway that has been surrounded by industry and development for decades. On the other hand it is a vital environmental hotspot, hosting species like the Spiny Softshell Turtle (Apalone spinifera), state-listed as a species of “special concern”. This is a very literal example of this dichotomy. With all of that said there are many reasons to be optimistic about the Chadakoin and other natural resources in the Chautauqua-Allegheny region! Later today I will post a blog entry about RTPI’s...
Read More