Connecticut Audbon Society

Science and Conservation Project Overview

Recent Projects:

Connecticut Audubon Society’s Science and Conservation office carries out a variety of projects throughout the state. Science-based conservation and habitat management programs are implemented on our own sanctuaries but we also provide expertise to private, corporate, municipal, state and federal clients.  The following is a representative sample of recent Science and Conservation office assignments: 

  • 2010-present   Design and manage wildlife studies, invasive plant surveys and habitat management plan for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flood control project site Colebrook River Lake in Riverton (CT) and Sandisfield (MA). 
  • 2010-present   Carried out a tidal marsh restoration feasibility study for DuPont Corporation’s coastal property on Stratford Point. Connecticut Audubon Society Science and Conservation staff is currently working with the client to implement shoreline stabilization and coastal habitat restoration projects on-site.     
  • 2010   Completed a migratory bird survey for the Stratford-Great Meadows Important Bird Area (IBA), in cooperation with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Funding for this project was made available through the National Audubon Society and the Jeniam Foundation.  
  • 2009   Created Conservation Master Plan for Stratford Great Meadows subunit of the Stewart B. McKinney NWR, an Important Bird Area (IBA), in partnership with Baystate Environmental Corporation and USFWS; commissioned by National Audubon Society. An adaptive, GIS-based “living document” designed to be continually updated with new findings to allow for a cost-effective and flexible long-term management strategy. 
  • 2009   Completed a breeding bird survey in the Stratford-Great Meadows Important Bird Area (IBA), in cooperation with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Funding for this project was made available through the National Audubon Society and the Jeniam Foundation.  

    Conservation Technician Scott Kruitbosch watches a Seaside Sparrow during a field census for the Stratford Great Meadows Breeding Bird Survey, carried out by the Connecticut Audubon Society Science and Conservation office in 2009.

  • 2008-present   Conduct ongoing avian studies and provide habitat management guidelines for DuPont Corporation-owned 28-acre coastal grassland parcel and associated shoreline on Stratford Point, Stratford. Advise client as to optimal alignment of remediation and conservation efforts.  
  • 2008-2009   Developed an online database tool to support adaptive, data-driven conservation and management efforts in the Housatonic River estuary, in cooperation with the Biology Department of Sacred Heart University. This project was funded through a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.   
  • 2008-2009   Conducted wildlife studies, invasive plant surveys and provided adaptive habitat management recommendations for the management plans of five U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flood control project sites in the Naugatuck River basin (Hop Brook Lake, Hancock Brook Lake, Thomaston Dam, Northfield Lake Dam and Black Rock Lake Dam). These multi-use sites require the alignment of a wide variety of habitat types, conservation concerns and site uses with the primary flood control function of each. 
  • 2007-present   Partner in Stratford BioBlitz, Connecticut Audubon Society Science and Conservation Staff leads the Herpetology and Ornithology programs of this town-wide biodiversity assessment and has been involved in prior biological surveys of Roosevelt Forest through Yale University’s Peabody Museum of Natural History.  
  • 2007-present   Connecticut Audubon Society named co-chair of DEP Connecticut Grassland Commission, playing a pivotal role statewide in research, management and conservation of early successional habitat types and the species associated with this threatened habitat type. 
  • 2006-present   Develop and implement NRCS-funded Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) restoration projects in the towns of Brookfield, New Milford, Pomfret, Goshen, Fairfield and Westport, in cooperation with the Natural Resource Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 
  • 2003-present   Conduct on-site habitat and species surveys to assess potential impact on conservation priority species included in Connecticut’s Endangered and Threatened Species Act, requested by the CT Department of Environmental Protection. 

Advisory role:

Connecticut Audubon Society Science and Conservation staff is in an advisory or other supportive role for several organizations and institutions, including:

  • Aton Forest
  • Audubon Connecticut, Science Committee
  • Connecticut Amphibian Monitoring Program
  • Connecticut Migratory Bird and Conservation Stamp Committee
  • Connecticut Ornithological Association
  • Department of Environmental Protection, Endangered Species Advisory Committee (Avian Group)
  • Department of Environmental Protection, Fisheries Task Force
  • Department of Environmental Protection, Grasslands Habitat Conservation Initiative
  • Highstead Arboretum, Wildlands and Woodlands program
  • Long Island Sound Advisory Council
  • Northeast Colonial Waterbird Working Group
  • Partners in Flight Working Group
  • White Memorial Foundation

 Conservation Services Clients:

Connecticut Audubon Society Science and Conservation staff has provided conservation services to:

DuPont Corporation, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Quinnipiac University, Town of Haddam, Town of Farmington, ARCADIS U.S., Inc., ATC Associates Inc., Baystate Environmental Consultants, Inc., CCA Engineering, LLC, Chase Associates, C. Webb & Associates, LLC, Nathan L. Jacobson & Associates, Inc., The Ottery Group, Toll Brothers, Inc., Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc., Vespera, Wright-Pierce – Water, Wastewater & Infrastructure Engineers.

 

 

 

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