About

About the Wildlife Monitoring Network

The Wildlife Monitoring Network is a brand and central website where wildlife monitoring surveys that are conducted for species found throughout Long Island are housed together. The goal of this outreach initiative is to increase community awareness, which in turn should increase collaboration, community participation, and data collection – furthering our understanding about Long Island wildlife and their habitats. 

Increased Awareness

Increased Awareness:

With this brand, environmental organizations and community members will know where to find established wildlife monitoring surveys for Long Island species.

Promote Organizations

Promote Organizations:

Easy promotion for organizations that take lead on wildlife monitoring and community science. The programs are elevated on the WMNLI website.

Increased Collaboration

Increased Collaboration:

Unified outreach, monitoring, and training workshops can be developed from this network.

Branding

Branding:

Coining the name "Wildlife Monitoring Network" creates a brand that can easily be promoted and spread across Long Island communities. Our hope is that with this name, wildlife monitoring surveys, especially those based on Long Island, see more community science involvement, more data collection, and find more success in achieving the goals set out for wildlife conservation and habitat protection and restoration.

Benefits of the WMNLI

Encourage Use of Survey123

Encourage Use of Survey123:

When the survey 123 app is downloaded, each survey will be uploaded to the app as they are used. This becomes another easy way for organizations and community members to access specific surveys they are involved in. Other platforms like iNaturalist and Google Forms are also great for wildlife monitoring surveys.

Room for New Surveys

Room for New Surveys:

Surveys developed over time can be added to the network at any time.

Ease of Access

Ease of Access:

If you need to record data for two different species while out in the field, the surveys are housed together creating ease of access to multiple surveys

Long Island-wide Surveys Serve All

Long Island-wide Surveys:

No need to reinvent the wheel. If you have an interest in a particular region or watershed on Long Island, you can narrow your focus and utilize the data collected in a Long Island-wide survey or broad survey to meet your needs.

Promote Localized Surveys

Promote Localized Surveys:

The network can help promote the great work being done by organizations that are leading localized intensive wildlife monitoring projects

The Benefits of the Wildlife Monitoring Network

  • Environmental organizations and citizens will know where to find all established wildlife monitoring surveys for Long Island.
  • With increased awareness, you can minimize overlap and the duplication of surveys.
  • If a citizen takes part in one survey (e.g. horseshoe crab), they will become aware of other surveys through the network, making it more likely that the citizen will be involved in more than one survey. This increases the amount of involvement for each survey and increases data collection.
  • Maximize the amount of data for one species going to one place. The more organizations and citizens know about a survey; the more data is funneled there.

Unified outreach, monitoring, and training workshops can be developed from this network.

If you need to record data for two different species while out in the field, the surveys are housed together creating ease of access to multiple surveys.

Easy promotion for organizations that take lead on wildlife monitoring and citizen science.

Surveys developed over time can be added to the network at any time.

No need to reinvent the wheel. If you have an interest in a particular region or watershed on Long Island, you can narrow your focus and utilize the data collected in a Long Island-wide survey to meet your needs.

The network can help promote the great work being done by organizations that are leading localized intensive wildlife monitoring projects

Coining the name Wildlife Monitoring Network creates a brand that can easily be promoted and spread across Long Island communities. Our hope is that with this name, wildlife monitoring surveys across Long Island see more citizen science involvement and find more success in achieving the goals set out for wildlife conservation and habitat protection and restoration.

Coining the name Wildlife Monitoring Network creates a brand that can easily be promoted and spread across Long Island communities. Our hope is that with this name, wildlife monitoring surveys across Long Island see more citizen science involvement and find more success in achieving the goals set out for wildlife conservation and habitat protection and restoration.

Defining the Reach of our Network

The WMNLI defines “Long Island” as the 4 counties (Kings, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties). The WMNLI is a branding effort for:
1) “Long Island” based surveys,
2) “Long Island” community members,
3) Wildlife found on “Long Island”.

Our goal is to collect “Long Island” based surveys (1) and promote them to the “Long Island” community as our audience (2) to increase participation and increase data collection for our “Long Island” based surveys (1) so we can gain a better understanding of wildlife on “Long Island” (3). 

However, to address certain wildlife found within “Long Island” (3) that do not have a designated local Long Island based survey to document it (examples: migratory bird species, monarch butterflies), national surveys/broad surveys are included on the WMNLI website to account for these wildlife found on “Long Island” (3). These surveys collect data that is useful for Long Island based initiatives.

Co-Sponsorship of the Wildlife Monitoring Network:

The Wildlife Monitoring Network was created by the Peconic Estuary Partnership and is sponsored and maintained by Seatuck Environmental Association and the Peconic Estuary Partnership.

The Peconic Estuary Partnership

The Peconic Estuary Partnership (PEP) is a National Estuary Program that brings together all members of our community – Federal, State and local governments, non-profit organizations, businesses, academia and interested members of the public – to protect and restore the Peconic Estuary and its watershed on the East End of Long Island, New York.

Seatuck Environmental Association

Seatuck Environmental Association is dedicated to conserving Long Island wildlife and the environment. The organization pursues its mission by advocating for wildlife and advancing conservation projects, engaging community scientists in wildlife research, and offering high-quality environmental education opportunities for Long Islanders of all ages.