Natural History Conference Enters Seventh Year

The seventh annual Long Island Natural History Conference will take place Friday and Saturday, March 22 and March 23, with lectures Friday and Saturday in the Berkner auditorium at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

This year’s topics for discussion range from barn owls and marshes on Jamaica Bay to white shark conservation to coastal adaptation, the future of Plum Island and updates on conservation of numerous local species.

The conference is organized by the Long Island Nature Organization, founded in 2012 by East End naturalist Mike Bottini, writer and publisher James Monaco and teacher John Turner, who hope to build a web-based clearinghouse of information on Long Island’s natural environment.

Friday’s sessions include an update on the status of the wild turkey, biodiversity of predatory insects, the impact of climate change on fish distribution, menhaden conservation and updates on local problems facing forests — the southern pine beetle, oak wilt and the gypsy moth.

The Saturday sessions include talks about ferns and monarch butterflies, encounters with raccoons and opossums, coastal birds and conservation of bats, orchids, fish and diamondback terrapins.

Saturday’s program includes a working lunch visioning session on the future of Plum Island with Louise Harrison of Save the Sound.

More than thirty local sponsoring organizations will also be staffing booths with useful information for attendees.

Tickets for the three-day conference are $25 for students, $36 for LINO members and $45 for the general public, and are available online at longislandnature.org.