Most people are aware of the Chestnut Blight and Dutch Elm Disease of the early 20th century. These invasive fungi forever altered the ecology of eastern forests and the aesthetic of American streets. Introduced pests and pathogens continue to affect our forests, from beech scale and oak wilt to Asian jumping worms and spotted lanternfly. […]
Category Archives: Research News
Hemlocks 2022
From 2017 to 2019, MRG inoculated over 2,000 eastern hemlock trees against the hemlock woolly adelgid and hemlock scale. Prior to resuming a schedule of repeated basal bark spraying in 2022, MRG scientists are participating in the New York State Hemlock Initiative to help establish a population of the Laricobius nigrinus beetle, a promising biocontrol […]
MRG Scientists Share Their Knowledge
Our science staff and many of our students participated in three scientific and stewardship-related conferences since our last update. Director of Land Management, Budd Veverka was invited to and attended the New York State Invasive Species Summit in Albany (November 16-17, 2021) where he was involved in a number of collaborative discussions on managing invasive […]
Spotlight on Research and Education, Winter 2022
Winter 2022 MRG publishes paper on deer management and forest regeneration One of the most pressing issues for land managers in the Northeast is addressing the impacts of super-abundant white-tailed deer. The suburbs and exurbs offer an almost-ideal habitat for deer – with patches of forest to offer food and refuge, large yards and gardens […]
Please Donate to Camera Fund
If you’d like to help us increase the size of our camera trap array to capture images of the fascinating animals that inhabit the region, the Gorge, and your backyard, click here to donate to MRG’s Camera Fund (please let us know your donation is for the camera fund by clicking on “Add special instructions” […]
2019 Snapshot USA Published Today
MRG’s Chris Nagy and another 150+ authors contributed camera trap data to “A Coordinated National Camera Trap Survey of the US”. The scientists and over 800 students collected data from 1509 camera trap sites across the country. MRG staff and students have long used camera traps to study coyotes and other wildlife in Mianus River […]
WTP Students Present at Northeast Natural History Conference
In April, six of our graduating seniors presented their work virtually at the Northeast Natural History Conference. Chloe Ng (Blind Brook HS) gave a lecture on her summation of 15 years of data from our long-term vegetation plots and what it means for the health of our forest and, specifically, as an assessment of our […]
Restoration of the American Chestnut Tree
Since 2019, MRG has been involved in a partnership with the New York Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation and SUNY ESF to begin the restoration of the iconic American chestnut. American chestnut (Castanea dentata) was a keystone species of the eastern hardwood forest, as well as the tallest tree species in the east, until […]
Research Assistantship Program Grants – Now Accepting Applications for 2021
We’re now accepting applications for our Research Assistantship Program. The RAP offers 3-years of funding for thesis research to graduate students investigating applied ecology in urban and suburban ecosystems. RAP students are awarded a grant of $5,000/yr for two (Master’s) or three (Doctoral) years. The application deadline is Feb. 1 to May 1st, annually. More info […]
Coyotes in Long Island
MRG and our partners have studied the growing coyote population in New York City for a decade now, and it has been one of our most productive and popular research studies. From the beginning, we expected coyotes to flourish in NYC as they have done across North America. In addition, if coyotes can penetrate the […]