USGS EcoNews - Vol. 1 | Issue 1
Welcome to the first edition of EcoNews! We highlight our Invasive Species Program; the USGS led North American Bat Monitoring Program; the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative; Scientist Spotlight; our new webinar series, Friday's Findings; and our educational resources and podcasts for students of all ages. Plus, check out how to connect with us through our social media and our
North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat)
North American bats face unprecedented threats including habitat loss and fragmentation, white-nose syndrome, wind energy development, and climate change. However, it is difficult to evaluate the impacts of these threats due to a lack of basic information about the distribution and abundance of bats across the continent. Although bat monitoring has long been conducted in individual areas and for individual projects, until now, there has been no statistically robust and standardized monitoring program to assess the status and trends of bat populations across North America. The North American Bat Monitoring Program, or NABat, provides information to a broad constituency garnered from a continental-scale, long-term program, and allows them to better document changes in bat populations, estimate extinction risk, set conservation priorities, and evaluate the effectiveness of conservation actions.
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) was established in 2009 to accelerate efforts to protect and restore the Great Lakes. The USGS is collaborating with partners to provide science to meet GLRI Action Plan goals and inform resource management decisions.
Webinar Series - Friday's Findings
Friday's Findings is a public webinar series hosted by the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area. These half hour webinars are meant to provide listeners an overview of the science topic and chance to ask questions. We hope to offer our audience an opportunity to discover the Ecosystems science capacity within the USGS.
ARMI Scientist Michael Adams Receives 2020 PARC Honor
Dr. Michael Adams, Lead for the USGS Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI) and Supervisory Research Ecologist at the USGS Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, has been selected to receive the 2020 Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC) Alison Haskell Award for Excellence in Herpetofaunal Conservation.
Education
Below are USGS educational resources for learners of all ages that focus on ecological sciences!
USGS Ecosystems Podcast Series - Outstanding in the Field
The USGS Ecosystems Mission Area brings you Outstanding in the Field, an original podcast series that tells stories about our science, our adventures, and our efforts to better understand fish and wildlife and the ecosystems that support them.
Social Media
Follow Ecosystems Mission Area science on social media or in your news feed.