Long Island Invasive Species Management Area (LIISMA)

West Meadow Beach Invasive Species Walk
2026-06-09 11:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York)
New York Invasive Species Awareness Week (NYISAW) partners across the state are joining forces to raise awareness and inspire action.

Join our partners GEI and Town of Brookhaven for a Guided Invasive Walk at West Meadow Beach! Learn about how invasive species impact local ecosystems, identify various invasive plants, and engage in discussions about conservation. This event is perfect for nature enthusiasts and anyone interested in environmental stewardship.

11:00 am – 12:00 pm at West Meadow Beach, 100 Trustees Road, Stoney Brook, NY 11790

RSVP to join us!

Learn To Map Invasive Species Using iMapInvasives
2026-06-09 13:00 - 14:00
New York Invasive Species Awareness Week (NYISAW) partners across the state are joining forces to raise awareness and inspire action.

We’re teaming up with the Quogue Wildlife Refuge to host a virtual iMapInvasives training session, where participants will learn how to document and report invasive species using the state’s official monitoring database. Join us on Zoom for this free event.

Registration Here

FREE a TREE Volunteer Day, Wawapek Preserve
2026-06-10 10:00 - 12:00
New York Invasive Species Awareness Week (NYISAW) partners across the state are joining forces to raise awareness and inspire action.

Join our partner, North Shore Land Alliance, for an invasive species workday. Invasive vines, originally introduced as ornamental plants, pose a serious threat to our native trees and forests. As they climb, they block sunlight and airflow, trap moisture that can lead to rot, harbor pests, and even strangle trunks. at Wawapek preserve to remove these vines, push back invasive species and give our trees a chance to thrive.

Help them free 250 trees from vines by July Fourth! Visit their site for more information

When? Wednesday, June 10, 2026. Starting at 10:00 am

Where? Wawapek Preserve, Mowbray Lane, Cold Spring Harbor

Advance registration is required. For more information, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Leigh McLaughlin, at leigh@northshorelandalliance.org.Event Changes and CancellationsEvents are subject to change so please check their website for updates.

Register Here

What’s on Your Boots? Seeds, Invasive Species, and Landscape-Level Patterns from Boot Brush Stations at Elk Island National Park - Virtual
2026-06-10 14:00 - 15:00
Seed dispersal is a natural process that helps keep ecosystems healthy and resilient. However, when people visit parks, they can unknowingly carry seeds on their boots—including seeds from invasive plants—which can change what grows where. Programs like PlayCleanGo help reduce this risk by encouraging visitors to clean their gear and by providing opportunities to educate visitors and monitor seed movement. In this talk, we’ll share results from a pilot study using PlayCleanGo boot brush stations at Elk Island National Park. We found that visitors can carry up to 4,000 viable seeds in just one litre of soil, with more than 30,000 viable seeds collected at boot brush stations over a single summer. In total, 57 plant species were identified—about half of which were only found through visitor dispersal—and more than 50% were non-native. Notably, visitor-dispersed seeds were consistent across trailheads and independent of visitor volume, highlighting that visitor activity can actively homogenize the landscape and drive significant ecological change.

Speaker: Charlotte Brown is an Ecologist Team Lead at Parks Canada, based at Elk Island National Park and an Adjunct Professor in the Biological Sciences Department at the University of Alberta. Her work focuses on invasive plant management, bison management, ecological monitoring, and supporting evidence-based decision-making to maintain ecosystem health. Charlotte completed her Ph.D. in Ecology at the University of Alberta, where her research examined species interactions and the processes shaping native grassland communities. She has since held postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Arizona and Université de Sherbrooke, where she studied long-term vegetation change and responses to global change. Her current work bridges science and management, applying ecological research to real-world conservation challenges in Canada’s protected areas.

Visit PlayCleanGo site for more information.

Communicating strategies for the prevention of IAS in two countries in Latin America - Virtual
2026-06-11 14:00 - 15:00
Invasive species are one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss worldwide and different countries have taken different approaches to communicating this to society taking into account culture, language, and local traditions. Let’s hear about two countries in Latin America, Mexico, part of NAISMA, and Chile, on the other side of the continent and learn about the differences and similarities in tackling this common problem.

This webinar is being presented as part of PlayCleanGo Awareness Week, a collaborative initiative led in partnership with NAISMA, Invasives Canada, CONABIO, and partners across North America to help prevent the spread of invasive species. To learn more, visit PlayCleanGo.org.

Featuring:

Sergio Benavides Avendaño is a natural resource conservation engineer with a master’s degree in biodiversity, protected areas, and biological invasions. He is the co-founder of Naturaleza Intrusa (Intrusive Nature), a science outreach initiative focused on biological invasions, which has organized the Week on Biological Invasions in Chile since 2019. Since 2023, he has worked in the invasive alien species management program at the Ministry of the Environment.

Yolanda Barrios is the head of the department of invasive species at the National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO) in Mexico where she has worked for almost 20 years. She brings together her knowledge on invasive species and studies in science communication in workshops and talks for the general public and other stakeholders in different sectors.

Southern Pine Beetle Impacts in Massachusetts: Online Information Meeting for Landowners and Natural Resource Managers
2026-06-16 09:00 - 12:15
Details: Outbreaks of southern pine beetle are occurring in Massachusetts. This online informational meeting is open to anyone seeking identification, suppression and management information about this small but significantly impactful neo-native bark beetle. Presented by the North Atlantic Fire Science Exchange’s (NAFSE) Southern Pine Beetle Working Group and the U.S. Forest Service.

Webinar Agenda

​9:00 AM – 9:15 AM: Introduction/Housekeeping/Objectives – Polly Weigand (Forest Stewards Guild and NAFSE) and Kevin Dodds (U.S. Forest Service)

9:15 AM – 9:40 AM: Southern Pine Beetle Biology – Caroline Kanaskie (University of Maine at Fort Kent)

9:40 AM – 10:05 AM: Overview of Southern Pine Beetle in New York – Jess Cancelliere and Rob Cole (both from the New York Department of Environmental Conservation)

10:05 AM – 10:30 AM: Status of Southern Pine Beetle in Massachusetts – Felicia Hubacz (Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation)

10:30 AM – 10:45 AM: Break

10:45 AM – 11:10 AM: Southern Pine Beetle Management Options in Pitch Pine – Kevin Dodds (U.S. Forest Service)

11:10 AM – 11:35 AM: Pitch Pine Restoration Across Massachusetts – Jake McCumber (Massachusetts Army National Guard)

11:35 AM – 12:00 PM: Massachusetts Southern Pine Beetle Plan – Mark Faulkenberry (Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation)

12:00 PM – 12:15 PM: Q & A Session

More details available here.

Register Here

iMapInvasives Training & Guided Walk
2026-06-27 15:00 - 17:00
Join the Long Island Invasive Species Management Area (LIISMA), the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock (UUCSR) and the Port Washington Watershed Biodiversity Coalition for a hands-on workshop and nature walk.

This event participants can expect to learn how to use iMapInvasives, a mobile-friendly platform used to report and track invasive species across the region. After a brief training session, we will head out for a guided walk to practice identification skills in the field.

Event Details

Location: 48 Shelter Rock Road, Manhasset, NY 11030

Contact: 516-627-6560 | uucsr.org

Registration: Space is limited! Please register online here to secure your spot.

What to Bring: Please wear comfortable walking shoes and bring a smartphone with the iMapInvasives app pre-installed if you wish to practice reporting during the walk.

Oh Deer Symposium
2026-08-11 09:00 - 13:00
Oh DEER! Symposium Addressing Challenges, Exploring Solutions

The Oh DEER! Symposium brings together regional experts and community members to address the deer population impact on Long Island. Attendees will examine the ecological and economic complications caused by white-tailed deer.

Featuring Keynote Speaker Dr. Bernd BlosseyProfessor, Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, Cornell University

There will be an afternoon opportunity to explore the use of deer fencing at a Land Alliance preserve.

Topics will include:

Deer impacts on healthy plant communities

Best management practices for deer exclusion

Deer and public health

This gathering provides critical insights for anyone invested in protecting native habitats, including conservation professionals, local officials, and residents who want to understand how to co-exist with regional wildlife.

Who Should Attend:Homeowners, land managers, municipal leaders and anyone interested in addressing deer-related challenges and protecting native plant communities

Where: Long Island Post in Hillwood Commons

Register for the Oh DEER! Symposium Here

Advance registration required. $10 per personFor more information, please contact the Land Alliance at 516-922-1028 or events@northshorelandalliance.org.Event Changes and CancellationsEvents are subject to change so please check their website for updates.
