Dear Partners,

Happy April Fool’s Day! Even though snow was falling today, spring is in the air. APIPP has a great workshop on gardening with native plants coming up on April 14, and Adirondack Action’s Adirondack Pollinator Project native plant sale is underway. Order soon as some varieties are selling out. We also have a great program planned for our Spring Partner Meeting on April 29 and hope you will register to join us. See the agenda below. If you missed our March angler and forest pest workshops, you can also find links to the recordings below.

April 14: Green Gardening—Designing with Native Plants & Avoiding Invasive Species

Join the Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program and expert speakers from the Native Plant Trust to learn how to design attractive landscapes using native plants, avoid invasive species, and prevent the spread of soil harming invasive jumping worms. In 2021, help your garden support pollinators, increase biodiversity, and protect our local environment.

Wednesday, April 14, 10:00am – 11:30am To register click here.

April 29: Spring Partner Meeting

Join APIPP staff and partners for a discussion of collaboration opportunities for the 2021 field season and learn about environmental DNA (eDNA). Paul Simonin, a conservation biologist with Cornell University, will provide an overview of eDNA and its use detecting aquatic invasive species (AIS). His talk will be followed by a presentation from Mark Whitmore, the principal investigator at the NYS Hemlock Initiative. Mark will share emerging research about eDNA as a tool for hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) detection. A detailed agenda is below.

Thursday, April 29, 9:30am – 12:00pm  To register click here.

APIPP Spring Partner Meeting Agenda

9:30am    Welcome and Introductions

9:40am    APIPP 2021 Workplan and Partner Discussion

• HWA Volunteer Survey Results and 2021 Volunteer Opportunities
• APIPP Forest Pest Research
• 2021 Aquatic Invasive Species Surveys
• New Outreach Materials Preview

10:35am   Break

10:45am   Feature Presentation: eDNA for Invasive Species Detection

• Paul Simonin, Cornell University: eDNA Basics and AIS Detection
• Mark Whitmore, NYS Hemlock Initiative: eDNA and HWA Detection

11:45am   Questions and Next Steps

12:00pm  Adjourn

Meet Brian Greene, APIPP’s New Aquatic Invasive Species Coordinator

APIPP is pleased to announce Brian Greene has joined the team. Brian is excited about working with APIPP’s volunteers and partners. You can meet him at our virtual April 29 Spring Partner Meeting.

Brian holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and a Master of Science in Natural Resources from Cornell University. Learn more about Brian and his career focused on citizen-science monitoring on our website. You can email Brian at brian.greene@tnc.org.

Happy Spring! I hope to “see” you at the April 29 Partner Meeting.

Tammara