The FEMC offers ecosystem monitoring and assessment services. We have a team of staff that specializes in database management, data analysis, and ecosystem monitoring. Additionally we hire and train interns annually that have experience in multiple disciplines. The FEMC staff and interns on hand are ready to assist you on your next project and have no doubt that we can provide the services and expertise required to complete the task.
Data Rescue
Technology has advanced dramatically since computers. Unfortunately with how quickly things have advanced, many things that could not keep up were left behind. In 2019 the FEMC proposed a project known as Data Rescue. This project's main mission was to rescue long-term ecological data that was in danger of being lost due to either existing only in a physical format or just stored on a local hard drive unknown to those who may be interested in it. With this mission on the forefront for 1 year the FEMC scoured New England reaching out to anyone that was interested in being part of the project. FEMC was able to digitize many datasets and for those that we were not able to digitize we made them publicly available on an inventory page to make the datasets searchable. Although the data rescue page is complete the FEMC is still looking to add more projects to the inventory and would like to offer data digitization as a service. Digitized datasets would be made accessible via spreadsheets and stored in the FEMC archive as a safe measure towards data loss.
Field Methods Comparison Tool
With many years of experience processing, analyzing, and manipulating multiple datasets the FEMC understands the importance of metadata and methodology. To use various datasets from multiple sources requires strict and rigorous comparisons between how the data is collected and stored. Over the years the FEMC has designed and built a template for constructing web based tools that can effectively compare field methods between varying organizations and agencies that collect data revolving around a similar goal. FEMC’s field methods comparison tool streamlines data compilation and allows for more time focused on data analysis. To view sample projects visit the Northeastern Forest Regeneration Data Network and the Continuous Forestry Inventory Program Comparison Tool.
Data Collections Pages
The FEMC archive is the core tool offered for anyone interested in storing long-term datasets in a simple and easy manner. Although flexible, the archive does have it’s limitations. If interested the FEMC can work with anyone to design and build a special collections page, that utilizes the infrastructure of the FEMC archive. Additional features can be targeted towards direct display of certain data in the form of graphs or tables, intensified organization and filtering, or password-protected datasets and projects. These are some of the past special collections pages FEMC has built for partners and clients:
Catskill Science Collaborative
The Catskill Science Collaborative is a group of individuals and institutions dedicated to facilitating collaboration and outreach by those doing environmental research in Catskill Mountain region of New York State. Funded by NY State through Environmental Protection Funds and coordinated by the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, the CSC carries forward the goals of the Catskill Environmental Research and Monitoring (CERM) group, an informal collaboration initiated in 2010. The CSC includes the Cary Institute, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP), Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster Country, the US Geological Survey, the NY State Museum, and many other research partners.
The DendroEcological Network
The mission of the DendroEcological Network (DEN) is to provide an online repository for dendrochronological and associated forest ecology data, as well as offer a cyberinfrastructure for the discovery, exploration, and sharing of that data. The data portal is publicly available and anyone with access to the internet can use it and contribute to it. To maintain the rigor of the overall resource, the DEN is currently limited to only accept datasets containing cores that were cross-dated.
The Environmental Monitoring and Management Alliance (EMMA)
The Environmental Monitoring and Management Alliance brings together organizations and individuals centered in New York’s Hudson Valley to develop a regionally-coordinated ecological monitoring network that informs sustainable management practices and natural resource conservation through scientific research while engaging the public in environmental protection. EMMA’s core member organizations recognize climate change, invasive species, habitat loss and fragmentation, and deer overabundance as urgent threats to ecosystem health in the Hudson Valley region. We aim to address these threats through impactful, regional coordination that facilitates implementation of natural resource management solutions.
Holt Research Forest
The Holt Research Forest (HRF) is a field station located in southern mid-coastal Maine with a 36-year history of multidisciplinary ecological research. A land base of approximately 125 ha (300 acres) features a red oak-white pine forest ecosystem, an important and relatively understudied forest type in Maine. The vast majority of the property is forested uplands while 20 ha (50 acres) are wetlands of various types, primarily salt marsh. The property is bordered by the Back River, an estuarine tributary of the Kennebec River, on the east. Sewell Pond, the largest pond on Arrowsic Island, forms the western boundary. The northern and southern boundaries of the property are adjacent to largely forested conservation land held by The Nature Conservancy and Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
Active Projects
Long-term Ecosystem Monitoring Program (LEMP)
USFS
2014 - on going
The Long-term Ecosystem Monitoring Project (LEMP) is a 50-year monitoring effort that examines the long-term effects of broad-scale environmental changes--particularly changes in climate, air quality, soil health, and vegetation. Plots are located on the Green Mountain National Forest (GMNF) in areas with minimal evidence of past anthropogenic disturbance.
Northeast Silviculture Library
In early 2020 FEMC began working with partners from the University of Vermont and Forest Parks and Recreation to create a library that houses various case studies from silvicultural projects occurring within Vermont. This project was inspired by the University of Minnesota’s Great Lakes Silviculture Library. The ultimate goal is to expand this project to the rest of new england and make silvicultural data quickly accessible and obtainable.
Completed Projects
Mountain Birdwatch
Vermont Center for Ecostudies
Contracted 2018
The Mountain Birdwatch data portal was developed to provide participants in this program an intuitive way to enter field data that would also minimize erroneous entries and allow managers quick access to past and current data.
Bard College Water Lab Data Portal
FEMC partnered with Bard College's Water Lab to increase the availability and accessibility of the data from their water quality program. This program focuses on water quality monitoring in the Saw Kill water shed and the Roeliff Jansen Kill in the state of New York. The FEMC worked with Bard College's Water Lab to design a webtool that is integrated directly onto their website. The tool now displays their data directly on their site in the form of a map, table, and graph. Graphs and maps can be downloaded as images and shapefiles while the raw data can be downloaded directly from their site. Additionally users are able to filter and choose the locations and attributes that they are looking for. This effort was designed with the goal of producing a comprehensive tool that would enable the Bard College Water Lab's website visitors to easily access all things related to the water quality monitoring program. The webtools can be accessed at Roe-Jan and Sawkill.