Reserve seining field trips in Sept-Oct

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Reserve seining field trips in Sept-Oct

To make a donation
CEED Releases Tick-Eating Quail

CEED Releases Tick-Eating Quail

CEED Releases Tick-Eating Quail

On a hot Saturday, July 18th, Ranger Eric Powers and small group of Boy Scouts released 16 Northern Bobwhite Quail (Colinus virginianus) on Brookhaven and Suffolk County open-space and preserve land managed by the Center for Environmental Education and Discovery (CEED).  Powers is Program and Site Director for CEED, and has worked to reintroduce Bobwhite Quail to Long Island for nearly 20 years. 

Northern Bobwhite Quail populations on Long Island were drastically reduced by loss of habitat and predation by non-native predators, especially feral and pet cats. By releasing juvenile birds all over Long Island, biologist Powers and CEED hope to build up a self-sustaining population.

Not only does this restore a beloved native, whose “bob-white” call was once commonly heard throughout Long Island, but because the birds eat many small bugs they find at ground level, they are an effective natural tick control. This will help protect people from tick-borne diseases like Lyme Disease.

In most years, Powers and CEED help dozens of local schools and libraries hatch bobwhite quail eggs as part of a unique science and biology program or their regular life cycle studies unit.  By studying a local species, the students get a much deeper understanding about the interconnectedness of our ecosystem as well as the impacts we have on our environment, both negative and positive.  The chicks are then raised by CEED volunteers and when they are about 10-12 weeks old, the students then get the thrill of watching the quail they hatched scoot off into woods and fields to live out their lives and hopefully eat up a bunch of ticks!  Over the course of about 17 years, Powers has helped raise and release more than 2,000 quail a year.  And in many places, the distinctive bobwhite call can once again be heard.

The challenges of the pandemic and the closing of schools have reduced this year’s program participation, but quail were released at CEED and three other sites in July.  We wish them luck!

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Summer Nature Experience Well Underway

Summer Nature Experience Well Underway

Summer Nature Experience Well Underway

Our Nature Experience Summer Program is well underway! After much thought, planning, and preparation, we are thrilled to be providing children a safe opportunity to enjoy nature in a safe social setting. The smiling faces make all of the hard work and effort worth it! Whether on a hike, exploring the shore, or searching for life in the creek, the children are experiencing nature at its best. Every day is a new adventure. At CEED, our goal is to connect as many people as possible with nature and we are not afraid to take on challenges.

This is one of the many examples of our putting in the extra effort in order to continue to provide opportunities to learn, play, and explore in nature. We’re so grateful to our volunteers and supporters who help to make our Nature Experience Summer Program possible. We hope to continue many more opportunities for families and children in the community to experience the joy of being a part of our Long Island natural environment.

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Wild Animals Loose in the Library

Wild Animals Loose in the Library

Wild Animals Loose in the Library

Suffolk County libraries are finding that CEED’s virtual programs can be a wild and wonderful way to keep patrons connected. We’ve created a brief video to show some highlights of our programs and invite you to think about how CEED’s virtual programs can work with your library.

Northport East-Northport Library and Emma Clark Library have recently chosen to offer their patrons multi-session CEED programs and join a growing list of libraries for whom we’ve done both in-person and virtual programs. Check with your library colleagues for reviews!

To find out more about CEED’s programs for libraries and other organizations, click here, or email info@ceedli.org, or call us 631.803.6780.

Jamie Papandrea, Library Director at the Brookhaven Free Library, says “We’re working to develop our own virtual/online skills, but there are some things we can’t replicate.  We don’t have a tortoise or a dove, or the animals Ranger Eric has, so it’s good to be able to still offer that experience.  We’ve been doing programs with Eric and CEED for some time and we look forward to continuing to work with CEED, whether virtually, and hopefully eventually in person.”
CEED’s Online Programs
Submit Inquiry
Choose from seven unique and engaging presentations:
LIVE Animal Show: Wildlife Diversity – exotic bugs, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals! Bobwhite Quail vs Ticks Study – hatching quail eggs and releasing the birds into the wild! Traveling Rainforest Museum – live animals, videos and remarkable stories from our very own world-traveling Biologist, Ranger Eric! What Makes A Mammal A Mammal? – locomotion, body structure, biology, and more, with special appearances from live mammals! The World of Birds – live birds, close-up views, videos, and photos from around the world. Building Food Webs at the Pond – explore a bucket of actual pond water to see what critters we can catch, live on camera! Conservation Projects & Citizen Science – fun science and nature discovery from the convenience of your backyard or local nature area.
CEED’s Online Programs
Anyone can volunteer. Even you!
View Opportunities

Madagascar Comes to Brookhaven

Madagascar Comes to Brookhaven

Madagascar Comes to Brookhaven

There is a place almost all the way around to the other side of Earth that needs our help. That place is over 9,000 miles away and is Ranomafana National Park in Madagascar. Madagascar is a large island Republic just to the east of Africa. If you saw the cartoon movie Madagascar, you might recall the special little animal that lives in Madagascar. Madagascar is the only place in the world where lemurs live in the wild. In the movie, Madagascar, all of the different species of lemurs lived together and formed their own society, which was really cute but not real. In reality, that is not how lemurs live. Some lemurs are social and live in groups of their own species, while a few other species are solitary and live by themselves The different species have adapted to live in various areas around Madagascar, including rainforests, dry forests, and rocky areas. Lemurs have evolved into species of various sizes and behaviors. Some are diurnal which means they are awake during the day and others are nocturnal which means they are awake during the night. Although there are about 105 different species of lemurs, many are endangered and at risk of becoming extinct in the near future.

Dr. Patricia Wright, a scientist at Stony Brook University, has dedicated much of her life to this special place and the animals, plants, and people that live there. Dr. Wright fell in love with lemurs early in her career and has spent many hours researching and studying everything about them. In fact, she rediscovered a species of lemur that others thought was extinct. Since Dr. Wright started her research at Ranomafana, she and her team were integral in creating Ranomafana National Park, a park that is home to several critically endangered species of lemurs. They have helped the economy in the communities around the park by creating jobs at the Centre ValBio, the research center. Centre ValBio also helps the communities by reducing slash and burn techniques, promoting reforestation, educating communities on sustainable farming methods, and providing resources for health and hygiene.

Every year, students at Stony Brook University are selected to travel and work with Dr. Wright in Madagascar and Centre ValBio has become a special place for the university to promote conservation education and outreach. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, all flights have stopped going in and out of Madagascar. In some ways this is good by keeping the virus away from the fragile communities, but in many ways this is devastating. Many people and communities in Madagascar depend on tourism, and without tourists many are without jobs. If you would like to learn more about Lemurs in Madagascar and Dr. Patricia Wright’s work, you can rent Island of Lemurs: Madagascar on Amazon Prime for $1.99. In addition you can find out how to directly help the communities around Ranomafana National Park , by viewing the latest video from Centre ValBio below. While you do that, make sure you subscribe to Centre ValBio (CVB) on YouTube where you can view all their interesting videos.

We also have a fabulous opportunity happening sometime soon, where you will have the opportunity to learn directly from Dr. Wright and even ask questions. Our very own nature educator extraordinaire, Eric Powers will be having a conversation with Dr. Wright about her research while sitting inside a lemur cage. This opportunity will be available for you to participate via a Zoom webinar. More details will follow. Look for our email and check our website. We would love to have you join us!

Please help us if you can. Click the button below to donate to the Stony Brook Foundation supporting the CVB Rainforest Conservation Fund.

Donate to Help Centre ValBio in Madagascar
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