Common Tern colony on the North Tip of South Monomoy

Staff at Monomoy NWR gave two presentations to graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

On April 5th, Refuge Manager Michael Brady gave a presentation to a graduate level class called "Monitoring Wildlife Populations and Habitats".  The graduate students also spent half the day talking to Park Service Staff at Cape Cod National Seashore before coming to the adjacent refuge.  Brady drew the sharp contrast in agencies missions and discussed the numerous ongoing research projects at Monomoy.  The UMass class was interested in the nuts and bolts of the monitoring program.  They were interested in how data is collected, the over-laying grid system (which facilitates data collection), censusing and productivity were all discussed.

On April 26th, Refuge Manager Michael Brady and Wildlife Biologist Monica Williams gave a presentation to an undergraduate class called, "Natural Resources and Ecosystem Management".  The day was spent discussing a wide range of issues, but mainly focused on controversial issues dealing with land management.  The students also spent time in the field to actually conduct work within the Tern Colony and boundary posted the North Tip of South Monomoy for the upcoming field season.

During the semester the undergraduate class uses information supplied by refuge staff to come up with a range of possible management decisions mostly relating to the Comprehensive Conservation Plan.