Identification and Management of Invasive Species in Woodlands

Dr. Rohleder will talk about the problems caused by invasive species in forests, some of the common invaders in the region, strategies for surveying and mapping, prioritization of which areas and species to manage, and species-specific removal techniques. We will also have plenty of opportunity for questions and discussion.   About the Instructor:Dr. Linda Rohleder is Director of Land Stewardship at the New York – New Jersey Trail Conference. She built the Trail Conference’s Invasives Strike Force volunteer program over the last 5 years. The program currently has trained over 400 invasives-mapping volunteers who have collectively surveyed more than 1,000 miles of hiking trails for invasive plants. She has organized dozens of invasives-removal workdays in parks across southern New York and northern New Jersey. Dr. Rohleder is also the coordinator of the New York State Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (PRISM) in the Lower Hudson Valley, a partnership of more than 40 organizations and agencies.In 2013, Dr. Rohleder received her PhD in Ecology from Rutgers University, where she studied the effects of deer on forest understories. While attending graduate school she worked as a park ranger in Monmouth County, NJ, and taught beginning Biology labs at Rutgers and Wetland Plant ID for Rutgers’ Wetland Delineation certification series. Before returning to school, she worked for many years at AT&T as a project manager and software developer. Dr. Rohleder also has spent more than 10 years creating a native plant wildlife habitat in her backyard.