As we finish up the final season of the study, we intend to publish our findings to help inform fellow ecologists, land managers, and neighbors about the expanding range of black bears and its implications for co-existence.

For more specific information about keeping people, pets, and property safe and the bears wild, visit the bearwise.org website.

Rochelle is a mission-driven conservation and nonprofit leader, with more than a decade of experience advancing conservation and land stewardship, fundraising, strategic planning, and community engagement. At her prior position as director of the Greenwich Center for the National Audubon Society, she oversaw seven wildlife sanctuaries totaling nearly 700 acres, led a team of staff and seasonal educators, and directed major land restoration, fundraising, and public engagement initiatives. 

Rochelle brings an excellent combination of talents that will support the Gorge’s biggest priorities – expanding conservation efforts, cultivating science-based research and education programs, and further developing community-centered programs, all while ensuring that our special ecosystems remain healthy for decades to come.

During her time at Audubon, Rochelle helped raise significant funds to support habitat restoration, educational programming, and operational growth. She also worked closely with other local and regional conservation organizations to help launch new community-based environmental programs focused on forest and watershed stewardship.

Rochelle holds a Master of Arts in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology from Columbia University, as well as a second master’s degree in American Studies from Columbia University. 

The MRG Board of Trustees is looking forward to the future of Mianus River Gorge under Rochelle’s leadership. Rochelle is exceptionally well positioned to lead the Gorge into its next chapter building on the strong legacy of former executive director Rod Christie.

The program featured Dr. Andrew Farnsworth, Visiting Scientist, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and Budd Veverka, Director of Conservation & Stewardship, Mianus River Gorge in a conversation with “CBS Sunday Morning” correspondent David Pogue, seven-time Emmy winner, five-time TED speaker, host of 20 “NOVA”science specials on PBS, creator of the CBS News podcast “Unsung Science.”

Beyond the buzz of the crowd, the program sparked meaningful reflection about the state of bird populations and the role each of us can play in supporting them. Here are some of the most memorable and motivating take‑aways from the evening.

Surprising Facts We Learned

The science and stories shared during Bedford Field Notes – Birds revealed just how interconnected birds are with our landscapes—and our own well‑being.

North America has lost nearly 3 billion birds in the last 50 years. This staggering decline is driven largely by suburbanization, changes in forest structure, and intense deer browsing that removes the forest understory birds depend on.

Listening to bird songs can actually lower your heart rate. Birds don’t just benefit ecosystems—they measurably support human health and emotional well‑being, too. Birding is far more mainstream than many people realize.

About 100 million people—roughly one in three Americans—spend at least part of their week watching birds, whether at a feeder, on a walk, or through a window.

Things You Can Do to Support Birds

• Reduce light pollution, especially during migration periods – pull the shades on your windows at night and use downlighting in your garden vs. uplighting, which disorients the birds. Ten million birds pass over Westchester at night every spring.
• Prioritize native plants that support insects (critical bird food)
• Support citizen science by using apps like eBird and Merlin to log the birds you encounter. The data helps scientists understand bird ranges and population changes.
• Let parts of your yard stay a little messy — leaf litter and dead tree snags become insect buffets for the bird food chain.
• Consider putting decals on windows to reduce bird collisions.
• Clean your bird feeders regularly (and wear gloves).
• Avoid herbicides, which kill the very bugs birds rely on for food.
• Keep your cat inside – cats kill 2.4 billion birds annually in the US alone.

April 15 – Birds

May 7 – Forests

June 3 – Bugs

Details here.

Visit www.bedfordfieldnotes.org for details and to reserve your seat!

MRG staff is selecting a new class of High School Mentorship Program students who will begin a three-year course of ecology study. Mentored by MRG wildlife biologists, these students will engage in hands-on fieldwork, data collection and analysis, and, in their senior year, present their findings at the Northeast Natural History Conference and other science fairs.

We currently have 12 students in the program who are working on high-level projects to study an array of ecology topics that help further MRG’s goals at the same time. Current projects include a comparison of two census methods for measuring the size of the Gorge’s deer herd; survival and dispersal of hemlock woolly adelgid controls; and resident and migratory owl distribution, just to name a few. The new class of high school students will work on a hemlock project (looking at hemlock genetics for resistance to pests), an invasive species burning project, a salamander survey, and a fisher survey.

Executive Director Rod Christie has been pretty much consumed with the permitting process for the building project and working with the architect, engineer, and general contractor. At the same time, Rod is working with donors and community partners throughout the region to facilitate the purchase or gift of land and/or conservation easements. He’s preparing to share his knowledge and expertise at an upcoming installment of the 2026 Bedford Field Notes speakers series.

The main task that we work on when indoors is identifying coyotes (date, time, location) on the array of wildlife cameras deployed across Westchester, Bronx, and New York City. Gotham Coyote Project co-founder and Director of Research & Education Chris Nagy, Ph.D., is monitoring coyote populations and behavior in urban environments. In another project involving wildlife cameras, Preserve Steward Jean-Luc Plante is mentoring two high school students to identify black bears and study how building density affects their movements throughout the region.

Budd and Jean-Luc are outside as much as possible no matter what the weather. They’re checking property boundaries, cutting woody stemmed invasive shrubs and vines, and repairing deer exclosures (fencing to keep deer out) within the Preserve. They are also quick to remove from the trails trees and limbs downed by winter storms both in the main Preserve and at the Taylor Preserve in Stamford, CT.

We recently published the 2026 Calendar of Events, which is available here on our web site. MRG’s popular walks feature the ecology and natural history of habitats throughout the area and their importance to the health and resilience of the Mianus River Watershed. Other events include the ever-popular Bird Walk, Owl Walk, and Winter Tree ID.

We look forward to seeing you very soon!

To learn more about how you can help us fulfill our mission to protect irreplaceable habitats for wildlife, the community, and future generations, please go to the Support tab.

In 1995, Scholastic published Jayni’s Blueprint for a Green School, a compilation of environmental information, resources and ideas for schools to ‘Go Green.’  This guidebook empowers everyone to transform schools into safe, healthy places of enlightened learning.

Jayni spearheaded two ambitious green school initiatives: GREEN Community Schools, creating model green schools, and Energy Efficient Schools in a partnership with the National Wildlife Federation and Serious Materials.

Before joining the Mianus River Gorge board of trustees, Jayni served on several boards, including The Alliance for Climate Education (ACE), the US Green Building Council Center for Green Schools, the NY Harbor School, the Billion Oyster Project (BOP), Green My Parents, Friends of the Earth US and she chaired NY Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s Green Schools Working Group. 

Jayni credits her husband, Chevy, and their three daughters, Cydney, Caley and Emily, with providing the force behind her dedication to environmental health, safety and education.

Endangered in southern portions of their range in the Carolinas, the larger northern flying squirrel prefers areas with conifers on larger unbroken tracts of land. In our region, northern flying squirrels have been documented in the Catskills and northwest Connecticut. The historic range of northern flying squirrels includes the Mianus River Gorge and its remnant old-growth conifer forest … are northern flying squirrels still in the Gorge?  That is the question WTP student Daisy Lamb of Irvington High School has set out to answer.

In the first year of her study, Daisy installed remote cameras and acoustic recorders at sites across the Preserve to see if southern and northern flying squirrels could be identified by sight and sound. Although she observed many flying squirrels, she has not been able to determine if they are the northern or southern species. This fall, in the second year of her study, Daisy will collect flying squirrel DNA from baited platforms and use eDNA to definitively determine which species occupy the Mianus River Gorge. If we find that the northern flying squirrel is indeed present, this important research could help focus future stewardship and land acquisition efforts to effectively conserve them.

Director of Research & Education Chris Nagy, Ph.D., presented

• “Ongoing Range Expansion of Coyotes in the New York City Area, 2016 – 2024: Monitoring, Management, and Outreach” and was a panel member on the Urban Coyote Discussion at the International Urban Wildlife Conference (Atlanta) on June 3-6
• Gave a talk about the Gotham Coyote Project for the Animal Behavior Research Seminar class at Mercy University on April 21
• Appeared in the film “Coywolf” by Lucy Adams, shown at several film festivals including the International Wildlife Film Festival and Brooklyn Film Festival

Director of Land Management Budd Veverka presented

• “Managing Woody Invasives: Torching” at Perfect Earth @ Stone Barns on May 7
• “The Effects of Deer Overabundance on Forest Ecology and the Methods to Mitigate Those Effects” at the Lower Hudson Partnership for Invasive Species Management Partner Meeting on July 9
• “Student Research and Education on Suburban Private Lands and Its Use in Engaging the Public: Successes and Challenges” at The Wildlife Society Annual Conference (Edmonton, Alberta, CA) on October 8-9

Acquiring land for permanent protection has always been at the heart of Mianus River Gorge’s mission to protect irreplaceable habitats for the community, wildlife, and future generations. With Rod leading the charge, MRG raised $15 million over the years, specifically to acquire properties critical to the health of the Mianus watershed and add to our Preserve.

In 2000, Rod spearheaded MRG’s present research and educational programs. These programs have grown, garnered awards for their excellence, and introduced students to experiential science-based ecological study and research. Mentored by MRG biologists, students have learned skills for success in college, and many have gone on to pursue jobs in the natural sciences.

Mianus River Gorge became an accredited land trust in 2010 under Rod’s direction. Land trust accreditation is a mark of distinction, showing that a land trust meets high standards for land conservation. The initial application process was arduous, and Rod made sure MRG checked all the boxes.

Needless to say, Rod has accomplished so much in every facet of his job as executive director for this organization—too much to expound upon here—and we are all grateful. The board of trustees, staff, friends in the neighborhood, and the broader community wish him an abundance of happiness in his retirement.

Thank you, Rod, for your many years of dedication to and steady leadership of the Mianus River Gorge.