MILLBROOK, New York - Oct. 6, 2017 - The Dutchess County Chapter of Ducks Unlimited in New York awarded its Conservation Award to Gretchen Stevens, director of the Hudsonia Biodiversity Resources Center.

Stevens, a field biologist for 37 years, curates the Bard College Field Station Herbarium and, as Biodiversity Resource Center director, oversees the GIS laboratory and supervises Hudsonia's Habitat Mapping and Biodiversity Education programs. She has authored and co-authored numerous technical reports, articles, and peer-reviewed papers on conservation biology and natural history topics.

 

"She's an educator, she lays out the facts and she wants you to have all the information possible so you can make an informed decision," said Stancy DuHamel, Dutchess County Chapter founder and member. "That helps advance the dialogue about habitat conservation and its impacts on people and wildlife."

 

A primary mission of Hudsonia's Biodiversity Resource Center is to put sound ecological information into the hands of those who can best use it for on-the-ground conservation. Staff members are identifying important habitats throughout the Town of Dover, encompassing the northern watershed of the Great Swamp, one of the largest freshwater wetlands in New York state.

 

"Although Hudsonia's work in and around the Great Swamp and other parts of the Harlem Valley has revealed the extraordinary biological richness of this area, our research would be without purpose if it were not for the work of all the individuals, organizations and agencies that inspire and carry out the actual on-the-ground conservation," Stevens said. "I am glad to be part of the larger efforts of Ducks Unlimited, the Dutchess Land Conservancy and others who work to defend and protect the Great Swamp and other parts of this unusual landscape."

 

The award was presented Sept. 30 during the fifth annual Great Swamp Shoot & Conservation Program at Tamarack Preserve in Millbank, presented by the Dutchess County Chapter.

 

About Hudsonia
Hudsonia Ltd., founded in 1981, is a not-for-profit institute for research, education, and technical assistance in the environmental sciences. Hudsonia is a non-advocacy, public interest organization that works for better conservation and management of the environment. Hudsonia's Biodiversity Resources Center is the umbrella for several major programs that promote the protection of species, habitats, and ecosystems by placing good biological information in the hands of agencies and individuals most involved with decisions pertaining to land development and conservation. Learn more at www.hudsonia.org

 

About Ducks Unlimited
Ducks Unlimited Inc. is the world's largest nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving North America's continually disappearing waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 14 million acres thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the continent. Guided by science and dedicated to program efficiency, DU works toward the vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever. For more information on our work, visit www.ducks.org.

 

Media Contact:
Chris Sebastian
(734) 623-2017
csebastian@ducks.org