Last updated: November 25, 2025
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SECN Highlights April 2024
NPS photo / Mallorie Davis
Learning the NPS Fundamentals
Mallorie Davis, SECN Biological Technician, attended the residential portion of NPS Fundamentals Training February 28 to March 6, at Grand Canyon National Park. Mallorie and 40 other NPS employees were emersed in hands-on learning throughout the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
From Mallorie:
"Each day, we learned about what it meant to be part of the National Park Service, our mission, how the Park Service functions, the roles within the Service, where our funding comes from, how partnerships and concessions came to be, and so much more. After learning about these topics, we were challenged to take it into the park with our groups and critically think about how those topics apply to our own home park units. The course sparked discussion amongst us all and we learned about the individual struggles some people and some parks are currently facing within NPS. Together we brainstormed ideas to improve inclusion, diversity, and efficiency across the agency.
"Day five was one of the most memorable days spent at the Canyon. The overall topic was Career Development. The National Park Service culture aims to support individual advancement for all employees, and it does so through providing online resources such as the Leadership Development Program (L-REV), Supervisory Leadership Development, scholarships and grants, the Albright-Wirth Grant Program, and more. We were also taught to include SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely) goals while creating an Individual Development Plan (IDP). Within the career development lessons, we were taught that there is a multitude of opportunities within this agency you can be involved in and a plethora of opportunities for individual growth.
"One topic that stuck with me throughout the entirety of the week was the R.I.S.E. (Respectful, Inclusive, Safe, and Engaged) concept. There are no words to describe how grateful I am to be part of a team that exercises this core value; knowingly or not. It's part of our "micro-culture" here within SECN and the culture the NPS is trying to maintain.
"The biggest take away from this training for me, however, is the chance to network with people from all over the United States. Hearing stories of how the National Park Service found people and what they plan and hope to do as their careers progress. It was an experience of a lifetime full of inciteful and meaningful connections. Looking over the canyon after the week progressed gave a whole new perspective on what the National Park Service stands for and I couldn't imagine a better team."
NPS photos / Mallorie Davis
NPS photo / Wendy Wright
Data Rangers Assemble!
The Southeast Coast Network hosted the Central Support Office Data Strike Team February 27-29. The team includes Student Conservation Association (SCA) interns James Brown, Abigail Hobbs, and Alexa Ron, and is led by SCA Project Manager Issac Quevedo and overseen by IMD National Data Scientist Judd Patterson. The team was assembled as part of an IRA-funded effort to assist IMD networks with data publication needs.
Their to-do list was a result of SECN Data Manager Wendy Wright’s detail to the IMD Central Support Office last summer, which consisted of an IMD programmatic data-publication needs assessment and meetings with all 32 network data and program managers. Data preparation was done by SECN/CESU Data Intern Elika Bozorgi and insight for terrestrial data was provided by Wildlife Biologist Michael Parrish. Acting Program Manager Forbes Boyle made the trip from Saint Marys, Georgia, to contribute as both Program Manager and Botanist / Protocol Lead.
The Southeast Coast Network was the first stop of the Strike Team’s whirlwind IMD tour, which will include visits to multiple I&M networks to provide data publication assistance through August 2024. The recent visit to the Classic City will result in open-data package publication for three years of legacy herpetological data, two years of legacy landbird data, two years of legacy vegetation data, and five years of recently collected vegetation data for SECN parks. The week included lots of hard work by everyone, a visit to iconic Athens restaurant Cali n’ Titos, and a pizza party hosted by canine data ambassadors Delilah and Frodo which included a surprise guest, Elizabeth Rico, a former SECN biological technician and Veg Squad member.
Well done team!
NPS photos / Wendy Wright and Issac Quevedo
Speaking of Data...First Wadeable Stream Package goes Live
The first Wadeable Stream Habitat Monitoring data package for the Southeast Coast Network has been published! The data package includes all 2023 monitoring data. Older data from this monitoring effort is currently being entered into the new Wadeable Streams database, and a data package with the full period of record will be published over the summer. Check it out at DataStore - Wadeable Stream Habitat Assessments in the Southeastern United States, 2023 Data Package (nps.gov)
NPS photos / Ches Vervaeke
Mangrove Discovered on Cumberland Island!
A black mangrove was recently found on Cumberland Island National Seashore. The discovery was made during a collaboration between partners from the Smithsonian Institute and the University of North Florida who are tracking how mangroves migrate and establish at their northern limit. This is likely the first time that mangroves have been recorded on Cumberland Island. It is important to continue tracking and monitoring these plants, especially in NPS units including Fort Matanzas National Monument, Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve and Cumberland Island, because knowing where mangroves are currently able to grow will inform models of tropicalization and ecotonal shifts and help parks plan for potentially altered landscapes.
NPS photo
Ches Presents at SEERS
Coastal Ecologist Ches Vervaeke recently presented at a meeting of the Southeastern Estuarine Research Society in Savannah March 21-23. Ches presented a talk highlighting the efforts of the Southeast Coast Inventory and Monitoring Network. He also presented as the lead author on "A Hop, a Skip, and a Jump: Mangrove Distribution on the US Atlantic Coast," as well as a co-author on a poster titled, "Developing an Updated Shoreline Monitoring Protocol through Comparative Data Collection and Analysis."
NPS photo