Betsy Conger, 17, is a senior at Fishers Island School, which she has attended since sixth grade. She lives in Stonington, Conn. and takes the ferry to school each day. Her older sister, Olivia Backhaus, who was also a Fishers Island School student and an Island Sentinel for 5 years, introduced Betsy to environmental work on the Island. Olivia is currently attending Georgetown University Law Center and summer interning at the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC.
Betsy’s environmental studies began in her school science classes. After several class field trips, she was intrigued by the Island’s beauty and wanted to become an Island Sentinel to learn more about environmental work taking place here. She has participated in the Sewanee Environmental Institute for the past 2 years where she has learned more about ecosystems, plant and animal species, archeological techniques, GPS and GIS technology, and conservation strategies that she has shared with the Island.
As an Island Sentinel, Betsy helps to monitor sites with other Island Sentinels. Serving as an Island Sentinel has given her a greater appreciation of the Island’s ever-changing ecosystem and other factors that are critical to the long-term health of the Island.
Gardner Thors, 17, lives in New York City and is a senior at Groton School in Massachusetts. He has been a Sentinel for five years, including volunteering for one summer. As a city kid, he doesn’t get to experience nature and wildlife except for the landscaped Central Park and the infamous pigeons and squirrels of the city. Fishers Island is his wildlife sanctuary. Gardner has been summering here for as long as he can remember, and Fishers holds a special place in his heart. That is why he chose to play a part in the preservation of this environment. Gardner looks forward to learning more about the Island’s ecosystems and sharing what he learns with the Island community. His brother, Wilson, is also a passionate Sentinel.
Wilson Thors lives in New York City and is a rising Junior at Groton School in Massachusetts. 2017 was his first summer as a Sentinel, although he volunteered to monitor for FIConservancy the year before. Initially, he joined the Sentinel program because he was curious about his brother’s experiences as a Sentinel and wanted to see how he could take an active role in supporting the environmental community of Fishers Island.
Through his two years as a Sentinel, Wilson has not only learned more about the ecological trajectory of Fishers Island, especially concerning the eelgrass meadows, but also how to direct it forward. Wilson has always appreciated the natural beauty of Fishers Island, but now he has a deeper love of the Island since learning more about the wildlife and learning that we share such a great Island with it.
Marc Rosenberg, 15, lives in New York City and is a sophomore at Bronx High School of Science. 2018 was his “volunteer” year and first summer as a Sentinel. He joined the Sentinel program because he was interested in sea life and wildlife on Fishers Island.
Marc’s interest in sea life was sparked when he vacationed in Greece and observed a multitude of fish through his goggles. After that experience, Marc became increasingly curious about wildlife on and around Fishers Island. His trip to Costa Rica helped him experience more underwater life and renewed his passion for marine biology. This summer, Marc hopes to continue monitoring as well as work on monitoring water quality for the Fishers Island Seagrass Coalition.
Marc enjoys spending time under water and made a video of seagrass off the coast of Fishers Island. See Marc’s video.
Nicolas Hall has been a year-round Islander his whole life and is a recent graduate of the Fishers Island School. He will attend Dalhousie University in the fall, majoring in Oceanography.
Nick enjoys sailing on Wednesday nights, hanging out with his friends and fishing most of all. This is his first summer as an Island Sentinel, although he assisted this winter and sat in on a few Fishers Island Seagrass Management Coalition meetings. He is very excited to learn more about the ecosystems around him and give back to his community.
Alexa Rosenberg, 14, lives in New York City and is a freshman at Hunter College High School. She has summered on Fishers Island for as long as she can remember and is very grateful for the wonderful experiences she has had there. This is her first year volunteering as a Sentinel for FIConservancy and she is excited to learn and collect data about the wildlife of the Island. Alexa also loves art and will be painting and sketching the birds and wildlife of the Island in addition to collecting data and journaling.
Nicholas (“Nic”) Danforth, 15, has summered on Fishers Island his entire life. He lives in Ithaca, N.Y. and is a 10th grader at Ithaca High School. Nic is a first-year volunteer in the Island Sentinel program and hopes to continue in the program for at least four years.
Growing up in Ithaca, “nature-centered” town, Nic loves nature, wildlife and overall the great outdoors. In addition to volunteering as a Sentinel this summer, Nic is also a Junior Instructor in Hay Harbor Club’s water sports program. He hopes to learn more about Fishers Island and its wildlife through his future work as a Sentinel.
View of rainbow above Big Stony taken from the Hay Harbor sailing dock.
Least tern stops on a rock, with Big Stony as a backdrop. Marc was on a paddle board, when he captured this image with a GoPro.
Marc used his GoPro for the above and below underwater shots of eelgrass in the Hay Harbor channel.
Eastern painted turtle at Hay Harbor Club golf course.
Very First Sentinel:
Justine Kibbe, 1965 Silver Eel Cove, Fishers Island
Underwater video by Marc Rosenberg, FIConservancy Island Sentinel.
Marc Rosenberg, 14, was the youngest Island Sentinel this summer, but he volunteered like a pro. His particular assignment was monitoring eelgrass beds around Fishers Island, and he produced an underwater video about the critical importance of eelgrass.
Nearly all of the seagrass left in Long Island Sound’s New York waters is located around Fishers Island. Unfortunately, however, it makes up less than 10 percent of seagrass’s historic acreage. Seagrass meadows were once abundant throughout the bays and harbors of the Sound, providing food, shelter and nurseries for thousands of ocean animals.
Marc quickly understood the risks to healthy eelgrass from nitrogen pollution (septic systems and fertilizer use), physical damage (vessel anchors, moorings, propeller scars, and fishing gear), and warming seas.
Chantal E. Collier, director of The Nature Conservancy’s Long Island Sound program, impressed with Marc’s observations this summer, has invited him to present his film at a future seagrass coalition meeting on Fishers Island.
Betsy Conger
Betsy Conger, 16, is a junior at Fishers Island School, which she has attended since sixth grade. She lives in Stonington, Conn. and takes the ferry to school each day. Her older sister, Olivia Backhaus, who was also a Fishers Island School student and an Island Sentinel for 5 years, first introduced Betsy to environmental work on the Island.
Betsy’s environmental studies began in her school science classes. After several class field trips, she was intrigued by the Island’s beauty and wanted to become an Island Sentinel to learn more about environmental work taking place here. As lead Island Sentinel, Betsy helps to monitor sites with the other Island Sentinels. She also collects data sheets and inputs all data into the computer. Serving as an Island Sentinel has given her a greater appreciation of the Island’s ever-changing ecosystem and other factors that are so critical to the long-term health of the Island.
Gardner Thors
Gardner Thors, 17, lives in New York City and is a sophomore at Groton School in Massachusetts. He has been a Sentinel for four years, after first volunteering for one summer. As a city kid, he doesn’t get to experience nature and wildlife except for the landscaped Central Park and the infamous pigeons and squirrels of the city. Fishers Island is his wildlife sanctuary. Gardner has been summering here for as long as he can remember, and Fishers holds a special place in his heart. That is why he chose to play a part in the preservation of this environment. Gardner looks forward to learning more about the Island’s ecosystems and sharing what he learns with the Island community. His brother, Wilson, is also a passionate Sentinel.
Wilson Thors
Wilson Thors lives in New York City and is a sophomore at Groton School in Massachusetts. 2018 was his second summer as a Sentinel, and he volunteered to monitor for FIConservancy before becoming a Sentinel. He joined the Sentinel program, because he was curious about his brother’s experiences as a Sentinel. Wilson has always appreciated the natural beauty of Fishers Island, but now he has a deeper love of the Island since learning more about animals and learning that we share this great place with the wildlife.
Marc Rosenberg
Marc Rosenberg, 14, lives in New York City and is a freshman at Bronx High School of Science. 2018 was his “volunteer” year and first summer as a Sentinel. He joined the Sentinel program because he was interested in sea life and wildlife on Fishers Island.
Marc’s interest in sea life was sparked when he vacationed in Greece and observed the multitude of fish through his goggles. After this experience, Marc became increasingly curious about wildlife on and around Fishers Island. Even though Marc learned much this summer, he hopes that next year he will better his understanding of Fishers Island and continue to be a help to the Sentinels. He also hopes to convince his sister to become a Sentinel!
Marc Rosenberg Snorkeling
Marc enjoys spending time under water and made a video of seagrass off the coast of Fishers Island. See Marc’s video.
(l-r) 2018 Island Sentinels Marc Rosenberg, Betsy Conger and Gardner Thors at “Conservation on Parade”.
Island Sentinels lend their support to “Conservation on Parade” Aug. 11, 2018 at the Parade Grounds. Some 200 people attended the afternoon event, which featured four different stations highlighting plants, birds, bugs, live animals, and the dangers of marine debris.
The “free ice cream” truck was a popular draw at the Marine Debris station!
Olivia Backhaus
Olivia Backhaus, 21, lives in Stonington, CT. She first came to Fishers Island School in seventh grade and graduated in 2014. 2017 was her fifth summer working as a Sentinel for FIConservancy. Her interest in biology was sparked by the experiential nature of the science curriculum at FI School, which used the Island as a living laboratory for learning biology.
Olivia assumed a leadership position in 2016, training and overseeing members of the Sentinel team and assisting with other FIConservancy programs, such as Nature Days. She also spent the summer collating and analyzing daily data collected by the Sentinels and by Justine. Working as a Sentinel has inspired Olivia to major in Biology and minor in Environmental Studies at Sewanee: The University of the South. In the future, she plans to practice environmental law.
Gardner Thors
Gardner Thors, 15, lives in New York City and is a sophomore at Groton School in Massachusetts. He has been a Sentinel for three years, after first volunteering for one summer. As a city kid, he doesn’t get to experience nature and wildlife except for the landscaped Central Park and the infamous pigeons and squirrels of the city. Fishers Island is his wildlife sanctuary. Gardner has been summering here for as long as he can remember, and Fishers holds a special place in his heart. That is why he chose to play a part in the preservation of this environment. Gardner looks forward to learning more about the Island’s ecosystems and sharing what he learns with the Island community. His brother, Wilson, is also a passionate Sentinel.
Wilson Thors
Wilson Thors lives in New York City and is a freshman at Groton School in Massachusetts. 2017 was his first summer as a Sentinel, although he volunteered to monitor for FIConservancy last year. He joined the Sentinel program, because he was curious about his brother’s experiences as a Sentinel. Wilson has always appreciated the natural beauty of Fishers Island, but now he has a deeper love of the Island since learning more about animals and learning that we share this great place with the wildlife.
Kain Upson
Kain Upson grew up summering on Fishers Island, surrounded by the wildlife he now has the privilege of monitoring. 2017 was his first summer as an Island Sentinel. His special interest in biology, and eventually environmental biology, began during his senior year in high school, when a “fantastic” biology teacher was able to steer him in the right scientific direction. He is looking forward to sharing many more summers with the returning migratory and resident animals, who call Fishers Island home.
Conor Wakeman
Conor Wakeman, 19, of Greenwich, Conn., grew up summering on Fishers Island and is a sophomore at University of Pennsylvania studying economics. Conor spent three years as an Island Sentinel and was an emeritus Sentinel in 2017. After seeing an article about Justine Kibbe’s conservation efforts on the Island, he decided to use his love for the environment and wildlife science to help improve the ecological wellbeing of Fishers Island.
Since he loves spending time with nature and watching animals, Conor thought it was a great opportunity to collect data that would help understand this unique environment. During his time as a Sentinel, he worked on improving the efficiency of data collection and helped facilitate research about organizations such as Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. With his expanding knowledge of the local ecosystem and shifting animal populations, he hopes to raise awareness of FIConservancy and help preserve the Island’s pristine environment.
My name is Erik Blomquist, and I have been fortunate enough to call Fishers Island a second home my entire life. Since I was little, I have come to the island to visit my grandparents and experience the unique little world that is Fishers Island. It was at a young age that I began finding undeniable interest in the natural world, always being told by my grandpa, John Ski, to “observe nature”.
For the past seven years, I have spent summers on Fishers working various jobs. Last summer, I worked as an intern for the Fishers Island Conservancy doing basic invasive plant species removal, mostly throughout the Parade Grounds. I worked alongside Adam Mitchell and Joe Henderson, helping to make progress in the projects they envisioned for that specific area.
After making only a tiny dent in overall removal goals for the Parade Grounds, I began thinking of ways to ramp up removal of these invasive species. Down a somewhat unexpected avenue, I found the means to further the progress in the battle against invasives.
During the off-season, I was given a spot on the Island Sentinels team. Justine Kibbe gave me the opportunity to create my own project to add to the Island Sentinels program. My project is still developing into a monitoring site that will encompass a portion of the Parade Grounds, from Airport Road east towards the movie theater, all along the Fort stretch. It will be a monitoring site, where we can observe and record invasive plant species.
Monitoring will be ongoing over the summers so we can gain awareness of how quickly and aggressively these species are taking over the area. My goal is that by recording the location and density of these invasive plant species, we can formulate an appropriate removal and restoration plan. The end result is to eventually see a healthier Parade Grounds habitat.
