Need some help with remote monitoring?

Across the last few years, land trusts have looked toward remote monitoring to increase their efficiencies and fill any gaps in their on-the-ground surveillance activities. The pandemic accelerated that shift to aerial, satellite and remote technologies. And through it all, the Land Trust Alliance has helped conservationists around the nation explore these new options.

That’s where I come in. Hello! My name is Kate Losey and I’m the Alliance’s new remote monitoring project manager.

I’m bringing to this position my experience from Northwest Connecticut Land Conservancy, where I managed a remote monitoring regrant from the Alliance. That project consisted of assisting 12 other land trusts as they used NCLC’s Upstream Lens account for their remote monitoring activities. It was exciting and rewarding work that built on my earlier experience in monitoring and enforcing conservation easements. I’m living proof that a conservatist’s skills in improving filing systems, running volunteer programs and educating folks about invasive species removal techniques carry forward into remote monitoring!

That’s why I wanted to introduce myself. I know that while some land trusts are eager to adopt remote monitoring practices, others may have some questions or hesitancy. I’m here to help. Assisting land trusts be more efficiencies is one of my niche passions — one of many germane passions — that I look forward to bringing to this position.

My colleagues and I already have plans for what I should tackle first. (Watch in the near future for an informative toolkit designed to address some of the finer and more obscure elements of remote monitoring.) But please, let me know how I can best help you as you consider or dive deeper on remote monitoring.

Together, we can build a framework that takes more land trusts into this exciting future.

Kate Losey is remote monitoring project manager at the Land Trust Alliance.