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Mandy Tu, Invasives Species Ecologist

Did you know that all of the lands and waters that The Nature Conservancy and its partners have worked to protect in our entire 50+ year history are currently or potentially at risk from invasive species? Invasive species are those organisms such as plants, animals, insects, and pathogens that are not native to a particular area, and have the potential to damage and negatively impact the ecology, biodiversity and economy of a given area. Invasive species are a top threat to biological diversity in all terrestrial and aquatic habitats around the world, and that is why working to abate the threat of invasive species to our goals and objectives are a top priority for The Nature Conservancy.

The Conservancy's Global Invasive Species Team works within our organization and with our many partners to ensure that current and future invasive species threats are sufficiently abated across every major habitat type where we work, to effectively protect and preserve native species and natural communities. Our work is focused primarily on two goals:

Preventing harmful new invasions and the spread of invaders at the national and international scale.
Building the capacity of The Conservancy's regions, country and state programs to assess, prevent, rapidly detect and control priority invasive species threats to conservation targets and ecosystems.

My work as a member of the Global Invasive Species Team primarily involves building the capacity of The Nature Conservancy's programs to adequately address and implement invasive species prevention, early detection & rapid response, control, management and restoration programs. I am a botanist/plant ecologist by training, and I can work with you to advance your conservation work more effectively. A few examples of ways that I can help with your program:

Provide training and learning opportunities for Conservancy staff and partners regarding invasive species management techniques, setting priorities, mapping, monitoring, herbicides, adaptive management etc.,
Provide models and templates of existing invasive species management plans,
Review and provide comments on plans, documents, research programs, or agreements/proposals to make sure they are consistent with current strategies,
Provide resource materials and contacts with academic researchers/experts, and
Share what we are learning from other programs in the field.

If you have any technical questions, needs or suggestions as they relate to invasive species management, I am here to help!

Mandy Tu, Invasive Species Ecologist
Global Invasive Species Team
The Nature Conservancy
821 SE 14th Avenue
Portland, OR 97124 USA

State & country programs
Profiles of noteworthy invasive species work being done by state and country programs in The Nature Conservancy.

Success stories
Invasive species management is not impossible. Read these success stories and be inspired.

Assessments and regional plans
Assessments of invasive species issues for various operating units in The Nature Conservancy.

1998-99 survey
Learn about our 1999 survey--a snapshot of invasive species issues across all of The Nature Conservancy.

Other site resources

Weed Information Management System (WIMS)
A fully-integrated hardware and software application for mapping invasives and tracking management actions.

Remote sensing
A review of remote sensing technology, as applied to invasive species detection and mapping.

Templates and examples
Adaptive management planning tools such as model plans for sites, weed control templates, etc. Very useful!

Invasive species learning networks
Learn about Invasive Species Networks that help promote best practices for invasive species abatement among staff in The Nature Conservancy, partner agencies, and other organizations.

Listserves
Join our listserve to voice your frustrations and trumpet your successes.