Drs. Leenders

One of the reasons Preserve Landing Hill (PLH) supports the idea of an appeal of the IWWC's decision to the Superior Court relates to questions about the testimony of experts hired by the Applicant during the hearing process. As advocates of a preserve on the property, the approval of the Morgan Estates application puts the preserve in serious jeopardy.

One example of PLH's concern has to do with an expert hired by the Applicant, Drs. Anton Leenders. Hired through the Applicant's ecologist, Jodie Chase of Essex, Connecticut, the Applicant, and subsequently the IWWC, referred to Leenders as Doctor Leenders.

Leenders was hired to review the wetlands and habitat specific to Eastern Box Turtles and to review a wetland area that the Intervenors asserted to be a vernal pool.

Leenders submitted a photograph (Fig. 4, page 4) of the wetlands in question in his report, dated April 2008. In this photograph, a dry hillside was displayed. The caption read 'Overview of wetland #2 on 6 April 2008. The accompanying text read "Wetland #2 is a wet meadow habitat that had already considerably dried between the April 6 and April 16 surveys. During the latter site visit standing water was restricted to water-filled tire ruts, which locally reached depths of approximately 15 cm. No amphibians or amphibian eggs weer recorded durig the sruveys and the only aquatic organizms visible during the later survey were large numbers of mosquito larvae. Undoubedly this habitat is of an intermittent nature and will dry up later in the season. Wetland #2 has no vernal pool function."

However, adjacent landowner Michael Harris, within two days of Leender's photograph, had taken a picture of a hawk sitting on a branch over the reputed vernal pool in question. Harris also described finding a plethora of caddis fly casings, as well as evidence of wood frogs, in the pool. Intervenor expert Sigrun Gadwa of REMA testified that this pool offered functional characteristics of a vernal pool.

In submitting this data to the IWWC, Harris described Leender's photo as a hoax in which he apparently stood with his back to the water in order to take the picture submitted in his official report. Harris' photo clearly shows a large body of water. As a result of this assertion, Leender amended his report by revisiting the area and providing more robust examples of the wetland's characteristics in his addendum including evidence of amphibians absent from his first report.

As a result of concerns over the picture and the amended report, Harris subsequently questioned the expert's credentials. Asking the definition of the Doctor's prefix, 'Drs.' Leenders responded that it was the European equivalent of a Doctorate, and that he was Dutch. Harris responded that he had researched the term only to find that it was Latin for 'one who would be doctor'. According to a source on the internet, Drs. stands for doctorandus, the European equivalent of someone that has received a master's degree and has tested to study at the doctoral level. 'Apparently, said Harris, Doctor' Leenders is not a Phd, a doctor, nor the recipient of an accredited US degree.

Leenders Curriculum Vitae indicates "1994, Doctoral Exam Biology, General and Ecological Subsection, with emphasis on Animal Ecology, Animal Physiology and Vertebrate Zoology, Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen (now Radboud University Nigmegen), The Netherlands".

This information is available on the tapes and in the public record of the IWWC public hearings. Please click the DONATE button to contribute to the effort to PRESERVE LANDING HILL!