e-mail templates

E-mail templates. 

Please look carefully for the template that best describes the situation for each refuge with respect to what data you have and what data you need to get.  Then input the contact person’s name, the refuge name, your contact information, and any other necessary information into the appropriate spaces.  Do these carefully – refuge personal are busy and get a lot of whacky e-mails – you’ll likely only get one shot at getting what you need.  Look through all of the possibilities so you know what the options are.  The, use what you need – no plagiarism issues here.

A lot of people may not write you back!  The Invasive Species Survey is almost 9 years old – many of the contact personnel may have died, changed jobs, or moved to Borneo.  If no one writes you back after 5 or 6 days, don’t give up.  Use the refuge website (http://www.fws.gov/refuges/) to find another contact.  If there’s a listing for a refuge biologist or refuge manager, this is much better than a general contact/info e-mail for the refuge.

Or, people may write you back but tell you they don’t know anything.  If they do, also make an attempt to use the refuge website to find a different contact.

Here are the e-mail templates. 

1) No lists exist in the database for either native or invasive species (“false” for survey questions about the existence of lists of natives and invasives)

Dear Mr/Ms (CONTACT NAME HERE)

As part of an undergraduate research project at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, I’m working on an analysis of invasive plants in U.S. National Wildlife Refuges.  The first step of our project is to update the invasive plant data in the NWR Invasive Species Survey.  I am contacting you because in 2002 you responded to the original survey for the (REFUGE NAME HERE).  If you are no longer the appropriate contact person for this refuge, I would sincerely appreciate it if you could refer me to the person who would be the best current source of knowledge about invasive plants there.

As of 2002, it appears there were no species lists available for either all plants or invasive plants within the (REFUGE NAME HERE).  I was wondering if this situation has changed and whether species lists for either invasive or native plant species (or all plants) might now be available.  If so, I am hoping you might be able to send the lists to us, either by e-mail to (YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS HERE) or by fax to (YOUR FAX NUMBER HERE). 

Any species lists you are able to provide will be added to the database so that other refuge managers can access them and use them to assess risks of future invasion.  In addition, these lists will be used in a continental-scale analysis of the factors that tend to predispose wildlife refuges to plant invasions.  For these reasons, we are hoping you will take the time to respond to this request.  If you’d like to learn more about this project, feel free to check out the project website: 

We look forward to hearing from you. 

Sincerely,

(YOUR NAME HERE)

2) Lists appear to exist for both native and invasive plants (“true” for questions about the existence of lists of natives and invasives) but only invasives are actually listed on the website

Dear Mr/Ms (CONTACT NAME HERE)

As part of an undergraduate research project at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, I’m working on an analysis of invasive plants in U.S. National Wildlife Refuges.  The first step of our project is to update the invasive plant data in the NWR Invasive Species Survey.  I am contacting you because in 2002 you responded to the original survey for the (REFUGE NAME HERE).  If you are no longer the appropriate contact person for this refuge, I would sincerely appreciate it if you could refer me to the person who would be the best current source of knowledge about invasive plants there.

Based on the data entered in 2002, it appears that species lists exist for both total plants and invasive plants in (REFUGE NAME HERE).  However, currently only the 2002 list for invasive plants is publicly available.  I was hoping that you might be able to send the total (or native) plant list and a current invasive plant list, either by e-mail to (YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS HERE) or by fax to (YOUR FAX NUMBER HERE). 

Any species lists you are able to provide will be added to the Invasive Species Database so that other refuge managers can access them and use them to assess risks of future invasions.  In addition, these lists will be used in a continental-scale analysis of the factors that tend to predispose refuges to plant invasions.  For these reasons, we are hoping you will take the time to respond to this request.  If you’d like to learn more about this project, feel free to check out the project website:   

We look forward to hearing from you. 

Sincerely,

(YOUR NAME HERE)

3) Lists appear to exist for both native and invasive species but neither list is visible on the website

Dear Mr/Ms (CONTACT NAME HERE)

As part of an undergraduate research project at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, I’m working on an analysis of invasive plants in U.S. National Wildlife Refuges.  The first step of our project is to update the invasive plant data in the NWR Invasive Species Survey.  I am contacting you because in 2002 you responded to the original survey for the (REFUGE NAME HERE).  If you are no longer the appropriate contact person for this refuge, I would sincerely appreciate it if you could refer me to the person who would be the best current source of knowledge about invasive plants there.

Based on the information entered in 2002, it appears that species lists exist for both total and invasive plants in (REFUGE NAME HERE).  However, the current database does not contain either of these lists.  I was hoping that you might be able to send the current total (or native) and/or invasive plant species lists, either by e-mail to (YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS HERE) or by fax to (YOUR FAX NUMBER HERE). 

Any species lists you are able to provide will be added to the Invasive Species Database so that other refuge managers can access them and use them to assess risks of future invasions.  In addition, these lists will be used in a continental-scale analysis of the factors that tend to predispose refuges to plant invasions.  For these reasons, we are hoping you will take the time to respond to this request. If you’d like to learn more about this project, feel free to check out the project website: 

We look forward to hearing from you. 

Sincerely,

(YOUR NAME HERE)

4) Both native and invasive lists exist, but invasive list is clearly partial (or invasives are listed only in comments)

Dear Mr/Ms (CONTACT NAME HERE)

As part of an undergraduate research project at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, I am working on an analysis of invasive plants in U.S. National Wildlife Refuges.  The first step of our project is to update the invasive plant data in the NWR Invasive Species Survey.  I am contacting you because in 2002 you responded to the original survey for the (REFUGE NAME HERE).  If you are no longer the appropriate contact person for this refuge, I would sincerely appreciate it if you could refer me to the person who would be the best current source of knowledge about invasive plants there.

Based on the information entered in 2002, it appears that species lists exist for both total and invasive plants in (REFUGE NAME HERE).  However, the total (or native) plant list is not currently in the database, and the invasive list appears to be only partial – it lists only (LIST OF INVASIVE SPECIES HERE).   

I was hoping that you might be able to send the current native plant list as well as any additional invasive plants that are known from the refuge.  These can be sent by e-mail to (YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS HERE) or by fax to (YOUR FAX NUMBER HERE). 

Any species lists you are able to provide will be added to the Invasive Species Database so that other refuge managers can access them and use them to assess risks of future invasions.  In addition, these lists will be used in a continental-scale analysis of the factors that tend to predispose refuges to plant invasions.  For these reasons, we are hoping you will take the time to respond to this request. If you’d like to learn more about this project, feel free to check out the project website: 

We look forward to hearing from you. 

Sincerely,

(YOUR NAME HERE)

5) Only invasive list exists and this list is clearly partial (or invasive plants are listed only in comments)

Dear Mr/Ms (CONTACT NAME HERE)

As part of an undergraduate research project at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, I’m working on an analysis of invasive plants in U.S. National Wildlife Refuges.  The first step of our project is to update the invasive plant data in the NWR Invasive Species Survey.  I am contacting you because in 2002 you responded to the original survey for the (REFUGE NAME HERE).  If you are no longer the appropriate contact person for this refuge, I would sincerely appreciate it if you could refer me to the person who would be the best current source of knowledge about invasive plants there.

As of 2002, it appears that there was no formal plant species list for the (REFUGE NAME HERE).  I was wondering if this situation has changed and if a plant species list might now exist.  In addition, the invasive plant list entered in 2002 appears to be only partial – it lists only (TYPE LIST OF INVASIVE SPECIES HERE).   

I was hoping that you might be able to send me any current native plant list as well as any additional invasive plants that are known from the refuge.  These can be sent by e-mail to (YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS HERE) or by fax to (YOUR FAX NUMBER HERE). 

Any species lists you are able to provide will be added to the Invasive Species Database so that other refuge managers can access them and use them to assess risks of future invasions.  In addition, these lists will be used in a continental-scale analysis of the factors that tend to predispose refuges to plant invasions.  For these reasons, we are hoping you will take the time to respond to this request. If you’d like to learn more about this project, feel free to check out the project website: 

We look forward to hearing from you. 

Sincerely,

(YOUR NAME HERE)

6) Only invasive list exists and this list is not on the website

Dear Mr/Ms (CONTACT NAME HERE)

As part of an undergraduate research project at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, I’m working on an analysis of invasive plants in U.S. National Wildlife Refuges.  The first step of our project is to update the invasive plant data in the NWR Invasive Species Survey.  I am contacting you because in 2002 you responded to the original survey for the (REFUGE NAME HERE).  If you are no longer the appropriate contact person for this refuge, I would sincerely appreciate it if you could refer me to the person who would be the best current source of knowledge about invasive plants there.

As of 2002, it appears that there was no formal plant species list for the (REFUGE NAME HERE).  I was wondering if this situation has changed and if a plant species list might now exist.  In addition, a list of invasive plants in the refuge is noted to exist, but this list is not currently attached to the database. 

I was hoping that you might be able to send me any current lists of native and/or invasive plant species plants for the refuge.  These can be sent by e-mail to (YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS HERE) or by fax to (YOUR FAX NUMBER HERE). 

Any species lists you are able to provide will be added to the Invasive Species Database so that other refuge managers can access them and use them to assess risks of future invasions.  In addition, these lists will be used in a continental-scale analysis of the factors that tend to predispose refuges to plant invasions.  For these reasons, we are hoping you will take the time to respond to this request. If you’d like to learn more about this project, feel free to check out the project website: 

We look forward to hearing from you. 

Sincerely,

(YOUR NAME HERE)

7.  Person you are writing is not the original contact person from the survey – i.e. the first contact didn’t work out and you’re trying someone else.  This is just the first paragraph – use this along with the rest of any of the e-mails above.

Dear Mr/Ms (CONTACT NAME HERE)

As part of an undergraduate research project at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, I’m working on an analysis of invasive plants in U.S. National Wildlife Refuges.  The first step of our project is to update the invasive plant data in the NWR Invasive Species Survey.  In 2002, (NAME OF ORIGINAL CONTACT) submitted some data for the refuge, however, I have not been able to get in touch with HIM/HER.  I was hoping you might be able to help with this information request, or at least direct me to someone who can help.