WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Vt. (AP) – A scientist from the New England Institute for Landscape Ecology is gathering skins of dragonflies and damselflies along the Connecticut River this summer to help better inform conservation decisions.

Pamela Hunt, who also is a conservation specialist with the New Hampshire Audubon Society, was searching over the weekend along the banks of the river and was excited when she came across her first find, the remains of a Black-Shouldered Spiny Legs.

Similar projects have been done in Massachusetts on New England’s largest river, but this is the first time such a study has been done in New Hampshire and Vermont said Hunt of Concord, N.H.

Cataloguing what species call the river home will assist in deciding how to maintain and improve the environment, she said, pointing out that a species such as the Skillet Clubtail has been reported north of Massachusetts only once.

“This study is a snapshot of what’s out there and places worthy of closer attention,” she said. “We want to identify potentially sensitive species.”

The New England Institute also wants to build a record that can show patterns about how well a particular species is thriving or if it is declining.

Dragonflies and damselflies are found in the water as larvae for their first five years. Then they emerge from the river and burst out of their skin as adults, similar to how a butterfly matures.

“They go from being aquatic to terrestrial organisms,” she said. “It’s really cool.”

One of the challenges for the insects’ survival is sudden changes in water levels because they can take a while to dry their wings and pump oxygen into their long, brightly colored tails.

“Some only travel a couple of inches up from the water to emerge and a rise in water can swamp you and you’re out of the game,” Hunt said. Development along riverbanks also deprives them of safe places to emerge, she said. “If they can’t get to shelter to mature, they probably will die,” she said.

It’s too early to draw any conclusions about the insects’ population, she said. She’s found about 70 skins so far.

Her research was helped by a $2,500 grant from the Connecticut River Joint Commissions.