EPA Press Conference in Clayton

The EPA’s Wednesday morning press conference (pictured below, (1) ) held on the docks at Clayton, NY, gave the media an opportunity to ask teachers, researchers and educators what their experiences are like aboard the Guardian.

Interviews included (pictured below): (2) SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) researcher Dr. Greg Boyer, for Oswego’s News Channel 7. Boyer told the reporter, “The teachers are actively taking part in the cruise, both to help provide data to the international field, but also to learn about life on a science ship and actually doing science in the field.”; (3) Teachers Carol Gutteridge (far left), from Grand Blanc, MI, and Pennsylvania Sea Grant’s Marti Martz, analyzed waters of the St. Lawrence River using the a Rosette sampler, for Newswatch Channel 50 WWTI; (4) Jana Lantry, a NYS Department of Environmental Conservation Aquatic Biologist with the Cape Vincent Fisheries Station, for the Thousand Island Sun’s Brian Wincott; (5) Fred Luckey, an Environmenal Scientist with US Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2, for News 10 Now TV.

(6) Save the River’s Executive Director Jennifer Caddick (pictured below, in green) shares with reporters the presentation she gave to teachers just prior to the press conference. Save the River is a non-profit, member-based environmental organization whose mission is to preserve and protect the ecological integrity of the Thousand Islands Region of the St. Lawrence River through advocacy, education and research.

While with the teachers, Caddick discussed invasive species, a primary focus area for Save the River. She also touched on VHS, viral hemorrhagic septicemia, a disease that NYSG’s Helen Domske added, “is having a devastating effect on fish populations.”

In Fall 2007’s Coastlines magazine, New York Sea Grant (NYSG)-funded researcher Dr. Paul Bowser, Professor of Aquatic Animal Medicine at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, told editor Barbara A. Branca, “The name describes what it does–VHSV [the virus that causes the VHS disease] creates hemorrhages. The virus destroys the cells that line various blood vessels in the fish and causes bleeding. Bleeding destroys internal organs, such as the heart, liver, spleen and kidneys, and eventually the fish dies … We’ve seen significant mortality events occur in several species: muskellunge [a kind of pike], round gobies, gizzard shad, smallmouth bass and freshwater drum.” For a pdf of the full article, click here.

Other interviews at Wednesday’s EPA press conference included (pictured below): (7) Teachers Larry Grisanti, of East Aurora, NY, and Steve Franklin, of Appleton, WI, for Watertown Daily Times; (8) Cleveland, OH teacher Sam Roman, in an immersion suit, for News Channel 7; (9) Carol Gutteridge, a teacher from Grand Blanc, MI, holding up a preserved Sea Lamprey, a Great Lakes invasive, for News 10 Now’s Brian Dwyer; (10) And NYSG’s Coastal Education Specialist Helen Domske, describing the teachers’ COSEE Great Lakes experiences aboard the R/V Peter L. Wise Lake Guardian, for Watertown Daily Times reporter Jaegon Lee.

SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry’s
Thousand Island Biological Station
Hosted by Dr. John Farrell and students
with cooperation by Dr. Michael Twiss and Clarkson University students

Wednesday afternoon, SUNY ESF’s Dr. John Farrell (pictured above, (1) ) and students at the Thousand Island Biological Station (TIBS) gave presentations and engaged the Guardian’s teachers (as well as the eastern Lake Ontario dune and Salmon River stewards, supervised by NYSG’s Mary Penney) with a variety of informative demonstrations. First, Farrell introduced the crowd (3) to TIBS, a research program on Governor’s Island in Clayton focused on the aquatic ecology of the St. Lawrence River with an emphasis on, among other things, fisheries, wetlands and invasive species.

Geofrey Eckerlin (2), a TIBS graduate student, discussed his research (co-funded by NYSG) on how VHSV is affecting the round goby. Eckerlin’s data covers three sites, from Cape Vincent (where goby densities appear highest) to Clayton and Alexandria Bay (the latter of which exhibit the lowest goby densities). A further concern is with smallmouth bass, which prey on the goby, moving the pathogen further up the food chain. So far Eckerlin has concluded that juvenile bass show the highest prevalence of VHSV. Also, behavior may drive the relationship between sex and VHSV incidence.

During some outdoor demonstrations of field work done at TIBS, Farrell (pictured above, (4) ) talked about some local plant species, including the invasive European frog bit, a floating plant that resembles a small water-lily. The species often grows in stagnant, still ponds, canals or patchy marshland, intermingled with emergent plants. Although studies specifically on the impact of the species are not extensive, the European Frog-bit could reduce the local diversity of submersed subjacent plants through competition for resources, such as light (also see related NYSG fact sheet, pdf).

Farrell also talked about sedges (pictured above, (5) ), a restoration plant species. TIBS research has shown considerable change in wetland structure and function associated with climate change, land use and water level management. For example, an increased dominance of monotypic cattails has made for a decline in sedge meadow habitats. “This poses a problem for nearshore wetland areas, which contain the greatest fish diversity and where many lesser-known species survive,” said Farrell. NYSG Fisheries Specialist Dave Mac Neill is currently working with Farrell on a series of wetland/habitat and fish identification fact sheets.

Other outside demonstration stations included (6) a viewmaster where teachers could see for themselves what life lies beneath the St. Lawrence River.

Dr. Michael Twiss - pictured above, (7), with NYSG’s Domske (in green) and Mary Penney - and his Clarkson University students shuttled the teachers across to Governor’s Island for the afternoon session. For a sampling of Twiss’ recent research, check out NYSG’s Fall 2005 Coastlines article, “Emerging Pathways” (click here).