Media Event in Oswego

At Thursday morning’s press event on the docks in Oswego, NY, local media had a chance to interact with teachers, researchers and educators aboard the Guardian and inquire about their experiences so far. Anneliese Bopp (pictured above, (1) ), a teacher from Sodus, NY, talked with reporters from Oswego’s Palladium-Times (in green) and Fulton and Oswego Daily News about the research sampling teachers have been doing from the outset of the trip. Bopp, who teaches sixth-grade science said, “There is so much I’ve learned that I can incorporate into my curriculum.” Recalling how she first got involved into the project Bopp said, “It was one of those chance things … a great opportunity that looked like something that just couldn’t be missed.”

A photographer from Syracuse’s Post-Standard (pictured above, (2) ) snapped a few shots of teachers David Chizzonite, from Chittenango Middle School (left) and Patricia Burns from Dr. King School in Syracuse. Dr. Greg Boyer (pictured above, (3), at right) told the Palladium-Times reporter that he was impressed by the teachers’ capacity to learn and the fast rate at which they did. Said Boyer, “They are very good learners … by now, they’re like a well-polished team, they can just crank through it.”

Ken Huff (pictured above, (4), at left), a teacher from Williamsville, NY, set up a microscope in one of the Guardian’s labs for a communications specialist from Oswego County Department of Community Development, Tourism and Planning. He shows her some of the zooplankton and phytoplankton species the teachers have identified in recently-drawn Lake Ontario water samples.

NYSG’s Web Content Manager Paul C. Focazio (pictured above, (5), at right) describes his observations as the on-board blogger for this COSEE Great Lakes research expedition. “The teachers have been all over Lake Ontario,” Focazio said, “and have been doing a bunch of soil and water samples throughout the lake. We’re just trying to give them a sense of the well roundedness of Lake Ontario.” Teacher Carmen Marquez (pictured above, (6), at right), from Chicago, IL, shows an Oswego Daily News reporter some of the water sampling equipment used onboard.

A Visit to Eastern Lake Ontario’s Dunes
and the Salmon River Fish Hatchery
Guided by NYSG’s Mary Penney and the Dune and Salmon River Stewards

Along Lake Ontario’s Eastern shore is a 17-mile stretch of sand dunes, wetlands, woodlands, ponds and creeks known as the Eastern Lake Ontario Dunes and Wetlands Area. Reaching from the mouth of the Salmon River north to the outlet of Black Pond, the area supports a diversity of plants and wildlife. Seven properties are open to the public for outdoor recreation: Deer Creek Wildlife Management Area (WMA), Sandy Island Beach State Park, Sandy Pond Beach Natural Area, Lakeview WMA, Southwick Beach State Park, Black Pond WMA and El Dorado Nature Preserve.

NYSG’s Helen Domske (pictured above, (1), left) holds up a shell for teachers (left to right) Sam Roman (Cleveland, OH) and Scott Foley (Silver Creek, NY) to decipher - “Is it a Zebra or a Quagga Mussel?” she asked. The teachers are identifying native grasses, like Williamsville, NY teacher Lisa Matthies (pictured below, (3) in black, with NYSG’s Mary Penney), as well as invasives like the mussels and European frog-bit (pictured below, lower right hand corner (2); also see related NYSG fact sheet, pdf) on the beaches of the 526-acre Black Pond WMA. Purple loosetrife (pictured below, (6); also see related NYSG fact sheet, pdf) is another common invasive in the area.

NYSG’s Domske (pictured above, (4), left, and Penney talk with Irene Mazzocchi, Land Manager for Black Pond and Lakeview WMAs. Mazzocchi, a Region 6 NYSDEC Wildlife Biologist, was coming ashore during the teachers’ visit to check on the area’s snowfencing (seen in the background), which protects and maintains the dunes. Penney is seen (5) with dune steward Liz Wolf (far right) talking about the importance of snow fencing in this and other dune areas along Lake Ontario’s eastern shore.

NYSG’s Mary Penney (pictured above, (7), center, flanked on both sides by her Eastern Lake Ontario Dune and Salmon River stewards for summer and fall 2008. Stewards are on the beaches and along the Salmon River corridor not as enforcers, but rather educators. “Their job is to promote responsible use of the areas,” said Penney. The dune and river stewards program is a partnership of New York State Parks, the Nature Conservancy, NYSDEC and NYSG.

For more on eastern Lake Ontario’s dunes, check out NYSG’s series of Coastlines articles (click here - look under “Dune Habitat/Education” section)

Teachers, stewards and educators on the COSEE Great Lakes tour of the eastern Lake Ontario region found their way next to the Salmon River Fish Hatchery (pictured above, (8), with teacher Ken Huff at the center, holding a steelhead fish mount). Located in Altmar, NY, the hatchery serves an 11-county area and supplies fish for more than 100 public waters including Lake Ontario. Each year, the hatchery stocks 3.5 million trout and salmon, and nine million walleye fry. “The hatchery opened in 1981 and, at the time, was the most modern of its kind in all of North America for raising Pacific salmon,” said Salmon River Program Coordinator Fran Verdoliva.

Some mounts (pictured above, (9) ) of considerably large sportfish catches of the day (clockwise, from top): Chinook salmon, steelhead, Atlantic salmon, brown trout, Coho salmon and (in the center) lake trout. (10) The fry being raised at the hatchery know its feeding time. (11 - 12) Teachers check out the fish ladders to see if they can spot any fish sunning themselves in the warmth of the mid-day sun.

For more on the Salmon River, check out the pdf of NYSG’s Fall 2006 Coastlines article (click here) or a printable pdf of the “Fishing on the Salmon River” map (click here).