Planning and Piloting

News from Water Inquiry: January 2017

 

“I have too many ideas” was a pleasing lament to hear on an icy afternoon in mid-December. Nestled inside a first-grade classroom at Jackson Street Elementary School, Katy Butler (’12, MAT ’18), classroom teacher and Water Inquirer extraordinaire, guided her students through an exciting encounter with our interactive story, Inquiry, Inc. and the Case of the Missing Ducklings. Collaboration was the modus operandi of our Water Inquiry team this semester.… read more

A Trip Down the Damariscotta

The Damariscotta River winds between small historic towns and meets the Atlantic Ocean at Maine’s rocky coast.  Despite its seemingly peaceful flow, this estuary habitat is teeming with life, as indicated by its Abenaki name which translates as “the river of many fish.”  Since the weekend mission of our marine ecology class was to study marine wildlife, the Damariscotta estuary was a perfect place to start. The class boarded the small research vessel Ira C.  prepared to see the workings of one of the most productive waterways in the state. Our Captain, Robby, immediately took the stage, climbing up on the edge of the boat to gaze over the masses congregated on the ship’s floor below him. “One rule on my boat: I don’t ask you to do somethin’, I tell you to do somethin’.” The gruff rough and tumble demeanor of this weathered looking native Mainer was quickly cut with a hearty laugh as he jumped off the side and began to share his passion for the river we were navigating. Through his historical knowledge we were informed about the incredibly unique habitat of the Damariscotta. The salinity of the river is higher than most estuaries, boasting levels that are comparable to the open ocean. The high salinity, paired with increased temperatures and the protected landscape, make this estuary a prime habitat for aquaculture. As we sped up the river, large black chains of floats, 30,40,50 units long were strung near the shore. Robby pointed a leathery finger off into the distance at the odd structures, saying “those there are the oyster farms…they’re popping up all ovah.” And in fact they were. Shortly after we saw another conglomeration upstream.

Aquaculturists in the region use cutting edge engineering capabilities to produce millions of oyster seedlings annually for market production. One of the most predominant farms in the area, Mook’s Fishery, boasted a seed production of 80 million this last summer and is looking to increase this number by 50 percent in the coming season. The huge success of oyster production on the river is due to a mixture of the natural environmental conditions, as well as human advancements in seed nurseries, increased nutrient feed supply, and better growing and harvesting techniques. Robby mentioned that experimentation with mussel aquaculture, the first of its kind, is taking place in the Damariscotta. Plankton is the major food source for filter feeders like oysters, and the Damariscotta has plenty of it! To illustrate the richness of these primary producers, we dropped a  large plankton net 21 feet below the surface and towed it slowly behind the boat.  After only two minutes,  we pulled it back in to see that the net, originally white, was now brown because of the abundant single celled algae stuck to it.

                         

The Damariscotta is an immensely important resource for a multitude of marine organisms. Therefore, it is impossible not to notice the changes that the river has been experiencing over the last few decades as the effects of human activity begin to be felt. As a way to better understand the environment below the surface, we conducted a small dredging sample. The excitement on the boat was evident every time our net lifted back out of the water, pulling up everything from charismatic sea stars, to pinching crustaceans and various forms of algae. Yet, despite this diversity, both Captain Robby and professors Paulette Peckol and Graham Kent noted the differences in the catch between this year and past trips. The changing environment of the Damariscotta was a theme of the trip.  The challenges presented by climate change were reiterated by ecologist and oyster specialist Andy Stevenson when he later came to discuss aquaculture and the change in naturally occurring small-celled algae in the water column. Tim Miller, ecologist at the Darling Marine Center also discussed his worry about shell disease with the native lobster population, stating that while funding was not available to support it, research on the subject was needed. The trip left us with the realization of the fragility of our changing world and the effect that those changes will have, not only on single-celled marine algae, but on all species as it reverberates up the ladder.  The savory taste of lobster lingering in our memory from the previous night’s dinner became even more cherished with our new found understanding of this new wave of environmental uncertainty facing this complex marine system.

Hanna Mogensen, ’14

Hanna is a biology and environmental science and policy double major at Smith College and is working as a CEEDS intern! Despite being a proud Mainer, this trip was her first to the beautiful Damariscotta River. She is greatly enjoying having the opportunity to get out and explore the world through her courses. Hanna is excited to celebrate her last fall on campus with excessive amounts of apple picking, leaf peeping, pumpkin carving and other good old fashioned fun!

GEO 108 Student Research on Human and Societal Impacts of 2011 Tsunami in Japan

Each year CEEDS invites proposals from faculty (and teams of faculty) for modification and enhancement of existing courses that will support the CEEDS mission—to graduate women who excel at integrating knowledge across disciplines in support of environmental decisions and actions. Over the next few weeks we will be highlighting some of the excellent and creative work of the faculty who have utilized these Curricular Enhancement Grants. If you have questions regarding Curricular Enhancement Grants please contact Joanne Benkley at jbenkley@smith.edu.

 

Kayla Clark, a student from Professor Sara Pruss’ GEO 108 class, contributed a very good presentation based on the research she did on the human and societal impacts of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Kayla chose to research those topics because, as she says, “too often disasters are framed as ending soon after the actual tsunami, earthquake or hurricane passes, however the effects of displacement and loss of communities can stretch long after the tsunami or other natural disaster ends.”

http://photosoftsunamiinjapan.blogspot.com/2011/03/22-tsunami-photos-in-japan-2011.html

Given that the Geo 108 class was studying the tsunami around its one-year anniversary, they were able to see how much the society has been able to recover or if there are still individuals and communities suffering as a result of the disaster.  Here are Kayla’s findings, summarized:

Focus: The thousands of individuals that became internally displaced as a result of the tsunami, as well as the impact of the tsunami on education of all levels.

Effects on Japanese Housing Communities: One year after the tsunami, there are still many people that are displaced from their homes, many of whom are homeless. The areas that they fled have been totally devastated and the communities are ruined due to the majority of people that have not returned.

Effects on the Japanese Education System: Over 7,000 schools were destroyed and 100,000 students were displaced as a result of the tsunami. The high student-teacher ratio and the inevitable emotional drainage that comes with disaster and aftermath obviously contribute negatively to the teachers’ efficiency and on the students’ ability to learn and retain information. Higher education was negatively affected as well, for the departure of foreign students and faculty meant lower enrollment in what was already a small university system. This could lead to institutional changes if the public universities shift to privatized universities or merge in order to respond to the smaller number of enrolled students and the economic strain of the disaster. Research at these universities was also interrupted due to the power outages during and after the disaster.

Effects on the World: The lack of research has an impact on global society because scientific innovations and medical progress do not just remain in the country they originate in but spread globally.

All credit to Kayla Clark for this posting.

 

Angela Magyari ’14, CEEDS Intern

Curricular Enhancement Grant: GEO 108 Class Studies 2011 Japanese Tsunami

Each year CEEDS invites proposals from faculty (and teams of faculty) for modification and enhancement of existing courses that will support the CEEDS mission—to graduate women who excel at integrating knowledge across disciplines in support of environmental decisions and actions. Over the next few weeks we will be highlighting some of the excellent and creative work of the faculty who have utilized these Curricular Enhancement Grants. If you have questions regarding Curricular Enhancement Grants please contact Joanne Benkley at jbenkley@smith.edu.

Another faculty member to have received one of CEED’s Curriculum Enhancement Grants is Geology Professor Sara Pruss. Professor Pruss—who took her GEO 108 class to Fishers Island Sound last month to participate in an oceanographic cruise (see prior posting for photos!)—developed a curriculum in which her students could conduct research on the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and thus be able to consider their classroom acquired knowledge in a more applicable way.

The main message that Professor Pruss wanted to convey to her students was the great extent to which the tsunami impacted areas all over the world, so she set up a curriculum where students would be able to address some of the issues that resulted from such a multifaceted disaster. She broke the class into different groups that focused on specific topics within the larger event. They studied the underlying geology of the disaster (aka what caused the tsunami to occur); the local and global economic consequences; the environmental impacts, including those caused by the Fukushima nuclear crisis; the societal and human impacts; and the specific impacts on the United States. The students then gave presentations and wrote papers based on the research they did, and suggested ways in which the U.S. government could respond most effectively in times of international crisis.

According to Professor Pruss, many of the students were fairly unfamiliar with the tsunami’s hugely devastating impacts. She attributes this to the short focus of the media lens on disasters, which therefore makes her efforts to incorporate current events into a curriculum even more important.

By having this kind of curriculum geared towards a 100-level class, the students that are just beginning their Smith careers are able to gain exposure to complex, multi-faceted issues and thereby develop their critical thinking and responses to these issues as they mature in their learning process.

Be sure to stay tuned for a GEO 108 student’s research findings, which focused on the human and societal impacts of the tsunami.

Curricular Enhancement Grant: Oceanography Cruise!

Each year CEEDS invites proposals from faculty (and teams of faculty) for modification and enhancement of existing courses that will support the CEEDS mission—to graduate women who excel at integrating knowledge across disciplines in support of environmental decisions and actions. Over the next few weeks we will be highlighting some of the excellent and creative work of the faculty who have utilized these Curricular Enhancement Grants. If you have questions regarding Curricular Enhancement Grants please contact Joanne Benkley at jbenkley@smith.edu.

What a beautiful day it was last Friday…the shining sun and the gentle breeze provided the perfect weather conditions for an oceanographic cruise!

Professor Sara Pruss’ GEO 108 class (Oceanography: An Introduction to the Marine Environment) ventured out to Fishers Island Sound in CT last Friday to partake in a cruise where they were able to collect field data and apply classroom-learned concepts to the natural setting they found themselves in–the OCEAN!

It was a great day all around, and there were even three Mount Holyoke students that decided to partake in the adventure.

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This week the class will examine the plankton it gathered and analyze the data it collected on temperature, salinity, and oxygen.

This kind of experience in which students are able to take part in an off-campus project makes their acquired knowledge seem so much more relevant back in the classroom. –> If oceanography is of any interest to you, make sure to stay tuned over the next few days for postings about GEO 108’s study of the devastating 2011 tsunami in Japan…

CEEDS Intern, Angela M. ’14