Students from Mrs. Fischer's Environmental Science and AP Biology classes along with members of the Ecology Club, 32 students in all, participated in the annual Day in the Life of the Hudson on October 15. This is Chatham's 17th year participating in this event, which is coordinated by the Hudson River Estuary Program and partners with the Hudson River National Estuarine Research Preserve, the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the NYS Water Resources Institute at Cornell University. Our students, along with over 5000 other students at 90 different locations from north of the Troy Dam to Manhattan, spent the day exploring and documenting the health of the river.
Chatham’s spot was at the Henry Hudson Riverfront Park in Hudson, where students worked with Ashley Alred from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, who provided chest waders and seining materials for students to catch fish.They caught over 250, mostly bluegills but also a few spottail shiners and banded killifish, and one pumpkin seed. Along with taking core soil samples, they also collected data on water temperature, height of the water due to tides, direction and rate of the current, and levels of dissolved oxygen, nitrates, and phosphates,
It was a fun day and students really enjoyed being outside on the river and collecting data that is useful beyond the classroom. Once all the data is submitted to the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, students will be able to access it to look for similarities and differences along the length of the river and establish where the salt front was on that day.
