A summary of current and past research work with the Center.
Student researchers in CAR have presented their findings at regional and national scientific meetings, including the Finger Lakes Region Research Conference, Rochester Academy of Sciences Annual Science Meeting, the National Conference on Undergraduate Research and more.
.
Ecological impacts from deep chlorophyll layers (DCL) in Keuka Lake
Significant DCL’s exist in a number of Finger Lakes, but not all. In these lakes, the majority of the phytoplankton biomass is located in cold water with low light availability. Phytoplankton reside close to their physiological limit in terms of light (as measured by the 1% light level).
DCL phytoplankton are, on average too big for consumption by zooplankton, and this body size shift is a consequence of low light exposure. Therefore much of the primary production in these lakes is not available for the upper-trophic levels (e.g., zooplankton, fish).
Phytoplankton residing at lower depths experience low light and fewer wave lengths of light. Only a limited number of species with sufficient accessory pigments can exist at these depths or if water clarity is reduced.
If light levels for DCL phytoplankton are reduced further (e.g., by shading from bloom-forming Microcystis or other watershed events) then significant changes to the available biomass species structure will occur. Given the current tenuous conditions, small environmental changes could bring about significant and negative ecosystem effects.
.
Students present research work at National Conference on Undergraduate Research
April 2009: Three CAR student researchers will present recent research work at the National Conference of Undergraduate Research (NCUR) in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. The trio of Keuka College sophomore students will present a research poster of their on-going work on water quality issues related to Keuka Lake. The students are Dominique Derminio, Felecia Lenzo, and Aimee Vilardo.
View their poster here. Read the conference abstract here.
**************
Summer Workshop for Area High School Science Teachers
The proposed teachers’ workshop, “Using Zebra Mussels for Good, Not Evil: Hands-On Experiments and Modeling Activities” was funded by RAC-CEMS for Summer 2009. Go to Teacher Workshop to learn more about this.
.
Partnership with Aquatic Research in China
See the following R News story for information about a potential partnership between Keuka College and Wenzhou University in China. See the video and read more about this here.
.
CAR’s research work in multi-institution Owasco Lake project
CAR researchers worked with researchers from Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Cornell University, Finger Lakes Community College and other institutions on a state-funded project investigating water quality issues on Owasco Lake. You can learn more about this project halfman_owasco. You can read the research paper the CAR researchers CAR owasco-project-final-mauscript. This paper features the research work of former Keuka students Adam Coladrea and Josh Lankford.