ISSUE: SUMMER 2013

Located in Cooperstown and founded in 1968, the Biological Field Station is a unique facility serving the Upper Susquehanna Water-shed, Otsego County and the immediate Cooperstown area. It is primarily a teach-ing and research center for undergraduate and graduate students from across New York, the United States, and Canada. Directed by Dr. Willard Harman and staffed with talented, experienced professionals, the Biological Field Station is presently the focal point for information about issues affecting Lake Otsego and the Susque-hanna River.

ReporterThe Biological Field Station is a facility of the State University of New York College at Oneonta

We are now routinely post-ing Otsego Lake water quality updates on our web page bfs.oneonta.edu.

INSIDE• Summer Interns • Updates

Cont. on p.2

Summer Interns

This summer, 16 students were supported by a diversity of grants and contracts. Kaylee Herzog, Becky Russell, Aus-tin Borden and Erica Darpino are all SUNY Oneonta students working under the direction of Florian Reyda. Kaylee is the Biology Department Intern, with support spilt between the NSF and the OCCA W.N. Harman Internship. Becky is a Student Research Assistant, also NSF- Funded. Both Kaylee and Becky are describing new species of parasites from skates and rays of Borneo. Austin is a Field Station Intern, conducting a survey of parasitic nematodes in Otsego Lake fishes. Erica,

with BFS support, is con-ducting a survey of digenean parasites in Otsego Lake snails.

Deanna Cracciolo is an Intern sponsored by the Otsego Land Trust working with Bill Har-man on a survey of aquatic invasive species in Otsego County. She is also working under the guidance of David Wong to determine the size distribution and density of adult zebra mussels in Otsego Lake, and with Paul Lord in a survey updating the status of pearly mussels in Otsego Lake. Steve Stowell of SUNY Cobleskill holds the MacWatters Intern-ship in Fisheries Science. He is working on trap netting in Rat

Cove and Brookwood point, and is continuing the study of Moe Pond fish community dynamics.

The remaining undergraduate interns are all Oneonta stu-dents: Annie Yoo and Jennifer Vanassche, with BFS support, are working with Bill Har-man on a NYC DEP contract conducting surveys of aquatic invasive species in the NYC Watershed/Catskills region. Annie is also working under the guidance of David Wong analyzing growth rates of zebra mussels in Otsego Lake. Jennifer is also working under the guidance of David Wong to analyze samples of Otsego Lake benthic organisms from 2008 (pre-zebra mussels). Lisa Newton, a BFS Intern on the NYC DEP contract is working with Jeff Heilveil on use of DNA molecular techniques to detect aquatic exotic species.

Christopher Teter holds the Rufus J. Thayer Internship, sponsored by the Otsego County Conservation Associa-tion. He is monitoring water quality and nutrient concentra-

BFS interns, staff and faculty at aWednesday seminar at the UIC

☛ Les Hasbargan (Assistant Professor in Earth & Atmo-spheric Sciences), Christoph Geiss (Professor, Environ-mental Science, Trinity Col-lege, CT), and Dan Kopec (undergraduate Geology major at SUNY Oneonta) retrieved 5 m of lake sediment core from Otsego Lake last winter. Dan investigated the use of the FlowCAM, an automated particle detection and counting instrument (flow cytometer) at the BFS, as a tool for de-termining particle size and type. His work suggests that FlowCAM can discriminate certain kinds of diatoms, and could be used to investigate variations in diatom abun-

Updates, cont. from p. 4

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Interns, cont. from p. 1

dance over time as recorded by lake sediments. Along with Myles Moore, Alayna Fuess, and Joe Spaulding (undergraduate Geology ma-jors at SUNY Oneonta) Les is collecting surface and ground-water draining from bedrock in northern Otsego County. Two thrusts of the project include geochemical char-acterization and “typing” of groundwater with various rock units including the Marcellus shale, and an investigation of groundwater chemistry around a regional fracture system in Greenwoods Conservancy. The goal is to determine if groundwater discharge is sourced from deeper aquifers along the fracture.

☛ Biology’s Lake Manage-ment graduate students are now active on 6 lakes locally and around the State. Five are developing comprehensive management plans; Owen Zaengle is working on the first of the Indian River Lakes Conservancy waters, Grass Lake, near the St. Lawrence River north of Tug Hill. Ja-son Luce is doing research on two connected lakes in Madison County; Hatch Lake and Bradley Brook Reservoir. Derek Johnson is developing a plan for Panther Lake north of Oneida Lake. Carter Bai-ley is studying Canadarago Lake. Caitlin Stroosnyder is working on Goodyear Lake.

Unlike the others, Shannon O’Neill is running a series of laboratory experiments under the direction of David Wong in an attempt to determine the appropriate concentrations of chemicals needed to protect Cooperstown’s potable sup-ply from zebra mussels..

☛ Plans have been formal-ized to install a phosphorus removal module as part of the existing onsite wastewater treatment system at the main lab. The media involved is that which had been evaluated by the BFS as part of a DEC grant. Its performance will be evaluated, and, if successful, may serve as a prototype for commercially available units.

Shannon O’Neill with tanks used to ascertain zebra mussel response to various concentrations of toxic chemicals.

tions in the major tributaries to Otsego Lake to evaluate long-term changes and the effectiveness of Agricultural BMPs. Alexander Lawrence is a Field Station intern working with Sean Robinson to study dispersal mechanisms and rates of colony growth of woodland mosses. Myles Moore holds the Greenwoods Conservancy

Internship. He is working with Les Hasbargen to study the elemental chemistry of drink-ing water wells within Otsego County and small surface waters draining the Marcellus shale formation. Alayna Fuess and Joe Spaulding, both Stu-dent Research Assistants, are also working with Les to docu-ment the elemental chemistry

and water quality of surface waters draining the Marcellus shale formation and drinking water wells in northern Otsego County.

Clara Tanner, recently gradu-ated from Schenevus Central School, and Tyler Bianchine of Sharron Springs Central School, hold FHV Mecklen-burg Fellowships. Clara, sup-

ported by the Otsego County Conservation Association, is surveying the Otsego Lake zooplankton community and profiling chlorophylla concen-trations in Otsego Lake. Tyler, sponsored by the Village of Cooperstown, is monitoring fecal coliform and water qual-ity in the Upper Susquehanna River.

❧Ken Wagner, CLM (Water Resources Services), algae workshop in Biol 691 Management of the aquatic biota.

Netting fry to establish walleye spawning success.

☛ Mary-Elizabeth Miller, a former BFS intern, has been working at the NOAA Resto-ration Center, Dauphin Island, AL. As senior author, she recently published Environ-mental evidence that seasonal hypoxia enhances survival and success of jellyfish polyps in the northern Gulf of Mexico in the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology.

☛ Florian Reyda and his students have continued their efforts with a variety of fish parasite studies. During the 2012/13 academic year Reyda. Danielle Willsey and Kaylee

Herzog did descriptive work on a new species of cestode (tapeworm) from a stingray species from Coastal Ma-laysian Borneo. Kaylee has continued these efforts in collaboration with Rebecca Russell during this summer (see “Summer Interns” page 1). Reyda’s students have also continued to conduct research on fish parasites from Otsego Lake. During the school year Florian was assisted by stu-dents Austin Borden, Aman-da Sendkewitz, Joe West-enberger and Rebecca Rus-sell to collect parasites from

stream fish from Otsego Lake tributar-ies. More re-cently, Erica and Austin have focused on species of trematodes and nematodes that occur in Otsego Lake.

☛ Jeff Heilveil led three Bi-ology Club camping trips to the UIC this year, including the first winter camping trip. The Biology Department has purchased new tents and was able to house all students in

tents at the most recent trip. Dur-ing the trips, students sur-veyed fishes, plants, and insects with the help of various fac-ulty from the department. A d d i t i o n -ally, Jeff is holding his biennial Field Entomology

at the BFS from July 1 – 16. Students camp on BFS prop-erty and while learning sight-identification and the ecology of 120 families of insects, they add to our growing taxa list for BFS properties. Additionally, he is working with a summer intern on a NYC DEP contract to use environmental DNA techniques to survey reservoirs for invasive species.

☛ Ken Wagner, CLM (Water Resources Services), algae workshop in Biol 691 Manage-ment of the aquatic biota. Ad-ditional visiting lecturers this year have been; Steve Souza, CLM (President, Princeton Hydro), Glenn Sullivan, CLM (President, Allied Biologi-cal), Robert Johnson (Cornell University), John Foster and Mark Cornwell (SUNY Co-bleskill) and Scott Kishbaugh (NYSDEC).

The work of the Biological Field Station is strengthened and enhanced by private financial support from individuals, founda-tions, businesses, corporations and civic organizations. In fact, these contributions are neces-sary for the continued success of the Biological Field Station and all of the services provided to the community. For more information, call or write:

Dr. Willard Harman, Prof. & Dir. 5838 St. Hwy. 80 Cooperstown, NY 13326

(607) 547-8778 Fax: (607) 547-5114 E-mail: willard.harman@oneonta.edu BFS Web Page: www.BFS.Oneonta.edu

As an academic program within the State University College at Oneonta, the Biological Field Station receives fund raising services through the College at Oneonta Foundation, a nonprofit charitable organization. All gifts and grants for the BFS are tax deductible. They are managed by the Foundation and used expressly for the purposes for which they were given. Estate planning gifts such as bequests and trusts are also sought and appreciated. More information is available by contacting:

The College at Oneonta Foundation 308 Netzer Administration Building SUNY College at Oneonta Oneonta, NY 13820

(607) 436-2535 Fax: (607) 436-2686

Updates

Dr. David Wong

Cont. on p.3

☛ Dr. David Wong is a new faculty member shared by the BFS and the Oneonta Biology Department. He is interested in aquatic ecology, aquatic toxicity, pollution ecology, and ecological modeling. He has studied ecology and physiol-ogy of bivalve mollusks and other shellfish for 22 years. He is especially interested in quagga and zebra mussels. His past research on aquatic invasive species has helped establish national standards on watercraft decontamination. His current research is on biol-ogy, control, and management of zebra mussels in Otsego Lake and the Susquehanna River. David is the driving force behind the establishment of the Technical Center on

Aquatic Nuisance Species (TCANS) (www.oneonta.edu/TCANS) at the BFS. TCANS is composed of a team of worldwide experts currently conducting research on differ-ent types of aquatic nuisance species (ANS). It offers sound science, innovative technology and knowledge in control and management of ANS and sus-tainable development of lakes, reservoirs, rivers and coastal areas. It is designed to provide services including early detec-tion, prevention, control and restoration technologies.

☛ Holly Waterfield is con-tinuing research to document changes in food web relation-ships and the trophic status of Otsego Lake. Larval fish (fry) were sampled in late May to look for signs of suc-cessful walleye reproduction and recruitment. The spring hydroacoustic survey was conducted the night of 5 May with Mark Cornwell of SUNY Cobleskill and Steve Stowell to assess lake-wide alewife abundance. Further surveys of alewife are planned for July to assess the growth and condition of the current

population. Matt Albright and Holly have also been very busy training graduate students and interns in field and laboratory equipment and techniques. It appears like the whitefish (Otsego Bass) (Coregonus clupeaformis) are making a comeback, apparently as a result of the drastic reduction of the alewife (Alosa pseu-doharangus) population in Otsego Lake. After years of absence we saw a few young, healthy specimens last fall. Zooplankton are increasing to a size similar to that they exhibited 30 years ago.

☛ Goodyear Swamp Sanc-tuary trail and walkway are closed for repairs until further notice. The original posts and structural framing are beyond simple repairs. We have a contractors estimate for almost $200,000 to fix the problems. We simply don’t have that kind of money at this time. The original walkways were constructed in 1982 by Bill and Barb Harman and two BFS interns over one summer for the price of local hemlock. Times have changed!

Graduate students with Mark Cornwell