Keeping and Serving God's Creation ... Genesis 2:15

STUDENT AND FACULTY RESEARCH PROJECTS Stony Brook Audubon Sanctuary, Norfolk, MA We have recently formed a partnership with the Stony Brook Audubon Sanctuary to conduct a baseline monitoring project for their two freshwater ponds.  Our biology students will be collecting and analyzing samples of macroinvertebrates (insects, crustaceans, etc.) to determine their relative densities and species richness in the pond communities.  Chemistry students under the direction of Dr. Timothy Wooster will also analyze water samples for phosphate and nitrate levels, as well as metals concentrations in the pond water.  Students will prepare a baseline monitoring report that will be used to track changes in the pond community over time.  ENC students will be collecting and analyzing these samples on an annual basis. Senior biology major Kristel Pendleton is working as a student intern at the sanctuary, collecting data on two vernal pool communities.  She will be counting wood frog and spotted salamander egg masses so that the sanctuary can track these populations over time as well.  She also has the opportunity to assist with environmental education programs for elementary school children. Fore River Watershed Association ENC is also forging a partnership with the local Fore River Watershed Association.  Our aquatic ecology class will be performing a baseline assessment of Smelt Brook, a tributary of the Fore River, during March and April 2006.  The results of this survey will not only be reported to the watershed association, but also to the Conservation Commission of the City of Braintree, MA and the park supervisors at Pond Meadow Park. Smithfield Land Trust Junior biology student Jonathan Youngman will be an intern for the land trust of the town of Smithfield, Rhode Island this summer.  This internship will allow Jonathan to fulfill his internship requirement for the biology department and also complete the research project required of all biology and environmental science students.  Jonathan will be monitoring 5 vernal pool communities on the Wolf Hill Forest Preserve, determining the length of time each pool is flooded (the hydroperiod) and the species using the pools for breeding.  Specifically, he will be performing egg mass counts of wood frog and spotted salamander populations, determining larval densities, and evaluating which portions of the pools are being utilized by the larvae during their development period.  The land trust hopes to use this data to pursue government grants for restoring vernal pools where the hydroperiod is being shortened due to rapid influx of detritus from the surrounding forest.

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