Last Wednesday, Matt Regan had some extra help with his fieldwork on the St. Lawrence River.

Regan, a master’s student studying ecology at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, worked with 45 seventh-grade students from a high school near the St. Lawrence River on a field study of wetlands.

This experience was part of the In the Schools program, which is run by Save The River, a nonprofit organization that works to protect the ecosystem of the upper St. Lawrence River, according to its website.

Regan is studying wetland restoration and invasive species, so he said he saw participating in Save The River’s In the Schools program as a valuable opportunity to enhance his studies.

The seventh-graders were given spades and shovels before going out into the marshes with Regan and other ESF graduate researchers. The students spent the afternoon helping the researchers digging up invasive cattail, Regan said.

“It’s definitely great to have help out in the field,” Regan said.

The students weren’t afraid to get their hands dirty, Regan said. He added they had a lot of energy and seemed very interested in learning about the marshes.

One of the students in the group even told Regan that he wanted to pursue a career in life sciences and forestry.

“It was really cool to talk to them and hear their ideas and how excited they are about this stuff,” Regan said.

John Farrell, director of the Thousand Islands Biological Station and associate professor at ESF, said the college has assisted with Save The River’s In the Schools program for many years.

But this is the first time that students from schools near the St. Lawrence River have actually worked with ESF researchers in the field, Farrell said.

“We’ve partnered with them to use our research programs as a source of information for the teachers,” he said.

These research programs are also providing a source of interactive learning for students from the St. Lawrence River area, Farrell added.

By digging up the invasive cattail species, Farrell said the seventh-graders and ESF researchers helped give the natural cattail a chance to regrow by uncovering the dormant natural cattail seeds.

“We are working to enhance wetlands through bringing back native plants,” Farrell said.

Farrell also said he intends to revisit the sites where the invasive cattail was dug up to see if the indigenous plants and animals are making comebacks.

Lee Willbanks, executive director and upper St. Lawrence riverkeeper for Save The River, said the domination of cattail and decrease in wetland water levels are two environmental problems the program is currently focused on.

“We are very concerned with the invasive species that have come in on ocean-going ships and wreaked havoc on natural wetland ecosystems,” Willbanks said.

The students who participated in the field study got to see the spread of the invasive cattail. This experience was a hands-on part of their science class curriculums, Willbanks said.

The In the Schools portion of the Save The River program doesn’t only engage students in seventh grade, Willbanks said, but everyone from kindergarteners to high school seniors can also work in the field with researchers from the Save The River program and ESF.

“We’ve worked very hard to make sure the curriculum is age appropriate,” Willbanks said, “But it’s always impressive how they reach a little beyond where you think they are going to be.”

The students brought back some of the soil from their trip so they could continue studying the marsh ecology in the classroom, Willbanks said.

ESF is the only college that Save The River currently partners with, Willbanks said. But he also said he is hoping to get other colleges involved that work on environmental issues on the St. Lawrence River.

“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to work with other institutions along the river,” Willbanks said, “But ESF has such a good grounding in the biology of plants and wildlife; it’s just a natural fit.”

Published on October 14, 2012 at 11:00 pm

Contact Shannon: smhazlit@syr.edu