On Tuesday, Albany High students had the unique opportunity to partner with the New York State Department of Environmental Conversation (DEC) to collect data and interact with the Hudson River by participating in
Accompanied by Albany High science teachers Kristin Bonds and Lawrence Bizzarro, 22 students who are currently taking Earth and Space Sciences and Advanced Placement Environmental Science traveled to the Corning Preserve to take part in a hands-on lesson where they not only learned about river ecology, but also about potential career pathways in fields such as environmental sciences, biology, ecology and physical sciences.
Albany High senior Reece Henry, has been fascinated with aquatic wildlife since he was little, and he plans to pursue a job where he can engage his interests in his daily work.
"I'm interested in either aquatic or marine biology," said Henry. "I've always loved fish, I like to go fishing, I have a bunch of fish tanks."
Although Henry doesn't have his sights set on a specific job, he looks forward to exploring his options as he pursues a college degree post-graduation. "There are so many jobs that you can have," he noted. "And you can study so many different kinds of animals and organisms."
The field trip was a huge success! With the support of their teachers and the DEC employees, our Falcons utilized scientific instruments and field equipment to evaluate the physical and chemical aspects of the water, record data about the tide and current and capture and identify types of fish.
"It's just a great opportunity for the kids to get out, get their hands wet, get in the water, see the Hudson River and really interact with the Hudson River," shared DEC biologist, Sean Madden.
"They can look at their data from today and compare it to all the years that we've collected data here at the Corning Preserve. And then they can compare their data to all the other students that are collecting that same information at different locations all up and down the Hudson River."
The Corning Preserve is just one of approximately 90 sites where students are collecting data as part of this incredible project that has been happening annually since 2003.
While the students enjoyed all the activities, the highlight of the day was putting on waders and utilizing the seine nets to capture and identify fish. There are over 200 species of fish in the Hudson, including catfish, which our students got to see up close and personal!
To learn more about this experience our students took part in, visit the ".