URM Application • URM Reference Form • People • Events • Buffalo State College

Pymatuning Retreat

Participants in Buffalo State College’s URM Program took part in a week long research retreat on scenic Pymatuning Lake in August 2009. Over the week’s duration, students participated in data collection and instrument use in completing a survey of aquatic and watershed ecology techniques. They performed activities in stream, riparian, and lake habitats. Students examined invertebrate drift rates in Linesville Creek, learned to estimate velocity and discharge, collected and identified benthic insects, mapped in-stream structure, and seined fish. Riparian habitats were characterized by determining importance values of the tree species at varying distances away and upslope from the stream, learning new techniques in compass use, plot layout, tree identification, use of DBH calipers, and clinometers. Lastly, students created a range of chemical profiles for Pymatuning Lake including, dissolved, oxygen, temperature, turbidity, conductivity, and light penetration, while learning to use standard limnological equipment.

We also toured the Linesville State Fish hatchery, where students saw first hand how their studies could be used in natural resource restoration. Another trip was taken to the University of Pittsburg’s Aquatic Research Facility to hear about a wide variety of on-going research in aquatic biology. Of course, a trip to the Linesville region would not be complete without a visit to the well-known “spillway” where thousands of Common Carp roll over each other to get food morsels from tourists. Evenings were spent analyzing data and relaxing on the shores of beautiful Pymatuning Lake. A day was spent canoeing the littoral zone of the lake, with its thick pockets of American lotus. The week came to a culmination on the last day when each of the students presented data summaries from each of the habitats studied.

Return to main page