Spring 2013 - The Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association

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science updateRaritan Scholars Join the WatershedThe Watershed Association is pleased to host three RutgersUniversity students through the Raritan Scholars Internshipprogram for the spring 2013 semester. The Internship is anew course being offered by Dr. Dan Van Abs, a professorin the Department of Human Ecology at Rutgers’ Schoolof Environmental & Biological Sciences and a memberof the Watershed Advisory Board. Through the program,Dr. Van Abs hopes to provide students with opportunitiesfor real-world engagement with water resources issuesusing field work, research, communications, and otherhands-on activities.The interns will help with two of our major Science projects.Harrison Grindberg, an Environmental Policy, Institutions,and Behavior major from Jackson, NJ, and Joseph Todd,who hails from Cherry Hill, NJ, and is majoring in Ecology,Evolution, and Natural Resources, will work on our PeddieLake source tracking initiative. Specifically, they will continuefield investigations that were started in the summer of 2012during which water samples from Peddie Lake and itstributaries were collected and analyzed for fecal pathogens.While this sampling program identified the tributary that isa major source of pathogens to the lake, the Rutgers internswill conduct additional sampling this spring to identify thespecific inputs to the lake, which may include farms withlivestock, failing septic systems, leaking sewer lines, or areasof high Canada geese populations. Upon our identificationof the sources, the Watershed Association will work withmunicipal officials or the property owners to reduce oreliminate pathogenic inputs to the stream.Interns Harrison Grindberg, Joseph Todd & Elizabeth PyshnikElizabeth Pyshnik, a Bioenvironmental Engineering majorfrom Galloway, NJ, will assist with our Harry’s Brook stormwatermanagement initiative in Princeton. The WatershedAssociation started this program in the summer of 2012 toeducate municipal officials, property owners/managers, andinterested parties about ways to reduce polluted runoff intoHarry’s Brook. Elizabeth will help promote this initiative byhosting a series of public education sessions, such as rainbarrel and rain garden installation events, and developingeducational materials that will be distributed throughoutthe Harry’s Brook watershed.Cleaner Streams for Earth DayHow will you celebrate Earth Day on April 22nd? Are you looking to meet otherspassionate about clean water and the environment? Want to lend your hand toimprove your community and be a positive role model for your children?Then, join the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association for our 7th Annual StreamCleanup events scheduled for April 20, 21, 27, and 28. In partnership with municipalitiesthroughout our watershed, the Watershed Association will host approximatelya dozen stream cleanup events this spring. The exact dates, times, and locations willbe published on our website, www.thewatershed.org, as they are finalized.The Geddes Family at theFranklin Township clean-upSince starting the annual stream cleanups, Watershed Association volunteers havehelped remove more than 22 tons of trash polluting our streams, rivers and otherdrinking water sources. Thanks to the efforts of volunteers, our shared waterwaysare cleaner and our communities more beautiful.4 Spring 2013 www.thewatershed.org
Speaking of natureA Curious Arcby Jeff HoaglandThere are many things to love about living here in centralNew Jersey and one of my favorites is the seasonality. I likehaving at least four distinct seasons—the change of theseasons gives us so much variety in life. Here we are withour backs to winter, saying good bye (good riddance?) andonce again enjoying the rebirth and renewal that springbrings. Get outside, take a slow deep breath and watchyour step so as not to punish any of the earthworms who,just like you, are pushing the season just a bit.You are probably noticing spring’s arrival from inside yourhouse as well. Maybe you have a collection of ladybugs thathave been sitting quietly inside your south-facing windows.If you have been paying attention you know that they havebeen getting a bit acrobatic lately, running to and fro, andmaking short interrupted flights against the glass. Like us,they sense spring, and they want a piece of it. Or maybe yourhouse harbors marmorated stinkbugs. They have beenhiding since their autumn entrance, throughout the longwinter, but now they are taking to the air, buzzing theirway across the room into the hard light of the windowpane.There are more glamorous examples of insects awakeningout in the field. I love to visit the spring beauties, not justfor the loveliness of their pink-striped white petals, butalso to watch a myriad of eager, hungry insects sippingnectar. In addition to the familiar bumblebee and eventhe honeybee, you should expect to encounter some trulystunning creatures: watch for the sparkling flash of metallicgreen cuckoo bees; listen to the tiny whirring of wings onfurry giant bee flies, and search carefully for the hover fly,darting on invisibly fast wings.Inside the house, it may be difficult for some to admire thewonder of insects but outside, with a little patience, it isimpossible to deny. Try sitting in a meadow near a singingfield cricket this spring. Everyone enjoys a concerto. Or totest your wonder-gauge, watch a spittlebug feeding, inflatinga protective shelter of tiny iridescent bubbles. Nice trick. Ifthere is wonder in this world, it is generated most by oursmallest neighbors.As the season progresses from spring into summer, I willspend an increasing amount of time crouched close toJeff Hoagland at Watershed FEST with KatherineBrauer Carmichael.the ground. I have forever shared this passion for insectswith everyone—especially my family and staff. KatherineBrauer Carmichael discovered the magic of insects whileworking with children as a camp counselor at our WatershedNature Camp. Those insect encounters, and herwork at the camp in general have shaped the arc of herwork since.At the camp, Katherine learned through teaching. Sheadmired the resilience and adaptability of insects as muchas their beauty and diversity. She relished the idea that everyinsect is different and that each has their own specialskills. Insects offered a resonant lesson in ecology—everything is connected.Katherine held onto her ecology lessons, taking them forsome time into another field altogether—social work. Shesaw the notion of interconnectness absolutely relevantin that field as she began to work with inner-city youthin the Bronx. After much success there, she has returnedhome, to Princeton. As Program Director at the Princeton–Blairstown Center, she plans to blend her interest in naturalecology and human ecology into programming for urbanyouth in the mountains of New Jersey.I am happy for the change in seasons. I am pleased for ourcamp staff alumnus Katherine Brauer Carmichael. I amparticularly delighted that summer camp spins its magicin so many different ways, sometimes with the help ofsome little friends.Spring 2013 www.thewatershed.org 5
Page 2 and 3: FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORWill Hop
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Page 8 and 9: May 18Back to the River—Millstone
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Spring 2013 - The Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association

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