Storm King, by Homer Dodge Martin
The Hudson River Watershed:
Source to Sink in Eight Days
Description: This eight-day field course (June 8-15, 2009) will
take advantage of the proximity of one of the large, complex, and fascinating
watersheds on the East coast. Timing will coincide with the onset of many
key processes within the system. The Hudson River watershed is
approximately 35,000 km2 and the River runs 450 km from its source
in the Adirondack Mountains to its exit in New York Harbor.
The Hudson is
tidal for an unusually long reach of 252 km, due to the low elevation
gradient.
In this course, students will travel from the source
areas to the sink (New York
Harbor) and visit
different important components of the watershed. Guest lecturers will be
engaged to provide expert information in various topics, including: the
Adirondacks ecosystem and its associated economy; the Catskills area and its
critical function as water provider for New York City; the suburbanization of
the Mid-Hudson Valley; land use drivers and ecosystem change; the ecology of
the mainstem tidal Hudson
and of its fringing wetlands; pollution upriver from General Electric’s
long-term dumping of PCBs, and remediation activity; heritage commercial
fisheries and conflicts with the sport angling industry; and restoration of the
lower Hudson River and Harbor. Students taking The Hudson River Watershed
will be exposed to research opportunities that are available through such
organizations as the Hudson River Foundation and the Hudson River National
Estuarine Research Reserve, which is part of a national NOAA network.
Enrollment: Course will be limited to 12 students with
permission of instructor. A
few places are available for students not matriculated at SUNY College
of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF). Those students may enroll
in the course through the ESF Outreach program (information available at http://www.esf.edu/outreach/ce/howto.htm)
and complete the registration form (http://www.esf.edu/outreach/ce/documents/CERegistrationForm.pdf.). The form needs to be faxed or mailed (not
e-mailed) in. The course number is EFB
500, Section 03, #41867.
Fees: A fee (beyond the tuition) will be charged for
housing, food, and course expenses. The anticipated fee is around
$300-$350.
Instructor: Karin Limburg Klimburg@esf.edu or 315-470-6741
Suggested
Reading: Levinton, J.S., and J.R. Waldman (editors).
2006. The Hudson River Estuary.
Cambridge University Press. Available online (May 2009!) at: http://life.bio.sunysb.edu/marinebio/hrfhrbook