2014 ANNUAL REPORT the Susquehanna River, and Its Collaboration, and the Issues Faced in Watershed, Define the Quality of Life for Their Research
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Presented by the SusRqueHhanCna ERivS er Heartland Coalition for Environmental Studies Pulse of the Heartland 2014 ANNUAL REPORT The Susquehanna River, and its collaboration, and the issues faced in watershed, define the quality of life for their research. These meetings provide a all who live, work and play within its forum to not only share information, but boundaries. Arguably this region’s most to also discuss partnerships. important asset it provides half of the fresh SRHCES has been meeting for a water that reaches the Chesapeake Bay. Its number of years now. The summer work influence extends beyond Pennsylvania to with interns from the various member the lives of many within the Chesapeake colleges and universities has allowed the Bay area. man-power necessary for the SRHCES In recognition of this tremendous asset, members to take on a variety of research six regional colleges and universities joined projects, as well as provided those other partners, including Geisinger Health SRHCES students with invaluable field experience. System, Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy, One thing we did this year was contact some of the the Forum for Pennsylvania’s Heartland and interns from the past to find out what they’re SEDA-COG, to work with state agencies doing now, and how their internship and Chesapeake Bay affiliates to form For more with a SRHCES member helped the Susquehanna River Heartland information about prepare them for their career. Some Coalition for Environmental SRHCES, of these former students are working Studies (SRHCES ). Through the please visit for consulting firms, others have Coalition, the faculty, students and www.SRHCES.org. gone on to pursue advanced degrees, staff’s impressive talents are engaged to while others are now working for study and monitor environmental issues state agencies and commissions to study within the watershed. Additional promotion and water quality. support for this effort have come from sponsors such We hope you enjoy the updates on the scientists’ as Sunbury Broadcasting Co., The Daily Item, the work and research related to the Susquehanna River Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds and the and the terrestrial habitat along its banks. Degenstein Foundation. We’ve also included updates from our partners at SRHCES’s members meet monthly to discuss Geisinger Environmental Health Institute and individual research projects, opportunities for Sunbury Broadcasting. MAP COURTESY OF JEFF BRUNSKILL, DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY & GEOSCIENCES, BLOOMSBURG UNIVERSITY Monitoring the Susquehanna Dr. Jonathan Niles Director Mike Bilger Aquatic Research Assistant Susquehanna Susquehanna University’s University RK Mellon, Freshwater Research Initiative Dr. Niles has four projects this summer. He and other researchers at Susquehanna University are working to start the three year Freshwater Research Initiative funded by a $2.25 million dollar grant from the RK Mellon Foundation. The first project Dr. Niles and his lab are continuing is their work with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission on the Unassessed Waters Initiative. Since beginning on the project in 2011, Dr. Niles and his team have assessed 340 total streams and documented the presence of trout in 205 of the previously unassessed streams. This year, they plan to assess another 150 named and un-named tributaries for brook and brown trout this summer. Dr. Niles is focus - ing on un-named tributaries in Schrader Creek in Bradford County, and Loyalsock Creek in Sullivan and Dr. Niles’ student interns electro-fishing in a stream for wild trout Lycoming Counties as previous research has shown 50% populations. of the un-named tributaries contain trout. Dr. Niles is also studying how Marcellus shale geological formation recovery of trout populations in Loyalsock Creek. Once may affect trout streams in Pennsylvania highlands. problem locations have been determined, Dr. Niles will Dr. Niles is also working with Mike Bilger in stream work with stakeholder groups to best determine assessments. Mike Bilger was recently named a full-time restoration efforts that might be possible and most researcher at Susquehanna University and is working in cost effective. Through this process they will leverage cooperation with Dr. Niles under the RK Mellon available restoration funds to begin implementation of Foundation. His project involves deploying rock baskets targeted restoration efforts of gravel roadways and in the Susquehanna River Basin to look at water quality, culverts within the watershed. algae populations, and macroinvertebrates. Mike Bilger The third project Dr. Niles is working on is a is also continuing his work with the Snyder County long-term headwater stream assessment of brook trout Conservation District to put together an Ecology Day populations and benthic macroinvertebrates. The for local citizens which allows the general public to project assesses the regional food web and biotic collect their own water samples, macroinvertebrates, response to flooding and suggests ways biotic and fish from demonstration tanks. He is also communities recover and restructure themselves to continuing his investigation into the spread and pre-flooding conditions. Data about benthic importance of crayfish in the river systems. macroinvertebrates, fish populations, and diet was Another project Dr. Niles’ lab is working on is in collected from 30 streams within Loyalsock Creek in cooperation with Loyalsock Creek Watershed 2012 and 2013. Data collected shows stabilization of Association, Trout Unlimited, and Loyalsock State benthic communities approximately 1 year post flood. Forest to examine how sedimentation from culvert Data collected from 2014 on brook trout populations replacement and road reconstruction on gravel roads shows that streams are recovering back to pre-flood following flooding devastation caused by Hurricane population levels, but there are still differences in the Irene and Tropical Storm Lee may be impacting 3 age structure. The final project Dr. Niles is involved with this 3,000,000 to 6,000,000 letters long. Every type of summer is a study of smallmouth bass movement organism has a specific gene called 16S rRNA and the dynamics. Partnered with Penn State and the sequence of that gene alone often is sufficient to identify Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, the goal of that organism. For the bacterial side of the project, Dr. the study is to quantify seasonal movement and Newman and the students isolate the unique gene thermal habitat use of smallmouth bass in the West sequence and analyze it to identify the specific bacteria. Branch Susquehanna. They are evaluating movement in Lycoming College students Hannah Morrisette and conjunction with water quality to inform future fish Miranda Giraldo are working with Dr. Newman on the health and disease work on the Susquehanna. bacterial research along with high school students Joe Dinsmore and Sydney Blosser. The crews are still working to prepare samples, and Jeff Newman Dr. Newman is confident analysis will be completed Associate Professor of Biology this Fall. Lycoming College Dr. Jeff Newman is one of the collaborators working with Geoff Dr. Benjamin Hayes Smith (PFBC) and Vicki Blazer Director, Susquehanna River (USGS) on the health issues of Initiative smallmouth bass. Dr. Newman and his students are Bucknell University studying viruses and bacteria that may be the cause. Dr. Benjamin Hayes directs the Watershed Sciences Often in DNA work, researchers will look just at and Engineering (WSE) program at Bucknell University specific genes. For this project, however, the researchers and helps faculty and students on a number of projects want to sequence the whole in the Susquehanna watershed. He continues to work genome. Dr. Newman Deoxyribonucleic closely with Bucknell aquatic ecologist Sean Reese to explained that the whole acid, or DNA, is a oversee a network of instruments used to monitor flow genome would be somewhere molecule that holds and water quality conditions in the River and several between 100,000 and 150,000 genetic instructions tributaries. He continues to organize the annual letters (G, A, T, and C) long. used by all known Susquehanna River Symposium, which this year is This requires more DNA living organisms and entitled “Science and the River” and will be held many viruses to November 21 and 22 at the Elaine Langone Center. which is part of the guide development reason for allowing the viruses and functioning. Ben provides fluvial geomorphology expertise to the to grow and reproduce. There are four University's stream restoration project on Miller Run, Lycoming College students nucleobases that and spent several weeks in May and June drilling test Shannon Pipes and Samantha form DNA. Each borings and installing a network of monitoring wells, Stropko are working with Dr. nucleobase is stream gages, and weather station. The rest of the Newman on the project. The represented by a summer he helped various WSE students and faculty students are continuing to single letter, G, A, T, with their field work, including Erin Cox and Tucker work on preparing the or C. Cottrell, both Civil and Environmental Engineering samples for sequencing. students under the direction Dr. Jessica T. Newlin who The bacterial samples Dr. Newman is processing are are studying river temperature and bedforms, and collected from live fish. Smith transported the fish to Madeline Dulac, a geology student under the direction Lycoming College in water of Dr. R. Craig Kochel, who is developing a stream The