Limnological equipment for the Ballston Lake Initiative

联合学院的环境研究(ES)项目，通过地质学、土木工程、生物和化学系，正在倡导一项名为巴尔斯顿湖倡议的重大新研究和教学指令。该倡议的中心焦点是巴尔斯顿湖，作为一个随着时间推移而演变的环境系统。这一广泛的倡议包括各种跨学科和多学科的班级、领域和研究项目。我们的ES计划是提供计划连续性所需的工具，因为该计划吸收了学院许多部门的各种专业知识，并将在一系列动手的、面向领域的计划中促进部门间合作和跨学科教学。巴尔斯顿湖靠近校园，提供了大量的科学机会，使其成为关注环境的项目和课程之间的理想纽带。这一倡议将引起多个系的兴趣，一旦启动，将为联合学院蓬勃发展的环境研究项目提供实地框架。该倡议需要四件主要的实地设备，这些设备将作为湖泊学研究的基础，并将为实地班级提供进入该湖的通道。该设备包括一艘浮船作为一间“漂浮的教室”，一个用于测量湖泊沉积物厚度的地震剖面仪，一个用于高分辨率湖底测绘的侧扫声纳，以及一个高精度全球定位系统。巴尔斯顿湖倡议将把重点放在以实地为基础的课堂上，促进环境研究、地质学、土木工程、生物和化学方面的研究性学习。我们预计，巴尔斯顿湖倡议将刺激学生发起的关于巴尔斯顿湖及其分水岭的各种研究项目。这里建议的设备将是这些研究项目和教师培训文科硕士(MAT)计划不可或缺的一部分。与以前NSF-ILI赠款购买的所有设备一样，我们将向附近机构的研究人员提供拟议的设备。

The Environmental Studies (ES) program, through the Geology, Civil Engineering, Biology, and Chemistry Departments, at Union College is advocating a major new research and teaching directive entitled the Ballston Lake Initiative. The central focus of the initiative is Ballston Lake as an environmental system that has evolved through time. This broad-based initiative includes a variety of class field and research projects which are interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary. Our ES program is the vehicle needed to provide continuity to the initiative because the program draws a variety of expertise from many departments across the College and will foster interdepartmental collaboration and interdisciplinary teaching in a series of hands-on, field-oriented programs. The proximity of Ballston Lake to campus and the plethora of scientific opportunities that it affords make the lake the ideal link between projects and courses with an environmental focus. This initiative will generate interest from a variety of departments and, once started, will provide the field framework for the burgeoning Environmental Studies Program at Union College. The Initiative requires four major pieces of field equipment which will serve as a basis for limnological studies and will provide field classes access to the lake. This equipment includes a pontoon boat as a "floating classroom" a seismic profiler for measurement of lacustrine sediment thickness, a side scan sonar for high-resolution mapping of the lake floor, and a high-precision global positioning system. The Ballston Lake Initiative will bring focus to field-based classes that promote investigative learning in environmental studies, geology, civil engineering, biology and chemistry. We anticipate that the Ballston Lake Initiative will stimulate a diverse range of student-initiated research projects on the Lake and its watershed. The equipment proposed herein will be integral to these research projects and to teacher training in the Master of Arts in Teaching ( MAT) program. As with all equipment purchased on previous NSF-ILI grants, we will make the proposed equipment available to researchers at nearby institutions.