Limnological equipment for the Ballston Lake Initiative

环境研究（ES）计划，通过地质学，土木工程，生物学和化学系，在联合学院正在倡导一个新的研究和教学的主要指令，题为Ballston湖倡议。该倡议的中心焦点是Ballston湖作为一个随着时间的推移而演变的环境系统。这一基础广泛的倡议包括各种跨学科和多学科的课堂领域和研究项目。我们的ES计划是提供连续性的举措所需的工具，因为该计划从整个学院的许多部门吸取了各种专业知识，并将促进跨部门的合作和跨学科的教学在一系列动手，面向现场的程序。Ballston湖靠近校园，它提供了大量的科学机会，使湖泊成为项目和课程之间的理想联系，以环境为重点。这一举措将引起各部门的兴趣，一旦开始，将为联合学院蓬勃发展的环境研究项目提供实地框架。 该倡议需要四个主要的实地设备，这些设备将作为湖沼学研究的基础，并将为实地班提供进入湖泊的机会。这一设备包括一艘作为“浮动教室”的浮船、一台用于测量湖泊沉积厚度的地震剖面仪、一台用于高分辨率湖底测绘的侧扫声纳和一个高精度全球定位系统。Ballston Lake倡议将重点放在实地课程上，促进环境研究、地质学、土木工程、生物学和化学方面的研究性学习。我们预计，Ballston湖倡议将刺激各种各样的学生发起的研究项目的湖及其流域。本文提出的设备将是不可或缺的，这些研究项目和教师培训艺术在教学（MAT）计划的硕士。与以前的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.