Limnological equipment for the Ballston Lake Initiative

联合学院的环境研究（ES）项目，通过地质、土木工程、生物和化学部门，正在倡导一项名为“鲍尔斯顿湖倡议”的重要的新研究和教学指令。该计划的中心焦点是鲍尔斯顿湖作为一个环境系统，随着时间的推移而演变。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项目是为该计划提供连续性所需的工具，因为该项目吸引了学院许多部门的各种专业知识，并将在一系列实践的、面向领域的项目中促进跨部门合作和跨学科教学。鲍尔斯顿湖靠近校园，它提供了大量的科学机会，使该湖成为项目和以环境为重点的课程之间的理想联系。这项倡议将引起各部门的兴趣，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。该倡议需要四个主要的实地设备，这些设备将作为湖沼学研究的基础，并为实地班提供进入湖泊的通道。该设备包括一艘作为“浮动教室”的浮桥船、一个用于测量湖泊沉积物厚度的地震剖面仪、一个用于绘制湖底高分辨率地图的侧扫声纳和一个高精度的全球定位系统。鲍尔斯顿湖计划将把重点放在以实地为基础的课程上，以促进环境研究、地质学、土木工程、生物学和化学方面的调查性学习。我们预计，鲍尔斯顿湖倡议将激发一系列由学生发起的关于该湖及其流域的研究项目。此处提出的设备将是这些研究项目和教学艺术硕士（MAT）课程教师培训的组成部分。与以前NSF-ILI资助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.